My second pair of socks is finished. I got them done last night, but it was too dark to get any decent pics, so had to wait until this morning to do the photo shoot. They feel nice and snug (I reduced the number of stitches by 50% to 36, and the fit is just right), but otherwise I’m not too crazy about them. The first one was a real pain as the pattern called for a crochet beginning, and I a) don’t have a crochet hook and b) don’t know how to crochet and was so eager to get knitting that I didn’t feel like learning now, and as I didn’t even have a hook it didn’t make much sense anyway. So I tried another approach, the figure-8 cast-on, which I quite liked. And since I’d already strayed from the pattern, I did the toe using one of the general toe-up methods I found on the net. I modified both a bit to get the right fit, plus had to rip the whole thing once as I had way too many stitches and the sock was turning out gigantic. I’ll spare you from a detailed description, but all in all I combined at least four different patterns, none of which worked for the heel so I figured it out myself, and used the original pattern only for the lift-bar-pass-bar-over shimmer effect and abandoned it after I’d memorised it (which took about 1/4 row). The first sock was more or less made by a trial-and-error method. But the second one was super quick to make - it only took about 3 hours.

Anyway, everyone wants to see pics, so here they are:


And a close-up of the shimmer pattern:

Pattern: Shimmer socks
Designer: Meg Croft, MagKnits March 2007
Yarn: Colinette JitterBug Jay, about 40 g
Needles: 3 mm rosewood glove needles

The yarn probably doesn’t do justice to the pattern, but I wanted to get rid of the Pomatomus leftovers and this was the best toe-up pattern I found that didn’t seem too yarn-consuming as I only had a little left. On the downside, it was quite boring. Or it could just be that after the Poms I just can’t get myself to get a kick out of these.

The thing is, I like knitting socks, but all the maths and mods involved in reducing the size give me a headache. I also like challenges, but I’d prefer the challenges to be in the pattern itself, not in figuring out how to make the socks smaller without messing up the pattern and always wondering how to adapt the heel turn to a reduced number of stitches. It would be really, really nice to be able to just follow the pattern and not make any mods. So if you know any beautiful and preferably demanding children’s sock patterns (about size 32 or for 6-8 year-old kids), please let me know. Thanks!

I’m also interested in learning to knit socks with two circulars as I’ve heard that it’s fast and gives a very smooth result. Any experience on that?

The long-awaited shipment from across the seas has arrived! My deepest thanks to those involved - you know who you are. :-)

Got this set of interchangeable circular needle tips & cables:

A girl needs a toolbox, right?

And as if that wasn’t enough, got some spare parts as well. Oh yes, and some yarn. Not a lot. Just 19 balls.

The two darker ones on the right are Andean Treasure (100% baby alpaca) in the Embers Heather colourway. The rest are Andean Silk (a blend of alpaca, silk & merino), Hollyberry.

You can probably guess by now what my favourite colour is…

Anyway, these will have to wait as I’ve just started my second pair of socks from the leftover JitterBug Jay. This time I didn’t have any time to knit on my business trip, and consequently my head was just about to explode. For me, knitting is not just about the end product; it’s also a form of relaxation, a way to clear my head. A form of mental jogging, if you like: rhythmic, simple, rewarding, and difficult to understand by those who’ve never tried it. And very, very addictive.

In any case, I’m back now and have just started the first sock. Woohoo! I’m knitting these toe up to make sure I get to use up all the yarn, plus I enjoy learning new techniques. The only annoying thing is the resizing - again. So far I’ve had to patch the toe & beginning of the foot up by combining bits and pieces of four different patterns and I still had to modify them. We’ll see how I manage with the heel and whether this turns out to be the right size after all. Fingers crossed (or toes).

Clapo #2 is finished! I didn’t have much time to knit last week, so I’m glad I got it done yesterday so I can take something smaller to knit on my business trip this morning (yes, I’m still a one-project woman - we’ll see how long that will last).

First the yarn:

Here’s a progress shot from before the drop rows:

And finally the finished scarf:


Pattern: Clapotis
Designer: Kate Gilbert, Knitty autumn 2004
Yarn: Alchemy Synchronicity She Threw A Brick, about 270 g
Needles: Addi Bamboo 5 mm

Alchemy Synchronicity was the softest, most luxurious yarn I’ve worked with so far. In fact it was so soft that I was almost afraid it was going to disintegrate in my hands. The silk makes it delicately shiny, and the colours are pure sugar.

I wonder if this will satisfy my Clapotis urge for a while. The pattern was getting a bit boring the second time - the novelty has certainly worn off. But I just like the finished scarf too much.

My my, how can I resist you?

“Hi, your yarn has arrived. Can you come and pick it up by 4 PM?”

