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She was a sock knitter
Double pointer, yeah
It took me soooo long to cast off, but I cast off…

Sorry. Just me being silly.

This week I finished my first pair of socks in Trekking, which I love. Here is the flaccid sock:

And here they are with feet in them!

The pattern was the Simple Trekking Sock, with one variation; I didn’t do the fancy broken rib at the toes. I did discover that I like Trekking XXL, very much. The subtle colour variations are magic, the yarn is just fine enough without being too thin, and it should prove hardwearing with the nylon addition. The one thing I don’t like about it is that if you drop a stitch, it’s difficult to pick up without splitting the yarn; but I can live with that. I made these with 2.25mm needles, dropping down to 2mm Addis when I finished the gusset shaping.
I’m still trying to work out the perfect socks for me. I have thick calves and ankles and a very high instep, but my feet aren’t long in proportion with that. I have found that I need a very elastic cast-on with a lot of cuff stitches, and that I need a fairly roomy gusset and instep, but I can decrease stitches and/or needle size for the rest of the foot. So far a 72-stitch cast-on on 2.25s seems ample for the cuff and leg; I think I may have to decrease it down to perhaps 68 or fewer on the foot. Next time I’ll try that, and I’m sure that I will eventually work out my Perfect Socks. In the meantime, these are pretty damn close. There’s plenty of yarn left, too; I could have made the legs longer, and next time I will.

Last week I also received my first Etsy purchase, from the Etsy store of White Willow. It’s a sock yarn called Avalon, and here’s a picture:

It’s plums and purples and a clear cobalt blue, lovely. And it came with a wee stitch marker attached to the label!

Isn’t that lovely? I’m on the lookout for other Etsy sellers who ship sock yarn to Australia - or who are actually located here. I have completely forgotten the idea of knitting from the stash

What do you do while you knit?

I have a preference for either watching stuff, or listening to stuff. Since much of my knitting gets done on the train these days, I like to listen to podcasts while I knit. I’ve got a few favourites and I’m always on the lookout for more.

Knitting Podcasts

First there’s the one that got me listening in the first place - Brenda Dayne’s Cast On. It’s very professional sounding; she incorporates music, interviews, ads for other podcasts, reviews and segments. Brenda’s voice is warm and rich, like sticky toffee pudding. Just like sticky toffee pudding, there are times when you can’t get enough of it, times when the serving you get is just right, and times when it’s just too rich. Most of the time, it’s in the “just right” category.

If Brenda is sticky toffee pudding, Lime and Violet are a big bag of Allen’s jelly lollies - Snakes, or Party Mix. Lots of flavours and colours, lots of fun, and good for a quick fix - but eat too much too quickly and it’s a bit sickly. I like L&V in small doses, and I listen to their podcast in two or three parts, because that way I enjoy the fun without beginning to feel irritation at the injokes and the overt zaniness. Admittedly, I probably only feel that way because I’m grumpy in the mornings

Then there’s Sticks and String. David provides a more straighforward podcast, with more meat and less attempting to win the listener over. It’s like a really good quality gourmet pie - steak and Guinness, with delicious flaky pastry, filling and tasty. David has segments, interviews and music as well, but his podcasts are a bit shorter and they’re chock-full of real information; whatever he talks about, he describes, explains or reviews. I’m a big fan of information in my podcasts, so I like his very much.

Non-Knitting Podcasts

My favourite ’serious’ non-knitting podcast is the BBC World Service Documentary Archive. They’re absolutely wonderful, and give a much wider and deeper perspective on the world than through the mainstream media. They’re also absolutely fascinating. I especially recommend downloading some of the older ones if you’re hard pressed for something to listen to. Among the better ones for me were: The New Arab World; By Their Own Hand; Call That Justice; Inside the World of Google.

Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase is a podcast by a flight attendant with a lovely voice, who provides stories from many other flight attendants, pilots and some passengers. Similarly, Fly with Me is a commercial pilot’s podcast, with lots of interesting insights.

And a couple of ABC Radio National podcasts: All in the Mind, which is all about what goes on in our brains and personalities; and Ockham’s Razor, which is presented by the wonderful Robyn Williams and is about… stuff. Basically it’s a guest essay every week; the subjects range from science to religion to art to politics to just about everything else. Good stuff.

