Monkeying around

But first, I re-did the sock I tried to improvise earlier this summer based on the cable pattern in Anne Hanson's Fine Cabled mitts pattern. This time I cast on 72 sts for the leg & decreased back down to 64 sts for the foot.

It's much better fitting this time, but I've still decided to keep this for myself and knit a matching pair of Rib and Cable socks in a different Koigu colorway for my friend's partner.

But before I do that, I got sidetracked into knitting the larger Funky Monkey, reversing the colors from the smaller one I knit for Monkey2 awhile back. I had forgotten how fast this was, considering that's a lot of tube knitting for the tail, legs & arms.

Pattern: Funky Monkey
yarn: STR heavyweight in Harlotty (body) and Typhoon Tina (extremities)
needles: size 4 & 6 KP circs

mods:
- The accidental one was to knit the mouth, butt & tail on size 4 needles that I grabbed inadvertently. I did like the fabric, so I knit the legs & arms with the smaller needles as well.
- Also with the smaller needles I didn't need to double the yarn for the legs.
- Another accidental mod was to forget the one round of decreases before closing the feet. But since it didn't seem like it mattered, I left them.
- My only intentional mod was to pick up & knit the arms on, as I had learned at Sock Camp with the mini funky monkeys.

Just in time for our September Rockin' Sock Club kit to get here soon, I finished my first July RSC sock. I chose Linda's Dusty Corners in support of the lovely designer who I met at Sock Camp a couple years back. I figure I can knit Anne Hanson's pattern in another berry-ish STR colorway anytime.

The leg's a little snug, so I knit the heel flap a tad longer to help get the sock on. I loved how the colorway knitted up in the pattern that I was reticent to frog & start over on larger needles (2.50 mm instead of 2.25 mm) or in the next size up (large).

It's a tad too warm to take a photo of the sock modelled on a human foot, so I'll try to do that when I'm done w/the pair.

Zoe

Monkey2's mini-funky monkey is pretty much done. I just need to knit her some clothes and maybe add a set of pink felted lips. Maybe.


Blue Moon Fiber Arts Funky Monkey kit in Typhoon Tina & Harlotty
size 5 KP circs
mods:
-Similar to Edward's construction at Sock Camp, she's got pipe cleaner in her legs and doubled pipe cleaner in her extra long tail. Unlike Edward, I picked up and knit her arms on.
- Because I knit her on needles one size smaller than Edward's, she's shorter, somewhat mirroring Monkey1 and Monkey2's current height difference - well, not quite if you get really math geeky and calculate that whole proportional ratio thing.

(Yes, I forgot that last loose end. I weaved it in after I took the pic.)

While Twilight wasn't even on my radar back when Monkey1 named Edward, I thought I would amuse myself geekily by throwing out all the other character names from the book for Monkey2's, starting with Jacob and going through all the Cullens. In the end, Monkey2 named her monkey after Zoey 101.

Sigh...the drawbacks of not being militant about monitoring both Monkeys tv viewing. I think I was simply surprised that she didn't opt for the more obvious homage to one of her very favorite HSM characters. But to minimize the reference, I took the liberty of not spelling her name the same way as Britney Spear's little sister's character.

Maybe when I knit the full-sized one from the rest of the yarn in the kit, I'll have the fun of naming him/her.

Still with the gift knitting

Lucky 7 hat
Mission Falls 1824 Wool in Raven 1.4 skeins
size 8 KP circs

This is not going to b-day brother 'cause it's a tad too snug to be a small adult hat. I thought I compensated by going up a needle size, but I probably should've gone up 2 more. He opted for my first pair of Noro Maine Morning Mitts instead. Darn that instant gratification!

And since b-day brother gets the first pair of mitts, I cast on for a second pair hoping that I would keep them for me but they're at bit too 80's pink (& black) for me.


Maine Morning Mitts
Noro Silk Garden
size 8 dpns
no mods

The weather's been super nice this weekend (a Nov heat wave!), so I've got my finished gift knits washed and drying out in the shade.