It’s funny how one e-mail can make one smile for the entire afternoon. This one came just as the familiar anxiety was starting to hit me. “Will I run out of yarn? When are the new yarns coming? Wonder how long the American parcel takes. What will I do next? What will I do if I finish this and the yarn hasn’t arrived?” etc. etc.

It’s Colinette JitterBug again, this time in the Mist colourway. I must say it’s not quite what I expected; I was expecting more pearls and less crushed berries. It’s still JitterBug, and when JitterBug calls, I answer, but I may have to rethink my plans for this yarn as I was expecting something a bit more subtle and delicate.

On the bright side, as the hunt for just the right mix of pale pink and light, silvery grey continues, there will always be something in the stash until I find some use for this yarn.

The Pomatomus socks are finished and ready to be served with a bit of wasabi and a dash of soy sauce.

Project: Pomatomus
Pattern: Cookie A., Knitty winter 2005
Yarn: Colinette JitterBug Jay, about 50-60 g
Needles: Addi bamboo 3 mm dpns and Susanne’s rosewood 3 mm glove knitting needles

I did indeed manage to make the second one a bit smaller around the heel and foot and now the fit is perfect. I also knitted it with glove needles and found it much easier. I’m still waiting for a go-ahead from the designer to publish the modified pattern - will keep you posted.

As for the yarn, I’m a total JitterBug fan now. It’s lovely and soft, and the colours behaved themselves all the way. No striping, pooling or other undesirable side effects. And although the Pomatomus pattern does come out better in a solid colour, I think the Jay colourway looks best in something like this. I haven’t weighed the socks, but think I used about half a hank or a bit more, so I should be able to get another pair of socks from the leftovers, especially if I make them a bit shorter.

Like the deep blue sea.

My on-line orders are starting to pour in! Just as I was starting to slow down on the second Pomatomus, fearing a weekend without knitting, salvation came in the form of a parcel and Get Knitted gave me my fix. Just look at these beauties:

It’s Alchemy Synchronicity in the She Threw A Brick colourway. And it’s perfect! I was a bit dubious about it, but my fears are gone now. It’s simply stunning.

Yep, these babies will want to be a Clapotis when they grow up.

On the way home my feet led me to another LYS, one I hadn’t visited before. I’ve been partial to my first one for their excellent service and good selection, but it was past their closing time, so I strayed. Picked up a set of rosewood glove needles, but practised considerable self-restraint and stayed away from the yarns.

OK, the real reason was that they didn’t have enough of the only yarn that called my name and asked to be my handbag. A new shipment is coming next week, so no worries.

The huge sense of relief brought by the arrival of the parcel led me to a deeper truth. How could I ever not have wanted to have a stash? Stash is not indecisiveness or weakness of mind. Stash is creativity, stash is freedom of choice. Stash is a security blanket.

I have seen the light.

I’ve never understood why some people think small feet or petite women are cute. There’s nothing cute about falling outside the size charts. It’s a pain. When your shoes are size 32-32.5 (European) and socks size 27-29 (European) and you’re an adult, it’s a bit of a challenge to find decent footwear. There are special boutiques for extra small and extra big shoes, but socks are particularly difficult to find when your feet are the size of an 8-year-old’s but you’d rather not walk around with ladybugs or Batmans on your ankles.

When I realised that my new hobby could at least partially solve my clothing problem, I was ecstatic. No more rolling of the sleeves! Goodbye, hats that cover half of my face! So long, gloves that fall off! And above all - finally socks that fit!

So my next project was to be socks. I’ve never knitted socks before, but hey, there’s a first time for everything. And my first socks were to be no less than the Pomatomus. I fell in love with the design as soon as I saw it, and again - I just had to have them. They remind me of the traditional Japanese wave pattern that I’ve always found very comforting.

I did realise that the pattern was written for regular-sized feet and tried for a while to find a pattern for child-size Poms, but when I didn’t find any, I had to take the fish by the scales and improvise. I figured that if I make my socks about 2/3 of the original size, they should be about right. So I started by casting on 48 stitches instead of 72. Here’s the progress:

Don’t you just love those colours?

Everything has gone well so far. I’ve left out one pattern repeat lengthwise (otherwise the sock would have come up to my knee) and done the heel flap.

The heel turn was a bit problematic as basic maths just didn’t do it anymore. Finally I got through it by adapting the French heel I found in Ullaneule. Thank you, people at Ulla!

And here - drumroll - is the first finished sock!


The heel and the foot are still a bit too big, but all in all the resizing operation went rather well. And luckily the Pomatomus pattern itself wasn’t difficult - I could still watch telly while knitting. Once both socks are finished, I’ll post the modified pattern here (with the designer’s permission) for fellow knitters with small feet or small kids.

