Cat Mountain Finished - Finally!!

Doesn't December just do in the best laid plans? Knitting goes awry, work goes nuts (at least in my line of work) and then there are the holidays and friends and family. There's never enough time and way too much ambition.

Nevertheless, my December sock yarn of the month is complete.



I really liked the dye job on this yarn - the colours didn't stripe, (barber pole or otherwise), didn't pool and there was just enough yellow to give it spark, without the sock becoming a yellow sock.

The summary:

Yarn: Cat Mountain Fiber Arts Sock
Colourway: Sunrise on the Sangre de Cristos
Needles: 2.25 mm
Gauge 8.5 sts per inch

This is a nice firm sock - I wouldn't change the needle size for how I knit. There were no knots in the yarn, no loose plies or slubby bits. (I believe that "slubby bit" is a technical term - I confess to not being bothered by them, but I know that many are bothered.) I would use this yarn again.

I ordered it around the time of Sock Summit (thank you Ravelry for introducing us to so many tood indie dyers through the Dye for Glory contest.) The service was very good. There aren't many skeins of her yarn on Ravelry and if it was up to me there would be more!!

The other sock I finished was for the Ravelry group Sockknitters Anonymous. The challenge for November was to use slipped stitches, so I did two with the Double Brick Stitch. This is one version - with Trekking Maxima for the main yarn and some Phildar Preface for the black.



Now on to January and a New Year of knitting socks. (And yes, I'm one of those people who thinks the decade actually ends at the end of 2010, but I'm not such a weenie that I would waste my breath arguing about it. )

Cat Mountain - first sock finished

First sock finished. Ta da!!



The yarn doesn't barber pole, doesn't pool, doesn't stripe. It really is a mottled sock, with flashes here and there of yellow and red. I really like this colourway and I like the way the yarn knitted up.

On 2.25 needles and my standard Toffee Sock, I have 9 stitches to the inch, for a firm sock.

Now, must knit second sock. Must knit second sock. Preferably before Christmas.

Thoughts about stuff

Sometimes I hear something and for some reason, it stays in my brain, rattling around until I can figure out how I will use it in my life.

One of those things is this: "cluttering up the path to God with stuff". Thanks to Dean Robin, this has been niggling at me since Sunday.

How much stuff do I have? Serious stuff. (For stuff, read "stash"). I have a stash of quilting fabric, a stash of yarn. My yarn stash is older, my quilt stash larger. I could add to it every day if I could afford it, and work to make sure I don't.

Why do we need stuff? Is it to prove we're here? Is it so some little piece of me will be left to the grandchildren I don't have so that when I'm just a memory, they will have something to remember me by? I have only a few things from my Amma, who I loved dearly and thought was absolutely the best Amma in the world. I have one little china dog with pups and a box made from Christmas cards. Not a lot, but every time I look at them (and I can see them every day if I want to), I can see Amma and her house.

Is it because we make our homes into singular museums, so that wherever we look there is a story?

I am sure that God does not care about stuff. He cares about us, and he wants us to care about Him and do his work. My question is: how do I make sure the stuff doesn't get in the way.

Cat Mountain - up the leg

Up the leg and I've not changed my opinion about whether I like this yarn - I do, and I think I should.



This yarn is a true short repeat mosaic dye. It doesn't stripe, doesn't pool. It's variegated and the colours are regularly placed. I'm a yellow fan, so all that yellow is just fine with me. So far, no splits, no knots. So far, so good.

Cat Mountain - on the needles

Cat Mountain is on the needles. What do I know so far?

18 wpi - this is more than I expected. The yarn feels a little thicker than that. However, I cast on my standard Toffee Sock and so far it is knitting well. The loose twist is not a factor. Now, that may be because I keep my tension fairly tight in my left hand, and try not to let it relax. I find that otherwise, my sock gauge is too loose and my socks will wear too quickly.

The colour is lovely. It varies between a red and a bright orangy - yellow with small flecks occasionally that I find add to the look. I have to admit I like yellow, so a fair bit of yellow is very acceptable, and I warn, if you don't like yellow, you won't like this colourway. (A quilter friend of mine always says that if a quilt has 10% yellow, it becomes a yellow quilt. I agree. Yellow is one of those colours that screams "Look at me!!" - it's the three-year old of colours.