At this point, I should've cast on for a cowl or more fingerless mitts, but I just wasn't feeling inspired at all, even with lots of Ravelry surfing. I only managed a row here & there with my MS4 stole and my Anemone sock since I just wasn't feeling those at all either. So I ended up casting on for Monkey2's mini-monkey. I forgot how quick the body takes. It's the endless i-cording of the tail, arms and legs that took up the bulk of our sock camp monkey knitting, iirc. The body's started with Typhoon Tina and the kit came with Harlotty as the "other" colorway.


I also decided to try my luck with the Ruffled Roses Scarf since tapmouse had been urging me to cast on for a scarf awhile back, before we started on our gift knitting, I think.

Since I'm using the narrower Universal Yarns Tango instead of the OnLine ribbon yarn, it's been a little tough going. Maybe once I start with the lace, then ribbed panels, it won't seem so bad.


There's something ironic about using a designer's free pattern distributed to help lys businesses and the majority of the yarn I'm using came from lys that have closed.

I don't think I'll get too much further on this scarf for awhile since I really should be knitting a cowl here and there. And a few fingerless mitts too.

Going in circles

Not feeling the flat back-and-forth knitting projects (plus they're both sleeves), so my active WIP's are circularly knitted:


Monkey Kaw Kaw Sock 1 is done! Started my second sock, but need to take a picture of my first Monkey Kaw Kaw sock with tapmouse's 'cause mine patterned lighter than hers - quite the lesson in the whole different knitter/different needle size/different gauge (more row than stitch) can make hand-dyed yarn look different.


I also started my Cowl of Kindness (sorry, Ravelry link) in my Handmaiden Casbah skein (Ruby Red?, size 8 needles, yarn held double.) The cowl pattern is based on Chawne's lovely Socks of Kindness.


Am also doing a Koolhaas hat that is slated to go to someone specific or to a charity as a chemo cap.

She called it!

Tapmouse knew I was in Project Manager mode when she called that I would finish this pair by the end of the week. What she probably didn't realize was that due to Monkey2's love of the Wiggles, I had that darn song "Do the Monkey. Ooh, ooh. Ah, ah. Ooh, ooh. Ah, ah. Monkey, monkey..." running through my brain the entire time.

Quick recap:

Socks that Rock Algae lightweight
Monkey by Cookie A
size 1 (2.50 mm) Knitpicks dpns
no mods


I'll have to re-take the picture for my Scout's Indie Swag June package, but you can see better ones in Scout's flickr group. In addition to Cookie A providing the pattern for this month's swag, she also chose the color for Scout to dye. When I told Tapmouse this, she asked if it was in the green color family, but I couldn't tell her 'til I got the package. Scout hides the actual color when she previews it in her blog. And what do you know, Tapmouse was right! It's green. A teal green, but still...green!

You can get a better looks at the pattern photo here since the hard copy printed out too dark to see the details of the sock.

So now that I'm done with my Monkeys I have no excuse for not working on my second Twisted Flower sock. I initially entertained the thought of leaving sock 1 as is with the leg knitted on size 2 (2.75 mm) dpns for a "large" and the heel & foot on size 1 (2.50 mm) circs for the medium, but the more I get into the second sock, the more I realize I need to re-knit the entire first sock. Aside from the nightmare option of cutting the sock in half and then knitting the leg as a medium then grafting it to the other half, I realized I should've reduced the number of stitches for the foot to 72 sts (the "large" again), not the 68 sts for the medium. Then there's the realization that I also should've done one more repeat on the foot before decreasing for the toes. I'm not fond of toe jams in shoes or socks, especially when I can fix the sock.


In between all this I'm still managing to get a couple rows on my Something Red here and there though I've slowed down since I got to the ribbing section. My poor April Y4S club second sock is being sadly neglected.

Oh, by the way, I got in Ravelry this week. My name there is Nartian. It'll be slow going loading my projects and stash into my notebook since I can't cheat and do it at work, especially since flickr.com is blocked from our network. I'll be sticking the Ravelry button on my side bar at some point.

