Sunday, February 05, 2012

Septuagesima Sunday


Scotland lost, as usual. Takes the pressure off the knitting schedule, anyway. I found it a scrappy, unsatisfactory match. When England beat Scotland in the Rugby World Cup recently – off in the Antipodes somewhere – the match was far more exciting. Or did it just seem so to me because it was played early in the British day? whereas yesterday I was already exhausted by kickoff time.

There were passages of good play, but the England defence held, and Scotland didn’t score a try. As usual.

We had a nice time with the Mileses. They are going to host Easter again, with Rachel and her family coming up from London. That will be something to look forward to, through the tedium of Lent.

Two knitting decisions, a propos:

n      I think it will probably be best to photograph the sky over there every morning and knit the relevant stripes into the Sky Scarf when we get back, rather than travelling with a whole bag of oddballs. Even this morning, six weeks into the year, I needed an entirely new yarn to express a golden glow in the eastern sky. The designer doesn’t discuss the question of moving about, I don’t think. But nobody stays in the same place for 365 consecutive days, do they?

n      When the current socks are finished (soon), I’ll cast on a pair for Ketki, who didn’t get any socks in ’11. If I apply myself industriously while we’re there, I ought to be able to reach the first heel. I will try something different, while I’ve got Ketki on the spot to try it on. It can be part of my vague experiment-in-’12 project.

I’ll have a look at the Flutterby socks (which come with Sockupied, but have to be downloaded separately), as you suggest, Bonnie, for the sake of the Sweet Tomato Heel. Love the name. Queer Joe likes his own version of the “Andersson heel”. I google’d it, but it seems to be exclusively toe-up and there, for the moment at least, I draw the line.

n      The cast-on would be fiddly, and would deprive me of the pleasure of that little bit of Kitchener at the end.
n      The ribbing comes last – a bit like eating the icing first.
n      I am not confident in my ability to achieve a sufficiently elastic bind-off.

And I’ve got nothing if not books – I’ll read up on heels. There is much sensible advice in yesterday’s comments, for which I thank you.

Non-knit

Helen and her eldest son Archie are due in London today, whence they will set off tomorrow to look at a possible school for him. England is suffering badly from snow this morning (none in Edinburgh). I hope they’ll be all right.

10 comments:

  1. June socks, a free pattern on Ravelry has a very fun heel. Top down so it meets your criteria.It took me five tries to get the heel right and my son asked at one point how much sock yarn cost and did the inevitable comparison. After my assertation that I knit my love for them into every stitch they very correctly stated that really I was knitting my frustration.

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  2. June socks, a free pattern on Ravelry has a very fun heel. Top down so it meets your criteria.It took me five tries to get the heel right and my son asked at one point how much sock yarn cost and did the inevitable comparison. After my assertation that I knit my love for them into every stitch they very correctly stated that really I was knitting my frustration.

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  3. Ah well, at least you don't have a new knitting project hanging over your head. I am thoroughly lazy regarding socks. I can make basic socks with no pattern and very little thought, so I am loathe to change. I still haven't 'Olivered' but I plan to. That's as far off the beaten path as I am willing to venture at the moment.

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  4. I wore my Scotland rugby shirt yesterday. Sorry it didn't help.

    Several people on the Ravelry Sky scarf group have talked about what to do when traveling. Your idea has come up - taking photos and/or writing down the colours while away, then knitting them up when you get home. That is what I intend to do.

    Have you tried weaving in the loose ends? I am not going to carry the yarn up the side either, but also don't want 365 days worth of ends to deal with. I am starting mine in 6 days so I need to get it figured out.

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  5. Sweet Tomato heels are wondrous, very adjustable to the varieties of actual human heels, and can be done toe up or cuff down. I love them! Cat has several YouTube videos that show it clearly, although I did buy the ebook, it is totally worth the price, very excellently written. There is a YouTube video for Jenny's Surprisingly Stretchy cast-off as well, which I now use almost exclusively for my toe-up socks, very easy and works a treat.

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  6. Anonymous4:03 PM

    I'm not familiar with Jenny's cast off, but Cat Bordhi has a lovely stretchy one in her mobius scarf book. I think there is a YouTube of that too, and I use it almost exclusively now. It's good for a lengthwise scarf, I used to have trouble with one side pulling up more than the other.

    Beverly near Yosemite CA

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  7. Janis in Lyme4:48 PM

    Hi Jean. I just watched Cat Bordhi's video on the sweet potato heel, and I am madly finishing the pair I am making for my mother so that I can cast on a new pair for the sweet potato. I hate picking up the wraps on short row heels and usually knit Lucy Neatby's garter heel when I have to do one. Now I have a stockinette option. I'll report back.

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  8. Anonymous5:08 PM

    Certainly the sky scarf will represent the sky you saw each morning, not the sky at a certain place each morning.

    I thoroughly recommend Jeny Staiman's "surprisingly stretch bind-off", as demonstrated by Cat Bordhi on youtube.
    -- Gretchen

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  9. Delurking to say that I very much enjoy reading your blog, Jean, and that I, too, resisted toe-up socks for the longest time. I was persuaded to try it, however, when I tried a new (to me) brand of yarn, and wanted to make sure I could use as much as possible. Now I go back and forth between toe-up and toe-down.

    I don't remember the source of the cast-ff I use; I think I heard of it first from the Yarn Harlot. You simply knit the first two stitches of your round together, then slide that stitch back onto the left-hand needle. Knit that stitch and the next together, and slip the resultant stitch back onto the left-hand needle. Repeat to the end of the round. Very simple to remember, and very stretchy.

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  10. Sarah JS8:19 PM

    I'm just finishing up my first pair of socks that employ Cat's Sweet Tomato Heel. It's fine, but seems no better than other heels I've used in fit for my particular feet. I have used the same no-wrap technique on short rows in a scarf -- so am glad I've added the technique to my knitting bag of tricks, even if I don't use on socks heels here on out.

    However, I did want to add my voice for Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off. (Originally published here: http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall09/FEATjssbo.php) This is my go-to bind off in any situation that needs stretch. It's very resilient as well.

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