Christmas knitting to do as well - we've just had our first snow, but it's definitely winter. We went from wearing our suit jackets outside in November to minus 10 - all in one week. We have snow, we have cold, we have mitts and snowboots. Bring it on!!

December Sock Yarn - Cat Mountain Fingering

December's sock yarn review is Cat Mountain Fiber Arts' Superwash Merino. The colourway is Sunrise on the Sangre de Cristos - an interesting mix of reds and yellows.

The yarn content is 100% superwash merino. It appears to be a fairly loose twist.



Now, on to the needles!!

November Sock Yarn Review

Perchance to Knit's wonderful 80/20. For most yarns, that's 20% nylon - this one is 80% cashmere. Beautiful, beautiful soft yarn, that I would never put on my feet again. It's too nice.

Yarn: Perchance to Knit's fingering
Colourway: Neon Rainbow Black
Needles: 2.25 mm
Gauge: 8.5 st/inch

I always want to call this yarn Perchance to Dream - obviously the inspiration for the name. I also think it's because it's such a soft yarn that it makes me think of clouds.

Coming up for November: Cat Mountain Fiber Art's fingering. I found this dyer during Ravelry's Dye for Glory contest.

More socks - what a month!!

Quelle mois!! I'm sure the correct expression is that some month in spring is the cruellest month, but I personally think it's November. Now don't get me wrong - we've had an amazing November. Here it is, November 28, on the Canadian prairies and we have no snow. Let me repeat that: we have no snow. When I was a kid, if there was no snow at the end of October, we thought it was a mild winter.

We'll pay for it, of course. Weather never comes free, but for right now, we're enjoying it.

No, that's not the problem with November. The problem with November is that it butts up against December, and December means Christmas. (And I hope, snow.) One minute it's November 1, and all the saints are marching in. Then it's Remembrance Day, and then, somehow, it's November 25 and only a month until Christmas. I'm still not caught up from August!!

I have a little done - my Lorna's Laces Toffee Socks, which turned out exactly as I expected. Lorna's is entirely predictable, because the quality is so high.



The colour is Amy's Vintage Office, one of the Color Commentary series.

I've become a fan of Ravelry's Sock Knitters' Anonymous (which, when you think of it, fits me to a T.) For November, which is mosaic or slip stitches, I've finished one set, am halfway through another and have started a third.

Here's the set that is finished:



One skein Claudia Handpaint's Turquoise Jeans and one skein Louet Gems Merino in Mustard. The double Brick Stitch is from the Harmony Guides. I did a cuffed sock, with a rib section below to keep the sock up and the leg snug. The leg has scattered slip stitches to carry the theme through the entire sock.

As you can see, I didn't quite have enough of the Turquoise Jeans. I had four rows to go on the toe, (and couldn't bring myself to frog all the way back above the heel to steal from from under the leg), so I finished it off in the Mustard. I actually kind of like it.

This is a photo of the leg, showing what the cuff looks like folded back.



Now, back to the needles.

We're done

We're done, we're done. This is absolutely the softest sock yarn I have ever used, and I would never use it for socks again. It's too darn nice. I suspect it will felt like mad and will be awful to wash, but it was a delight to knit.



The black doesn't show us as well in the photos as in real life. This was a 68 stitch sock, and the black was a round plus about four stitches. The colours followed, in the order of the rainbow, starting with red, and lasted for about a round and a half. Even though there is more black than any other single colour, the black rather fades into the background.

Also off the needles: a test moebius because I have to do one for my daughter. Lion Brand Homespun - soft, easy to knit, and a good price for doing a test knit. My problem is that I'm still not at the point where I can cast on because this one is just a bit too small.



Photo isn't the greatest, but you can get the drift.

Over the heel

Up the heel flap and over the heel. the rainbow stripes finally show up -



They're bright, but these I like. The rest of the leg doesn't show enough of the colour - each round is a different colour, and they tend to blend with each other. Not on the heel cap - here is the rainbow:



--- those are really rainbow neon, just like the colourway.