Goal

Did some obsessed knitting last night:

One Monkey down, one to go.

I really should get a real sock blocker...'cept I keep buying more yarn instead.


Usual specs:
Monkeys by Cookie A
Socks that Rock Algae lightweight
Knitpicks size 1 (2.50 mm) dpns
no mods - am curious to see how the St st heel will wear. Besides, when (not if) I knit another pair of Monkeys (thinking darker colors), I'll probably sub in the usual slip st heel

Now, I can either do the relaxing and easy Something Red or tackle my Twisted Flower more. Of course, it doesn't mean I won't be winding my STR Firebird. ;)

It's a Rockin' Sock Club kind of YPF day

I'm posting other YPF-ish pics at the beginning of this post, so if you don't want to be spoiled on the June Rockin' Sock Club yarn, don't scroll past my Monkey-sock-in-progress pic.

First up is my Sunshine Yarns Dragonfly sock yarn. When I saw a flickr pic of this yarn knitted up, I really wanted it. I finally got around to e-mailing Dani and when she told me it would be up in her shop this month, I had to order it.

Just for filler:

yarn: KP Essential Tweed in Marina
needles: KP size 1 (2.50 mm) circs
gauge: 9 spi
pattern: an aborted test pattern using Magic Loop (ML) toe up

I had finished this test sock in April, but the designer stopped the process after seeing a couple of the test socks and decided she didn't like the way the pattern was coming out.

The KP Essential is a really soft feeling yarn. I love it 'cept it splits like there's no tomorrow, but it might be the KP circs I was using. Since the test pattern has been abandoned, I'll be ripping out the fold-over cuff portion instead of ripping out the whole sock. (Thank goodness I had to foresight to not cut the yarn when I was done.) At some point, I will probably re-knit the leg in the St st and end with a typical 1" of ribbing unless I find another fold-over cuff pattern to sub in. Maybe the lace cuff one in IK's Favorite Socks?

It's my first ML method and it's fine, but I don't think it'll be my go-to method for sock knitting. I may have had an easier time with this since I've already done socks on 2 circs.

(Here's where to stop scrolling just past the following pic:)


I promised myself that I would start the June STR club sock until I got at least one Monkey sock done. (If I was really, really good, I shouldn't start 'til after the Twisted Flower is done, but I'm going to be realistic.) I should be done with this sock by the end of the weekend at the latest. I want to save the second Monkey sock 'til I get through the cabled portions of my Twisted Flower sock as it helps me keep in the right mindset. I may need to do a second pair of Monkeys if/when I re-knit my first Twisted Flower to match the second.

So, without further ado, the STR Rockin' Sock Club June yarn:

The pattern can be done toe up or cuff down, so I'll be doing these cuff down. Nothing wrong with toe up ('cept that whole short row heel vs reverse heel flap thing), but I prefer cuff down. And the yarn's in the lightweight base, my favorite of BMFA's sock yarns so far. Well, I still have to try the heavyweight and knit up the Seduction beyond a teeny tiny swatch, but what made me fall in love with STR was tapmouse's lightweight leftovers for me to play with.

Thanks to all of last year's sock club KAL members for the idea of taking a pic of the opened skein! It always helps me figure out where to start my second sock so I have a decent chance of having the 2nd sock match the first.

Metering the WIPs

In a supposedly rational effort (hah!) to keep my wrists and hands from wearing out, I've been rotating the WIP's cause:

1) I've got cotton. Well, technically my Something Red is in a cotton/wool blend, but still:

The pic shows I'm on the 4th skein of Knitpicks Main Line since it comes in 82 yd skeins as Monkey2 is showing her ire on my handknits. I haven't cast on anything for her in quite awhile. Just kidding on the kiddie ire. That's just mommy guilt kicking in a little since Monkey1 is more likely to ask for specific crocheted & handknit items.

