Still catching up

What can I say? I am an eternal procrastinator. I may never fully catch up on my FOs and always be a few behind. But I'm going to work on that this year, on top of everything else.

I still haven't sewn the buttons onto The Girl's coat so that I can photograph it. I finished it in the last days of November. I do have a couple of December's FOs ready to go though.

Pattern: Basic toe-up sock (Ravel it)

Yarn: Knit Picks Dancing: Ballet (discontinued)

Needles: US size 2.5

I did these as a test knit to see just how easy to follow the pattern was. Unfortunately, due to circumstances I will go into a bit later in this post, my plans for this have fallen through.

Anywho...great pattern with a heel flap and looks just like a top-down sock. I think I've finally learned just what length my socks are supposed to be and I personally think everyone should start on toe-up socks. I know it would have saved me some grief and I would have realized that I really can't eek a pair of socks out of 200yds of yarn. I am definitely going to use this pattern again and will be using it as a template to toe-up convert some other sock patterns I love. Big thumbs up and it's a shame that almost no one has knit these.

I do not love this particular pair because of how goofy they look, but they were a great test and I was able to try out a cotton blend sock yarn.

Pattern: Ballard Slouch Hat (Ravel it)

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran: gunmetal (??)

Needles: US size 9

I'm going to start off admitting that I do not love this knit. I do not love the yarn. It was a totally different color then I was expecting. I'm not a fan of grey with a tiny bit of a yellowish/goldish cast to it. I dislike the feel of it. It feels somewhat...oily. It doesn't really show off the stitch pattern as it ought to and the acrylic content made it hard to block. I'm sorely tempted to just toss out the last .85 skeins of it I have left and wash my hands of it. Ick, ick, ick. This is my only exposure to Debbie Bliss' yarns and I will say, she has not won me over as a fan. I didn't have any of the notorious pilling issues that I've seen kvetched out, in length, on the yarn's page on Ravelry, but that wasn't enough to make me like it. I will never use this yarn again. End of story.

The hat pattern, however, I would totally knit again in a more fortunate yarn choice. Well written, easy to follow. Good stuff.

Up above, I was a bit cryptic and mentioned cirumstances that have changed some plans of mine. I'll admit, I've been mulling over this for a few days and debating if it is appropriate for me to post the story up on the web in such a public manner. Especially when I never discussed this with the person it involves. Obviously, I've decided to go ahead and do it. I've realized that none of my older relations actually read my blog and if they do, well, I guess I'll deal with that if this gets brought up. I am certainly not posting this up out of bitterness or anger. I just feel that it will save my having to answer questions later on when I talk about how my plans for socks have been upped for 2010 and why I'm working hard to fit those in on top of all the sweaters I'm making.

For the week before Giftmas, we were fortunate enough to have a visit from my in-laws. The last day they were in town, I went to the local Hastings to have a knit meet up with some of my friends and enjoy a bit of freedom from The Boy and The Girl. While I was out, The MIL decided to be nice and do some of our laundry with hers. This included all of my handknit socks. This shouldn't have been an issue--she's a knitter herself and has many a pair of socks--but when I came home, I immediately noticed something was amiss with the socks that were hanging up to dry. Most of them looked OK at first glance, but my wool/nylon blends were all fuzzy. Not solid, felted fuzzy, but looking like the heel flap and bottom of the foot look after they've been worn a bit, especially in shoes. I realized what had happened and looked at the washer. The water was still on warm from pre-shrinking fabric the day before and I suspect the laundry was washed on the regular cycle instead of the delicate one. I didn't say anything since she didn't, but I did text message The Husband right away.

I was unable to bring myself to try on any of the socks until 3 days later; the day after Giftmas. Even though they looked OK at first glance, almost none of them survived the wash. All were .5"-1" shorter then they had been and quite a bit tighter across the foot. All were thrown out, except the one surviving pair. The ugly socks I posted up above? That is my only pair of hand knit socks right now. I am currently working on some Charades and I am upping my plans for socks to knit in 2010. My original goal had been 2-3 pair for the year to slowly replace my ones that are not quite right, but I'm now aiming for at least 5 pair.

So this is how my year ended and I'm working to get it corrected as soon as I can.