It has been a long day. Two and a half hours into Winnipeg last night and two and a half back this afternoon. Won't find out for a while whether it was worth it - make that, won't find out for a while whether it was worth it for my client. A day in court is always a very fast day, even when we don't break for lunch.

Progress

We're further along on this sock. It's the softest yarn I've ever knit for socks - I can feel the cashmere in every stitch - lovely, lovely, lovely. So far I think I'd prefer it around my neck, but not in this colourway (have I said this before?)



In the sock-compulsive category, I decided to do Ravelry's Sock Knitters Anonymous challenge for November. This month one of the choices is a slip stitch pattern, so I decided to design my own, using a two colour brick stitch.



The cuff is folded over the leg. My real challenge is to make sure I have enough yarn for these socks, as I have only one 50 g of each yarn I'm using, and I know this stitch is a yarnsucker because of the way it draws up the fabric.

We'll see.

Cuff finished

I'd like to say we're off, but as it turns out, it's not just the purl that's lazy, it's the blogger. I've cast on and although it's been a very busy week at work, I've finished the cuff.

This yarn is so soft, I can't imagine using it for socks. Of course, given that I am testing fingering yarn on socks, socks it will be, but I suspect it will felt the minute I put them on. Having said that (lawyers always say "having said that", which is our way of saying we're changing our minds in midstream), these socks would be so soft on your feet, it would be like wearing clouds.

So far, no splits, no knots. I can't say I like the colour, which is what kept me from frogging and deciding I'd change this months yarn. The blind pull is, after all, the blind pull.

October Sock Yarn - Perchane to Dream

This is October's Sock Yarn: Perchance to Knit's 80% merino, 20% cashmere. This yarn is as soft as I would expect and with no nylon, and not being superwash, will become one of my "handle with care" socks.

The colourway is "Neon Rainbow Black" and was distributed exclusively through The Loopy Ewe.

As usual, I'm using 2.25 mm needles and my standard Toffee Sock pattern.

October Sock Yarn - All finished

Actually, these were all done much earlier this month, but it's not been the kind of month where I spent a lot of time on the computer - except for working. (I worked a lot. I'm getting too old for this.) (Does that matter?)

This was a great yarn to knit. One slubby bit - didn't bother me. The yarn is firm and on 2.25 mm needles, makes a nice firm sock.

These are very stripey - not sort of stripey, but very. Red, white and blue for Les Habs - my beloved Montreal Canadiens. When I was knitting these socks I thought of my father. Dad died recently - and no, he wasn't a Montreal fan. Dad was a dyed in the wool Toronto Maple Leafs fan - such a nice man and so misguided. When I was a kid, Dad watched hockey every Saturday night. I wasn't all that keen on hockey, but if I watched with him, and brought him cheese and crackers at half time, he'd let me stay up to watch The Saint.

I started cheering for Montreal because it made life more interesting to cheer for a team my father clearly did not like. (And was better than his team. Even in the sixties, that wasn't all that difficult.) I had no idea that to be a girl from Winnipeg cheering for Les Habs was not something I should do. We learn what it means to be Canadian in so many ways.

Yarn: Biscotte & Cie's Bella
Colourway: Go Habs, Go!!
Needles: 2.25 mm
Gauge: 8.0 (actually just a titch over)

Coming up for November: Perchance to Knit.

So many yarns, so few months.

Now, off to knit. It's Halloween and the kids have finally gone home.

First sock finished

Can you say stripes? Can you say Montreal Canadiens? Yes to both.

My first sock is finished and I am very pleased with the result, although (admittedly), not yet used to the stripes. With all the socks I've knit you'd think I'd had had one that striped the way this one did, but nada.

No knots, no slubby bits on the first sock.

This is Thanksgiving Day - I'm off to work for a few hours to do catch - up, but know that when I get home, my husband will have cooked a nice Thanksgiving supper. We're doing chicken, since even with help from his son, there is no chance the three of us will do damage to a turkey - but when you think of it, it's the thought that counts.

For me, Thanksgiving is the beginning of the winter. When we had a cottage, this was the weekend we boarded up the windows and made ready for next season.