It was to be expected that sooner or later my search for the perfect Clapotis yarn would lead me to the on-line yarn stores, but this is too much. First I placed one order. Then another. And now - not the third, but the fourth. And all within a week!

Talk about not accumulating stash.

Yep, I can resist everything but temptation.

By now it was obvious that I was not going to give up knitting. The Clapotis finis, I needed something new to do. And the birth of my lovely little baby nephew was just the ticket. Babies always need something to wear, and baby clothes are small and cute and fast to knit, right?

However, I was unsure about the size, especially as my nephew seemed to grow every time I saw him. So I decided to go for a blanket instead. I wanted it to be off-white, soft and shimmery, yet machine-washable and easy to care for. I chose this free pattern with slight modifications:

Project: Bedtime Story
Yarn: Sirdar Just Bamboo, 111 Manilla, just under 400 g; decorations: Sirdar Just Bamboo, 113 Blue Grass, about 25 g
Needles: Addi bamboo 5 mm + tapestry needle

I modified the pattern slightly and left out quite a few squares. The original was 48 squares, but with this yarn that wouldn’t have been a baby blanket anymore. I made mine 20 squares, and the size is just right. I also placed the animals differently and didn’t make them face the centre.

What else can I say about this project? I’m glad it’s done and I get to do something different. Although it was heart-warming to knit for someone I love, the pattern was so monotonous that not only was it boring to knit, but I also started making mistakes. I simply lost concentration. Plus the tape yarn was a bitch to embroider. It kept twisting this way and that the whole time and I had to smooth each stitch by hand to make them look decent. The colours are nice, though, and the yarn has a lovely, elegant sheen to it.

I didn’t quite know how to calculate the amount of yarn needed, and when I was about halfway through, I had to go and buy some more yarn. By this time I had already discovered knitting blogs and seen how much yarn people tend to accumulate and made a holy decision to only buy yarn for the project at hand - no stash!

But, as I had gathered the extra yarn in my arms, I happened to glance at the Colinette shelf and realised that JitterBug in the Jay colourway would be perfect for my next project, the Pomatomus socks. There was only one hank left, and they said they only get them randomly. So without further ado I grabbed it, and that was the end of my no-stash vow. And of course I had to get a new set of Addi bamboo dpns as well, for the socks.

As I was walking home, happily swaying my shopping bag with the new yarns & needles, I realised that I’d spent over 200 euros in my LYS in just a couple of weeks.

So by now it was official. There was no going back - I was an addict.

I probably would have left the knitting at that, but when the Pop hat was almost finished, my Knitting Guru showed up at work with one of these. I experienced an instant full-body reaction: I gasped for air, my vision blackened, my heart started pounding and my hands started sweating. Must… have… must… have… First I tried to bribe her to make me one, but she just said, “You can knit and purl now, right?” and gave me a printout of the pattern.

I simply had to have that scarf, so that left me with no options, and as I needed to get some dpns to finish the hat anyway, I asked my colleague where my nearest yarn shop was. Given the name of the shop but no exact location, I googled it and found that they have an online store as well. Great, I thought, now I can have a look at the selection beforehand! So I click on “Yarns”, and what happens: the introductory picture is a skein of Noro. And Pavlov’s dog is back: Must… have…

So off I go and buy not one but two sets of Addi bamboos, one for the hat and one for the scarf, and empty the store of Noro Silk Garden, colourway 84. And just over a week later I’m the happy owner of this:

Project: Clapotis
Pattern: Kate Gilbert, Knitty autumn 2004
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden 84, just over 300 g
Needles: Addi bamboo 5 mm

By this time I had found a zen-like peace of mind in knitting, although I was clicking away quite feverishly - I couldn’t wait to get to wear the finished product. The pattern was an absolute delight to knit and I thouroughly enjoyed it. It was simple enough not to keep me from watching tv and/or talking on the phone while knitting, yet interesting enough to keep me focused. I found myself waiting for the drop rows even though Silk Garden didn’t just drop because of all the mohair - I had to use brute force and tear the damn stitches down. And yet I found childlike delight in getting to drop a stitch on purpose. I just loved it!

I made no alterations to the pattern, and the finished shawl is big, lovely and warm. My only slight disappointment was the yarn. To me it looks better on the skein - I had no idea it was going to stripe like that. And where did all those shock pinks and poison greens come from? I mean, how did this

turn into this?

Although the friendly woman at the LYS told me she sometimes cuts off the colours she doesn’t like, I was interested to learn how the yarn behaves so I just let it do its thing. And somehow, despite the Technicolor surprises I got while knitting, the colours seem to blend in a bit in the finished scarf. I’m not going to block it, either - I love the way it curls.

I’m definitely going to make at least one more Clapotis. I won’t be using Silk Garden anymore, though; and hence the quest for the perfect Clapotis yarn has begun.