2) (Left) The stiff Yarn4Sock club camel/blend yarn combined with a left twist consisting of a ktbl in the 2nd stitch on the second (left) Balance sock makes for slow going. That and the softener smell on the second skein hasn't dissipated as much as I thought it would - my one and only pet peeve about this yarn. I can live with the stiffness 'cause the knitted fabric has an interesting sorta velvety feel, almost (not quite, but almost) like a silk tweed - the caveat being I still need to wash these socks after I'm done with the second. But it's amazing to me how much this smell bothers me so much. (I've googled and haven't found a knit blogger in the club that's posted anything about this unless my google-fu is not working.) I know I should've washed the skeins first, but I definitely will the next time I get yarn that bugs me in this way.

3) (Right) And I hit a mental block on the 2nd Twisted Flower sock and not just 'cause I started on the medium size instead of the large for the first sock. I've realized I've been thinking my feet are larger than they are. I've started 3 first socks (maybe 4?) in the large size and had to rip back since they all came out too big. 'Cept the Twisted Flower, of course, which only came out comfortably loose.

So I cast on again for the Monkeys, this time in STR lightweight Algae. I figured doing an easier Cookie A pattern would get me back in the groove for the Twisted Flower and the squishy STR yarn would give my hands the break from the stiffer yarns. I also love the speed of doing the pattern size ("medium") on size 1 (2.50 mm) KP dpns.

It's not Friday yet, but I did finish the second test sock so Monkey1 now has another pair of socks. (The other reason to motivating me to get the Monkey off my back - I had an FO!) Have oodles of Hill Country Yarns Superfine Superwash sock yarn left (I'll need to weight it), but definitely enough for another small second pair of socks:

Yarn: Hill Country Superfine Superwash sock yarn in Raspberry Sorbet
needle size: KP size 0 circs
gauge: 10 spi St st
pattern: a test one for Tyler

And continuing the sock yarn lemming mode, my Knittery yarns came in. I had ordered directly from them before I discovered Woolgirl carries them.

left to right: Passionfruit merino, Cherries merino cashmere, Lakeside Flora merino cashmere

Scrumptious stuff, especially the Lakeside Flora! Tapmouse can testify since I flashed this stash to her today.

Swatch the Monkey

Warning! If you don't want to be spoiled about the first STR Rockin' Sock Club package, don't scroll past the second pic.

When I first swatched Cookie A's Monkey pattern on my medium weight STR Peacock with KP size 2's (3.00 mm) dpn's to see if I could get a larger size, I found it was a bit too large/loose. So I bought some Susan Bates size 2's (2.75 mm) dpn's to swatch those. Well, tapmouse tells me the stitches on my Susan Bates swatch are smaller, but I'll be darned if they don't feel smaller. While the pattern stitches looks smaller, my ribbing seems looser. In any case, I think I've decided that my STR Peacock will not be morphing into a pair of Monkeys. While I like this pattern a lot, I don't like how the Peacock colors are coming out. I may swatch one of my other med wgt STR, probably Pisgah, into Monkeys and see if I like that better. Just as soon as I decide if I should go down another needle size to KP size 1's (2.50 mm).

In the meantime, I'm slowly continuing on my first BFF sock in Fleece Artist Polar Sea. I had hoped to finish this sock this past weekend in anticipation of my first STR Rockin' Sock Club package, but a nauseous migraine basically sidelined me. In any case, my package did not arrive 'til today. DH & monkey1 were home before me so monkey1 got to my sock package first! After a quick check of the USPS box to make sure she didn't miss anything, I checked out my stuff. So here it is my first STR club yarn & pattern...

and I'll be darned if my first Rockin' Sock Club pattern is toe up. Gah! Well, nothing like making myself practice toe ups on an adult size sock pattern. I am sorely tempted to change the both the heel & toes, but I did join the club to try patterns/methods I wouldn't otherwise try. If that doesn't work out, I can always frog and do a different toe & heel (the generic Diamante reverse heel flap?). And so I leave with the sock club obligatory pic of the skein opened up (check out that cute little emergency key chain skein). I so love Tina's color aesthetic!