… you can’t do it. No plane knitting. For me this has also led to no train knitting today; I’m off to Sydney tonight, and since it’s only overnight I’m not checking my luggage but taking a small carry-on. Normally I knit on the train every day, and if I’m flying I just whack the needles in my checked luggage; but not today. I feel positively naked on the train without my knitting.

I’ve recently discovered Trekking XXL. I’ve often lusted over the beautiful subtle colour striping in the ombre tones, but now I’ve discovered the place to purchase it: Astrid’s Dutch Obsessions. Lots of lovely sock yarn, lots of colourways; no handpainted, but the good basic workaday sock yarns. Yummy. I ordered three Trekkings and an Opal Handpaint, and they came within a week, for about what I’d pay for two balls of Opal plus shipping from most Australian online retailers. Don’t get me wrong; I prefer to support Aussie and NZ vendors when I can, and indeed have done in the past. But when I can get twice the yarn, just as quick, and more variety, from an overseas vendor… it’s a hard decision to make.

Speaking of overseas vendors, I’ve just discovered that Scout’s Swag has a colourway called Rosalie. Here is a larger version. It’s absolutely beautiful. Those are all my colours. And it’s even more appropriate because my grandmother, who taught me to knit, was called Rosalie. My grandmother was one of the people who made me what I am. She was a survivor, and she had a hard life. Here she is as a teenager, working as a housemaid in London:

She was working as a maid at the age of thirteen, at which stage both her parents were deceased. She looked after me when my mum worked, when I was little. She was of her generation; she and I didn’t always see eye to eye, but we had a deep affection for one another and she was my introduction to the world of knitting. My big regret is that in the couple of years before her death, I was somewhat estranged from my mother (her daughter) and therefore didn’t speak to her as often as I should have; family politics was in the way.

I’m going to get some Rosalie. It’ll have to wait a while, because I have one Etsy parcel coming and another one from Astrid - and even though we all know that sock yarn doesn’t count as stash, the rest of my stash is still big enough to fill a couple of wardrobes And I have to decide what I want; do I want to make socks, or do I want a special scarf or shawl, named after my Nanna (in my head, anyway!) and wrapping me up so that I can think of her when I wear it?

This has been a busy week for me; I had to go interstate to give some workshops. It left me with aching legs and sore feet, but on the bright side I got some train knitting in, and I also got to catch up with Pamela, who I haven’t seen in quite a while. She very kindly brought along her Candle Flame Shawl, and it is truly incredible. Photos do not do it justice - the beauty of the pattern, the soft lustrous fabric, the smooth and weighty feel of the silk, and Pamela’s incredibly neat and patient work. It’s already a good size, but it’s going to be even larger. Do head over to her blog and check the shawl out if you haven’t seen it already.

I myself had a couple of very pleasant train journeys - up to Gosford on the central NSW coast, then the next day down to Wollongong, south of Sydney. Both were beautiful journeys along magnificent coastlines and through gorgeous mountain ranges and I wish I’d taken my camera. I listened to Sticks and String on the way to Wollongong, and discovered that the Wollongong Stitch and Bitch are having an exhibition this weekend, which unfortunately wouldn’t have been ready on Thursday afternoon in time for me to go and peek at. Not that I really had the time, sadly - it was into Wollongong, do my stuff, back to Sydney and on the plane. Shame, because it looks as if there is some great stuff there. Next time

As for myself, I am finding my obsessions somewhat disturbing. What obsessions?

Well, here’s something that needs fixing up:

This is a pile of cardigan pieces - back, two arms and two sides - which merely needs sewing up, front bands and neckband knitting, and ends darned in. It’s made from pure cashmere from Colourmart and it’s soft and smells wonderful. It’s been in this state for over a week. Why has it not yet become a cardigan? Well you might ask. One reason is my utter dislike of sewing and of finishing. The other is my current terrifying obsession with SOCK KNITTING. After several years of avoiding it, I’ve succumbed to the addiction and it’s truly frightening.

On the train to Gosford, I worked on this:

This is merino cashmere sock yarn from The Knittery in colourway ‘Exotic’. I call it the Starfleet Sock, because the black and red remind me of the uniform worn by The Picard, and also because I plan to work some more on it while watching ‘First Contact’ tonight.