We have much to be thankful for.

Heel Flap Finished

Up and over the heel flap. The stitches have been picked up for the gusset.

The snow flew here yesterday - briefly, but it's cold enough that there is still a frosting of snow on the ground in shaded places. It feels a bit odd, not because it's October - here on the prairies, it's often this cold in October and rare that we don't have snow before Halloween, but we still have green leaves on the trees and our grass is still green. (Note to self: take photos.)

We had an unusually warm September - enough so that September was the warmest month of the year so far. Go figure. As one commentator said, "Take Manitoba out of the oven: we think it's done." It's been a blessing for our farmers, who had been looking at a less-than-average crop. This one may be better than average, because there was so much heat during September.

October is proving herself to be different. With Thanksgiving upon us, this is really what most of us think as being the last non-winter outdoor weekend of the year - time to close up the cottage or finish taking out the garden. That's my job for the rest of the day.

At least when the weather is cold, it doesn't seem illogical to be knitting socks.

Now done up the leg

This yarn is delightful - it does stripe - broad stripes of about five rounds each, with an absolutely predictable pattern - white, blue red ad infinitum. Very Montreal Canadiens.

It's an easily knit sock - the yarn has a relatively tight twist, so I have had no problems with splitting and, as I predicted from the cuff, this will be a nice, firm sock.

You can probably tell the stripes still amaze me. This is the first sock I've knit (and there have been one or two) where the stripes were like this - not created by each change in colour being more or less a round, but by lengths of one colour after another. There's little shift between colours, with the exception of the red change to white, where there is a little transfer. There is no purple, however, where the blue and red meet. The stripes simply change colour.

So far, so good.

On the needles

And we're off - this yarn is a little thicker than either of the others - with 17 wpi, you wouldn't think so, but this will be a nice firm sock. It also looks as if it's going to stripe - and I don't mean sort of stripe, or bands of colour - I mean plain old stripes. The break between the colours is sudden and so far, may be almost equal. We'll see when I knit more.

October Sock Yarn - Biscotte & Cie

This is October's test sock yarn. It's a Canadian yarn by Montreal dyer Biscotte & Cie. The colourway is "Go Habs Go", which is what attracted me to it. For those of you who don't know who the Habs are (which essentially means everyone who is not a hockey fan), the "Habs" are "Les Habitants", which is what Montrealers call their beloved Montreal Canadiens. Check out the jersey - big C for Canadiens, with an H for Les Habs. I grew up cheering for the Canadiens, mostly because my father cheered for the Toronto Maple Leafs and it was the best way to make Saturday night interesting. Blue, red and a bit of white - those are the team colours.

I've wound this yarn and it had one knot - which I find acceptable - and long repeats for the colour changes.

After last month's knit, I'm going to swatch this one first to make sure I get my firm 8.5 sts per inch. One more Toffee Sock coming up.

September Sock Yarn Review

No photos today - we've had horrible weather on those days when I've had time to take photographs and with the days getting shorter and shorter, no time in the morning before I head off to work. Now, I could leave work before eight, but I don't think it would get the work done.

This months yarn was Dashing Dach's Dachs Socks, knit on size 2.25 mm needles on my standard Toffee Sock Pattern. Although the gauge was the same as last month's yarn, the sock doesn't feel as firm. I think I would go down to 2.00 the next time I used this yarn. My fingers also tell me this is a fine yarn, which made sense to me when I looked at the length of 4 oz of yarn - 560 yards.

The variegated yarn has short repeats, so the stripes are narrow - never more than two rows deep at any point in the sock, including over the gusset. Over the gusset, the yarn pools, which is not unexpected.

Yarn content: 100% superwash merino
Skein: 100 g, 560 yards
Needle size: 2.25 mm (US size 1)
Gauge: 8.5 sts per inch

There were no knots. Would I use this one again? I would.

September Socks Finished

The September Socks are finished. I really enjoyed this knit. The yarn is smooth and there were no knots at all. The dye is even and produces a narrow stripe pattern, except over the gusset where there was pooling. Since I like pooling, this is never an issue, but I know for some, the objective is to keep the look of the sock consistent throughout. If that is your objective, you will need to use a different heel, since a gusset heel always produces a distortion of the yarn pattern due to the increase in stitches.

