clumsygirl: art + craft + tomfoolery

Things are crazy up in here!

I am moving up in the world of knitting. I am no longer knitting only flat, square things. It's terribly exciting. I am creating toe-up* socks!

I had originally just purchased a book on the subject and attempted to start without any guidance. I had taken the book, some plastic dpns** and some yarn with me on our Japan trip, since I knew that the plane ride was going to be insanely long, and I, historically, have a hard time sleeping on planes. This attempt proved problematic. I had a very crappy looking toe of a sock, with giant ladders*** running through it.

This is the figure-eight cast on, which took me four hours to learn on my own.


This is my in-flight knitting set up (notice the drink!).


This is the resulting horrible ladders of ugliness.


So, I talked Nerdygirl into taking a toe-up sock class with me. She and I took a 3 day class at Yarngarden last month. It did help to have someone there who could look at the project in my hands and diagnose what I had done wrong, then fix it for me. The teacher was very skilled, but a little brusque. (I had imagined a knitting instructor to have a bit more warmth.) I did manage to finish a sock with the help of the class. It's not the prettiest sock, but it is complete. Unfortunately, I didn't buy enough yarn to make two of the same kind.

Here is The First Sock, in all it's finished, stripey glory.


Anyhow... I am now working on the next sock. I need to practice my gauge measuring as well, as the first attempt was far too wide. I had to frog the whole thing and restart this morning. I don't mind too much, as it gives me more practice with the whole process. I'd rather it fit correctly. This is not a practice sock anymore. I'm using a yarn colorway I purchased at Blue Moon Fiber Arts called Knitters Without Borders. A portion of the purchase price goes to Doctors Without Borders, which I think is rad. We'll see how the colors turn out in sock form. Sometimes I'm not a fan of variegated yarns. As of last night, it looked a little like pink, white and purple-brown leopard spots. What do you think?

Toes Without Borders Sock


*Toe-up indicates socks that are knit starting from the toes, rather than the cuff at the top (which is standard). You can try them on as they progress and make adjustments on the fly.
**DNPS = double pointed needles.
**Ladders are weirdly spaced lengths of stitches which gape with big holes.