Friday, November 09, 2007

Catching Up


For the record, Franklin Habit is a very personable, very gentle, and amazingly bright man. He genuinely cares about knitting, knitters, and all things yarn; but his areas of interest and his range of knowledge are vast. He was a delightful and appreciative visitor. I am so glad the Stockin'ettes were able to sponsor his visit and ensure Sacramento's participation in the 1000 Knitters project. Thank you to all of the guild members and non-members —and new members! — who came out last Saturday to make the day such a success. And thank you, Franklin, for being everything we hoped you would be — and so much more.

The September Sock and the Great Cast-On Discovery

And now for some catching up. Somehow, September and October zoomed right by without me blogging my socks for those months. So here's the September sock:

This is Yarntini in "Strawberry Daquiri," although it reminded me much more of a strawberry soda. The knitted-in charm is a little martini glass, which is the closest I could find to a daquiri. :)


The pattern is my favorite Wendy's Generic Toe-Up sock, but what really made me happy about these socks is the cast-on. I used Judy's Magic Cast-On for the toe, and I just *love* it! I've tried several different toe-up cast-on techniques, but this one is by far and away my favorite. It takes a bit of practice to get the gauge to match the rest of the knitting, but not a lot. And once it's done, it is absolutely invisible. (See the next pair of socks for an attempt to photograph it.)

October Corn Monkeys

I remember being fascinated when I discovered bamboo yarn a few years ago, and since then, it seems that almost anything that can be processed and twisted into a sizeable thread is fair game for knitting. So I wasn't really surprised when I found Maizy yarn at Jimmy Beans in Reno. But I was curious about it, and really liked the feel of it. It's 82% corn fiber and 18% elastic nylon. (Kind of like Fixation — soft and springy.) And absolutely perfect for Cookie A's wonderful Monkey Socks.




If these socks look a bit different than other Monkey socks you may have seen, just stand on your head and look again. See? Cookie knitted her socks top-down; I knitted these toe-up, so the pattern is up-side down. I like it! And yes, the toe is Judy's Magic Cast-On. Told ya. I'm gonna be using it for a long, long time.


Can you see the cast on?




The knitted-in marker features a glass cat's head. Yes, I know it isn't a monkey. I just liked the look of it with the yarn. The color, by the way, is "Menswear." Go figure. Who comes up with these names??


1 comment:

Beth said...

I *love* the colors in that Maizy yarn! That's one I hadn't seen before. (runs off to hunt online stores to find some to buy...)