Stats coming soon - before the end of the month.

Would I use this yarn again? Yes. The next time I would use smaller needless to make it firmer, as on my 2.25's it may be a little less dense than I would like. For me that's not particularly an issue, since I wear my socks mostly with Birks and there isn't a lot of hard wear on them. If you wear them in shoes you might want a denser gauge.

Here's another photo of the gusset, showing the pooling. One side of the sock was quite blue/green/navy - the other side, much whiter. Worked for me.

Dashing Dachs - Over the Gusset

The heel is turned and the gusset shaping has begun - well, to be honest, it's almost finished. I like the way the colours pool in the gusset. I'm such a person of small pleasures: I know that a striping yarn will change when the number of stitches increases, and I'm always eager to see it happen. (I do believe I said "small pleasures" - at least I'm honest.) I should have turned the sock over, because on the other side is a more white patch, corresponding with the blue pool on the front.

So far so good. This yarn would certainly get a second look from me.

Dashing Dachs - Up the Leg

The leg is finished. The yarn has continued to stripe as I expected from doing the cuff. If I was going to use this yarn again, I might move down to 2.0 needles. I tend to be a loose knitter, as many Continental knitters are, so I use smaller needles than many - for instance, if a pattern calls for 2.5 mm needles, I use 2.25 without thinking about it - and my goal in this series was to use the same needle so I could compare the firmness of the sock.

This yarn has a very soft hand and good lustre and I am tempted to use another skein of it for a scarf.

More knitting tomorrow. For today it's off to work.

This is an interesting yarn

this is an interesting yarn. The colour changes are short, so the stripes, (such as they are) are usually only one round, or even less. There are a couple of places where a colour repeats itself from round to round, but not because the repeat is long enough to come around on itself, but because they're so short.

This is not complaining - this is really an observation about how a yarn behaves. However, it is a little difficult to predict what the sock will look like, so that will have to wait.

I don't think I would like this yarn with this colourway for a heavily patterned sock - the quick repeats would hide any kind of delicate (or even not-so-delicate) lace or cables.

And we're off!!

We're off!! I've cast on 68 stitches for my standard Toffee Sock and have completed the purl ridge and five or six rounds.

When I unlooped the skein (is "unlooped" a word?) I could see that this yarn in the skein did not have solid areas of colour, but instead, the changes went all through the skein. So far, none of the colours has repeated on top of itself, so I am expecting that the colour changes will be very short.

The yarn is soft and does not seem to be splitty. (Another technical term.) As much as I can I will use the same needles for each sock so whatever differences there are will not be because the needles are different. The odd colour needle is what keeps my count straight - and also because I have only four Pony Pearl 2.25's now, and since I knit with five, I need something straight and pointy on both ends.

September is always a hard month to start, since Labour Day comes right at the beginning and then somehow we're into fall and and real world and regardless of what the weather is like, summer is over.

September Sock Yarn Review - Dashing Dachs

September's yarn is Dashing Dachs' Dach Sox - (whoa, that was a mouthful) in the Futbol colourway. It's described as Fingering Superwash Merino, with no nylon. I haven't wound it yet, but can report that it feels good in the skein.

Now - off to the needles, using the same pattern as I did for the August yarn - my Toffee Sock.

August Sock Yarn Review

These are the finished socks from the Sock Yarn Review. The August yarn was The Painted Tiger's Classic Merino, knit on 2.25 mm needles on my standard toffee sock pattern. ( I can't use the term "vanilla sock", because I always think of the Yarn Harlot and her vanilla sock, so it occurred to me that "toffee sock" might just work. Toffee is like vanilla - nothing terribly fancy, but always worth having.)

Yarn content: 100% merino
Skein: 100 g, 440 yards
Needle size: 2.25 mm (US Size 1)
Gauge: 8.5 sts per inch

This is a nice firm sock. I'll let you know how it wears. The dye is nicely saturated and intense, although not a great deal of lustre. It was a joy to knit, as the yarn is soft.

