Starting Over

I had a bit of a frustrating weekend knitting wise. Everything I touched seemed to become a tangled mess! The Aldebaran socks were looking pretty good. I had the heel turned and the stitches picked up along the gusset.

Then, I tried to continue the pattern. I knew that I had to do colorwork on both the sole and instep, because if I only did it on the instep, the yarn would be at the wrong place every time I came around to knit it with both colors. I sat for literally a few hours trying to figure out how to make it work. Either my brain just couldn't wrap itself around the concept, or it just wasn't meant to be. I tried integrating the sole pattern and it looked horrible with the solid heel turn and the gusset stitches. Nothing worked. I knit and tried something, I frogged back. I tried again, and frogged again. I stopped counting after 4 times. Then I took control.

I frogged the whole darn thing. I didn't want a solid foot, and I just couldn't get it to work the way I wanted. The ball winder was the only solution I could justify at the time.

To distract me and calm me down a little, I did some baking. Red velvet cake is one of my all time favorites, so when I saw this recipe over at Nic's blog, I knew it was time to try them!

They came out wonderful. I didn't have any cream cheese, but I had a huge tub of mascarpone, so I just used all mascarpone with a dash of plain yogurt for just a little tang that the cream cheese would have had. The cookie parts weren't really cake and weren't really cookies - a nice in-between texture. Between hubby and I, they disappeared over the weekend!

After a good sugar rush, I decided to try the socks again using the pattern and doing the Bosnian Toe as called for. The thing ended up teeny tiny after I did all my increases on #3's. So, I ripped and started again on #4's. Still no luck - you work from the toe point up, do the increases while doing the colorwork, then just knit the foot as "normal". I couldn't even get the toe over three of my toes after all the increases! I debated about using #5's - I was using Louet Opal and Henry's Attic Kona - both yarns I had knit before on #3's. Figuring that I really didn't have anything to loose, I tried the 5's. Still no luck! At this point, I gave up. I don't want to say that the sock got the best of me, but man, this one is pretty darn close!

So, I knit on the back of the Street Smart Hoodie for a bit.

The rows are a lot longer than the sleeves, but they use the same cable pattern repeated four times. I have a ways to go to get to the 14" I need, but it is good mindless knitting when my brain was so completely fried after the sock.

With no sock on the needles, I feel a bit lost. I think I may just have to get my sister to pick another sock until I feel up to tackling this one again.....

Finally Some Progress, and Indecision

Adlebaran got all of my attention last night and I made some great progress.

I haven't had a chance to work on it since I completed the ribbing, so I was anxious to get my fingers doing colorwork again. It's a fun pattern that is nice and symmetrical. I added some plain stitches at either side to make up for the difference in gauge from the pattern to my swatch (the pattern calls for 26 sts/4" and i am getting 32 sts/4") but I am excited to see how it plays out further down when i do the heel flap. I think the stripes on either side will make a nice border for the heel flap. Being that these are for my clog wearing sister, the pattern will continue all the way down the heel flap. I may try and make a solid stripe at the bottom to mimic the original and I will be doing the foot pattern also. I think it's a neat touch! The original socks are done toe up with a very interesting construction. I chose to do top down - looking back I'm not sure why! Toe up would have given me the chance to finish the foot in time to see my sister next week and fit the foot length to her then do the heel while I was there. Now, in writing this post, I'm questioning my decision to do top down. She uses a Bosnian Toe (could only find one picture of an example by Theresa here) which you knit a rectangle and pick up stitches along the sides and then start to knit in the round. I'm guessing I could just increase enough to make my larger stitch count.

Indecision. Should I continue and knit the heel flap and fit it to my sister and hope I can get the foot done while I am there? (if not, we go to the mail back and forth thing so I can get it to fit) Or, do I rip the leg and start toe up and stop before the heel so I can fit it to her while I am there - the leg I can do without fitting as long as I know the foot fits.

And I thought I had made such progress!

Snow, Socks and Salad

It finally happened!

We got a whopping 1.5" of snow on Friday night. It wasn't much, but at least it covered the icky dead brown stuff that is all we've been seeing since winter started. We haven't really had a snow that has stuck yet this year. Quite freaky for central Massachusetts! The dogs were all excited and managed to do some running around in it. They are much happier when the measurements are in feet and not inches. We had some good sun also, so the driveway and all the roads are clear - my kind of snow!

The first Broken Cable Rib sock is now on the road up to Burlington, Vermont. I finished it on Saturday and sent it up to Ivy to try on - I haven't made her socks before, so I want her to try it first before I start the second one to see if there are any changes I need to make.

If it fits, yay! If not, she can send me back the first one and I can re-work what needs fixing. In the meantime, I did a little work on Adlebaran. Since I have to rework the gauge and layout of the sock because I'm using a fingering weight yarn instead of sport weight, I did some calculating.

And some swatching....

I ended up knitting the swatch twice as my first attempt on #1 needles yielded a bit too firm of a fabric and a 10 sts/" gauge. With #2's, I got a much nicer fabric and 8 sts/". I used that as my base and proceeded to cast on! This will keep me occupied until I learn the fate of the Broken Cable Rib sock.

The hydroponic garden got a good trim this weekend. Hubby made an incredible niçoise salad with the greens and some ultra fresh tuna steak.

A nice balsamic dressing topped it off. The lettuce was sacrificed for the greater good of our tummies! We only used about half the lettuce, so we have enough for another "harvest" this week. Then, it's on to growing herbs!

The snow on the ground Saturday morning made me in a baking mood. I have been craving scones for a while now, and have tried a few recipes, but haven't been able to find one I really love - until now.

Cinnamon Vanilla Scones
(Adapted from this recipe)
3 Cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Butter (room temperature)
3/4 Cup Buttermilk
2 Eggs
3 Teaspoons Vanilla

In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, with a few larger chunks of butter still showing. In a separate bowl, beat together the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, and stir just until combined.

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it gently just until it holds together. Pat it into a rectangle about 8 x 10 inches, and cut the dough into 2 to 3-inch diamonds or squares with a sharp knife. Place the scones on an ungreased cookie sheet, and bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 12 to 14 minutes, until they're golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and serve warm.

A little peek

I have one sleeve and side sewn, and the second should be done today! It fits great, though the front opening for the zipper is a little floppy. The zipper itself should provide nice stability once it's sewn in. I love love love it!

When trying it on last night for a first fitting, my husband (my 6'2" husband) commented that he'd like a sweater "like that but maybe black". Not sure I'd want to knit this same pattern again, but he likes the half zip style and basic shape of it. Guess I'll have to be on the lookout for some economical yarn in large quantities!

The next pair of socks has been chosen.

It is the Aldebaran pattern from Socks For Sandals and Clogs by Anna Zilboorg. This is a book I have wanted since my sister and I both first spied it at the Maryland Festival in 2004. We didn't get it then, and regretted it ever since! I finally broke down and ordered it from The Mannings. They were really nice when I met them at Stitches, and I knew they had the book.

All the patterns have designs that go down the heel - from cables to lace to colorwork, it's all covered. They are done in a thicker yarn, however, so I'll have to do some re-calculation for my gauge and her foot size using the chosen yarn.

I'm going to use the bright yellow as the base color, and the purple will be for the colorwork. Should be some stylin' socks! She wanted fun and colorful!

Rumors say we are supposed to get a few inches of wet snow tonight into tomorrow morning. Should make for a fun morning drive in!