I know that posts of this sort are usually an update on what’s being knit, but this will be a bit more of an update on what’s been ripped out.

The listings over there to the left listing what’s on my needles.  It’s not accurate.  I’d cast on for the Little Child’s Sock [Ravelry Link] from Knitting Vintage socks.  I was using some Trekking XXL that I purchased a while back.  After knitting about 4 inches of the leg, I decided that I didn’t like the combination of yarn and pattern.  I ripped it out right then; I never even got a photo of it.  I determining now if I’ve got another yarn that will be appropriate for the pattern, because I’d become fairly excited about knitting it.

As for the Orenburg lace shawl in cobweb weight yarn, it too has been ripped.  I was working on it on size US0 (2.0mm) needle, but neither of the size 0s that I own seemed small enough or pointy enough to deal with the yarn.  It’s funny because one of the needles usually seems much too pointy to me for its usual duty of sock knitting.  With the fine lace, it just seemed as if I was trying to force huge, blunt ended needles through the knitting.  I was considering trying a smaller needle to see if my results were any more successful.  The idea of knitting with a 000 or 0000 is a bit daunting.

Even with the needle dilemma, I hadn’t planned to rip out the small piece of border I’d knit (about four inches).  However, fate intervened as I was knitting one evening. I’d been sitting in my chair, the one that I like to knit in.  I decided to get up and get a drink from the kitchen.  Somehow, in this process, the yarn got wrapped around my leg.  As I moved away from the chair, the fine yarn snapped under the tiniest bit of pressure.  Since I’ve got extra yardage on that yarn, I decided to put away the project and start the shawl over on the tinier needles.

That’s it.  There’s no photos or interesting knitting.  Hopefully the new yarn/pattern combination will work well for the Little Child’s Socks, and I’ll have knitting to talk about.

I finished the Embossed Leaves socks.  I’d wanted to knit this pattern since it was first published in Interweave Knits in the Winter 2005 issue.  Somehow, I’d never gotten around to it.  But, after seeing Jennifer and Michelle (her blog photo does not reflect the true beauty of that yarn/pattern combo) working on theirs at KTog, I decided that it was finally time for my own pair.

This pattern was pretty easy to learn, and I didn’t need to refer to the chart much once I got past the first pattern repeat.  The key was to know that the yarn-overs alternated on either side of a single stitch, and the decrease moved across the pattern repeat, but always left three stitches unknit.  Once I realized that, it all just clicked.  Not the fastest pattern, but not too much work either.  These are definitely a nice addition to the sock drawer.

Pattern: Embossed Leaves
Designer: Mona Schmidt
Source: Interweave Knits, Winter 2005 (also in Favorite Socks)
Yarn: KnitPicks Risata (196 yards / 50g)
Quantity: 2 skeins (392 yards)
Color: Cocoa
Needles: KnitPicks US0 (2.0 mm)

Started: December 27, 2007
Completed: January 7, 2008

Pattern modifications:

• I only knit the ribbing to 1.5 inches.
• I added an additional pattern repeat (4.5 chart repeats instead of 3.5) on the leg to make leaf patterning on the leg longer.
• I eliminated rows 10 and 12 in the sock to shorten the sock length.
• I changed the plain stockinette heel to a slipped stitch heel pattern (eye of partridge), but I kept the garter stitch borders on the heel flap.

Yarn overview

This was my first time working with the KnitPicks Risata.  I’d asked for and received this yarn as a gift for my birthday.  The yarn line was new in 2007, I was interested it in what it had to offer.  While I love my hand knit wool socks, they sometimes a bit too warm when the weather is warmer.  So, I’ve been interested in trying yarns with a higher cotton percentage in them.  Previously, I’d only used Cascade Fixation.  While it is a fine yarn, due to the unusual elastic nature, it isn’t suited as a replacement yarn for all patterns, and I don’t love it.  The Risata, however, can be a replacement for any fingering weight yarn, and has a fiber content of 42% Cotton, 39% Superwash Merino Wool, 13% Polyamide, and 6% Elite Elastic (this elastic does not give it the same elastic propery of Fixation).

I really enjoyed the Risata.  I only had one issue with it, and that was after I had managed to tangle a bunch of loose yarn after ripping back to fix an error.  Other than that, it knit up quite nicely; I didn’t find it splitty or anything of that unpleasant source.  The socks have been washed twice now, through the washing machine and dryer, and the yarn is great.  No pilling, no fuzzing - it still looks new.  This is definitely a yarn I would buy and knit with again (and that wasn’t my experience with the other KnitPicks sock yarn I’ve used - Parade, which has been discontinued).

Here it is, my finished Sunflower Tam.  There will be no photos of it being worn.  While I love the look of the hat, I don’t love it on.  I’m not sure if it’s the style of a tam in general, or if it’s just this specifc one.   I’m not even sure if I think that it’s too big or too small.  I just know that when I try it on, it isn’t me.  It’s a great pattern for using up a small amoung of heavy worsted to bulky wool.

Pattern: Sunflower Tam
Source: Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan
Yarn: Elann Peruvian Highland Wool (109 yards / 50g)
Quantity: 2 skeins (218 yards)
Color: Charcoal
Needles: Bamboo US5 and US7

Started: December 21, 2007
Completed: December 25, 2007

Pattern modifications:

• I knit this at a smaller gauge (16 stitches to 4 inches) than called for in the pattern.  I read a lot of posts on Ravelry that the hat was too big when it was finished.
• I eliminated the icord and knot at the top of the hat and just finished it by pulling the yarn through the remaining stitches.