The Painted Tiger has her own website - ThePaintedTiger.com - and also has yarn available on etsy. The Classic Merino is now called Tiger Classic.

Next up: September

Gertrude Skein finished

These are my basic socks with a mosaic leg. The Gertrude Skein colourway is in Blue Moon's STR mediumweight, which makes a dense sock that is very nice for boots or clogs. This yarn is aalways wonderful to knit with - as close as I've found to a gold standard for yarns. I know that in the previous club shipment, BMFA had problems with knots, but this one was knot free.

The pattern didn't work well for me - I tried, mind you, I really did. I got all the way through the second repeat of the Rogue Roses on the leg and then realized that although Iliked the panel, it was difficult to see the roses with all the colour on the sock. I think I'd like a more solid colour for that pattern, so I put it aside for later.

I wish I could convince my kid that colourful socks would be good for her. As far as socks go, she likes any colour as long as it's black.

Next up on the needles - BMFA STR

This was the May 2009 (I think - I'm working off memory here) club yarn from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. Wonderful yarn, but I've given up on the pattern. Rogue Roses is an interesting knit, but it and I weren't getting along, so I frogged and now it's going to be my simple, standard sock. It's nothing fancy, but it works.

It seems to me that STR mediumweight is almost a sport weight yarn, so these will probably be winter boot socks. People who live on the prairies need boot socks, so these socks won't get the exposure they might if I were wearing them with Berks, but they'll keep my toes toasty warm.

Not a great photo, but it turned out to be a very nice sock. The yarn was easy to knit, with no splitting, no knots and a good feel on the hands. I know that sounds sort of silly, how it feels on the hands, but if you knit a lot (and I do), how yarn feels makes a huge difference.

This yarn stripes nicely - I like the long yellow spirals - and is much brighter in the sock than it was in the skein. That's a bit unusual, since most of the time, I like the skeins better than the socks.

I'll take better pictures when its mate is also off the needles.

Over the heel

The gusset has been finished. The heel is done over 33 stitches, and as I always try to do, there are three stitch garter edges to the heel flap. (Thank you Charlene Scurch for that hint. After trying it the first time, it's now my standard for a heel of this kind.)

The bands of yellow disappear with the extra stitches, which is to be expected, forming a more mottled set of blue and yellow stripes.

Up the leg

The leg has been finished - although after I took this photo I decided to add another five rounds. I like the way I get nice spiral stripes out of this yarn. The yellow is quite solid, where the blue and white alternate rows between them.

The yarn is quite soft - difficult to know without wearing it how it will hold up, but it is very nice to knit.

On the needles

This months selection - a superwash yarn from Painted Tiger, is on the needles.

A few facts about the yarn: 100% superwash merino, 16 wpi. The twist is not very tight, but after five rounds, there have been no problems with splitting.

As you can tell, I'm a ball winder, mostly by choice. It lets me feel the yarn going through my fingers, and I like the exercise. It brings back memories of being a girl with my hands in front of me, winding yarn for both my mother and my Amma. Since I have no girl at home, I use the back of a chair.

I am using my standard sock for the test knits, with variations for expected gauge. for this sock, I have cast on 68 stitches and the cuff will be K3, P1. The needles are my trusty Pony Pearl 2.25 mm, with a Knitpicks Harmony for the fifth and marker needle.

Now, off to knit.

August Sock Yarn

I like knitting socks. That may be an understatement, but true nonetheless. I also like trying new yarns. Because I live in a small city without an LYS, I buy almost everything online. Most of the time, it's a good experience (sometimes very good), but occasionally I buy a yarn and it's nothing lie I expected. I've also noticed that every yarn seller says almost the same thing about his or her yarn. Yarn is always soft, springy, cushy, vibrant - you know what I mean.

There are also things that no-one ever tells you. How fingering is fingering? One of my favourite "fingering" yarns is more like a sport weight. Another is much closer to lace weight. Almost all vendors say to use needle sizes 1 - 3. I don't know about you, but that's a bit of a difference.

My goal is to test knit a yarn a month. All come out of my stash and I pick into the bin with my eyes closed.

This will be August. It's from the Painted Tiger.