This is my second attempt with this yarn. I first began a simple Garter Rib on 64 stitches, and it pooled horribly; all the lighter shades would have been at the back of the sock and all the darker ones at the front. It just looked wrong. SO I frogged it and began on RPM from Knitty. Much, much better. The purl band spirals down the leg one way and the shading has a very slight tilt the other way; I like the contrast and it’s knitting up beautifully. Amazing how distinct the difference is; the gauge and needle size are exactly the same as the first attempt, but there is one less stitch on the needles. How that can make so much difference, I don’t know!
On the Wollongong trip, I cast on and knitted this:

This is another Baby Cable Rib sock (fast becoming my utter favourite pattern) on 2mm needles, 72 stitches, in Lorna’s Laces ‘Black Purl’ colourway. I pretty much ordered this just to see what all the fuss is about The yarn is nice, but the colourway is wonderful; I especially like the way it refuses to pool. Don’t get me wrong, I like pooling in some cases, but this looks nicer unpooled.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes… obsessions. I have completely fallen off the Knit From Your Stash bandwagon. Over the past week or so I have ordered some Trekking XXL from Astrid’s Dutch Obsessions (and by “some”, I mean “three balls, and goodness, how did that handpainted Opal get in there?”) and have made my first ever Etsy order, which was, of course, sock yarn.

What’s happening to me? Help!

Any other Aussie knitters know of great Etsy sellers of handpainted/hand-dyed sock yarn who definitely ship to Australia? I am on the lookout now.

I may well have to get rid of some excess stash through Good Yarn Karma.

Baby Cable Rib, to be exact.

I really wish I could work out how to take a nice photo of socks on my own feet. These look a hundred times better in person than they do in the picture!

Here’s a close-up of the baby cables:

I’m very happy with them.

Yarn: 4 ply Merino Cashmere Sock from The Knittery, in ‘Moonlight’. This is a wonderful smooth soft yarn, very nice indeed on the foot.

Pattern: Baby Cable Rib from Charlene Schurch’s Sensational Knitted Socks, with 2.5mm Addi Turbos.

I love them. I really love them.

After my trips to Lincraft and Clegs last week, I’ve discovered some interesting stuff.

1. Clegs have begun stocking accessories from Clover. It’s obvious that someone who Knows About Knitting is acting as their buyer, as they have a really good range of knitting stuff across all sorts of price ranges now. There’s everything from your cheap wools and acrylics (Cleckheaton Country Wool, Colour 4 Me and some Panda yarns) through the nicer basic yarns (Totem, Country Silk, etc) up to some very pricey Anny Blatt novelties. They have wool-silk, they have mohair blends, they have hand-dyed from NZ and they even have several varieties of sock yarn (as well as Patonyle, they now have some Naturally 4-ply and some self-striping imported yarn I’ve never heard of, but which looks quite good). Their prices on Clover stuff are pretty reasonable.

They have a good variety of needles too; nothing fancy, but basic plastic, metal and bamboo, straights, doubles and circulars. They also have some inexpensive shawl pins - I bought a round shell circle-and-pin, and a straight dark wooden one, for about three bucks each.

2. Lincraft have also been stocking up for autumn/winter. Fortunately, they seem to have fewer appalling frou-frou novelties than in previous years, and more interesting ones. They’re still stocking a range of Katia, including the self-striping one (Mexico?) and some chunky ones. There’s also a couple of Lincraft branded yarns with interesting qualities - one is a metallic viscose blend which comes in silver, gold, black/silver, black/gold and I think a bronzy colour, and the other is a basic slightly fluffy acrylic with holographic sequins in it - that comes in black, raspberry, teal and one other colour which I’ve forgotten. I got some of this to make some kind of flashy evening scarf (in the black, naturally…)

Lincraft also have some cotton dishcloth yarn eminently suitable to making the Mason-Dixon ballband cloth, and they’ve also got recyced silk in a number of different colourways.

There’s some interesting new yarns from the Patons/Cleckheaton stables - Shadow Tweed looks rather interesting.

Of course, I’m doing my best to knit from my stash at the moment, so the point is moot. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself…