Melly's Mystery KAL: Part 4

Just when I thought I was done with the KAL, I decide to undo the toe and lengthen the foot a little! I was getting a bit restless anyway, not knowing what to knit next, so I will get back to these socks first.

Melly's Mystery KAL: Part 3

It's done! Five clues later, I have finished the first sock of a pair and am well on my way through the second too. Though I am not particularly keen on the shaft design, I do like the foot with its travelling cables that lead to the side cabling. In the end, I didn't bother with clue 5 (toe shaping) because it involved cutting out bits of the chart and arranging the cabling on it. Instead I made it easier on myself by simply continuing the cabling and decreasing as usual. In the end this is the same thing I would have had to do after cutting and pasting anyway.

To my surprise the sock fits very well all round. The sock yarn is strangely coarse though and I hope it will improve after a wash. I suspect that the amount of salt I put in with the dye affected how the yarn feels because it was much softer originally. I am looking forward to wearing these socks soon.

Melly's Mystery KAL: Part 2

Last night I finished clue 2 of the KAL and still need to wait 5 days before the next clue is published. Though I am not sure if the pattern is quite my cup of tea, I do like the colour of the yarn (if not its scratchy texture) and knitting the pattern is fun. I wonder what it will look like when it is complete.

I must say, I am enjoying knitting a project bit by bit in a way that you are forced to wait. Somehow that seems to make it more efficient (and pretty much guarantees you will actually get it done sooner rather than later - oh, the peer pressure!).

I am liking the look of the yarn when knitted up even though it looks quite different from what I imagined it would be like. The slight variegation is lovely.

What's Currently On My Spindles

1. Handcarded Corriedale batt: angelina, silk, sari silk, rayon thread (Laal Bear, Fibre Fest 2011)

2. Red Hot Chilli Pepper; Spin a Rainbow, space-dyed 18.5m merino/mulberry silk tops (MandaCrafts, Fibre Fest 2011)

3. 70/30 merino/silk plait (Krafty Koala, Fibre Fest 2011)

What Happens When You Learn to Knit on the Internet

My Ravelry friend Melly has gifted our German RAK group a sock pattern she designed and we are currently taking part in a KAL (feel free to purchase it an join us - the pattern is available in English and German). The above is the result of the first clue and I am using my hand-dyed sock yarn Raspberry Sorbet. This is my first KAL and quite exciting. Also, it is nice to be forced to pace oneself because the clues will only come once a week.

Something quite interesting happened after I finished knitting. I realised that I do not get twisted stitches if I knit through the back loop, as the pattern specified. It took a while to figure out, but it turns out that this is because I seem to pull the yarn through a stitch differently. While everyone else in the group seems to do this with the yarn being positioned under the right hand needle, I pull the yarn through with it lying on top of the right hand needle. This results in a normal knit stitch that is twisted while the ktbl stitch is untwisted.

As you can see from the picture, the ribbing sections next to the cables are untwisted where I used the ktbl stitch my way. I really didn't like it and my mentioning that was the reason we first of all noticed the difference in my way of knitting. So now I have frogged and reknit everything again to make sure it looks right. I wonder if anyone else knits my way. Maybe this is just what happens if you learn to knit from the internet instead of having someone with you "live" to teach you.

Mystery Lace Yarn

I am seriously disenchanted with knit club now, but the two times I have been there this year it was just about worth going. The first time I got a stack of knitting magazines for free and last time I was able to buy the above handdyed skein of lace (probably 150g, there was no ball band and I have no idea what exactly it is other than 100% wool of some kind) and some leftover sock yarns for only £5. Someone was trying to get rid of two huge bags of various yarns and we all had a good rummage. No idea what I will make with this skein yet, but I liked that it was slightly variegated green, which is a colour I don't normally have.

My First Supported Spindle

LucyJ on Ravelry recently sold some of her spindles since she mainly used her wheel instead. As soon as I saw her Russian made of beautiful Mexican rosewood, I knew I had to have it. The price was good as it was secondhand and I knew the maker (IST) is great, so I couldn't go wrong there. What I wasn't sure about at all was whether I would be able to use a supported spindle in the first place.

Since I only ever used drop spindles before, I couldn't quite imagine how this would work. I searched for suitable videos to give me an idea and though it looked fairly easy, I wasn't convinced I could make it look as good. This was the most helpful video I found:

It shows very clearly how to get started, which is the most important thing, in my opinion. Nothing is more frustrating (and more difficult) than trying to get the leader going. Once you get the hang of it, it's all right.

Once the spindle arrived, I was reluctant to try it right away, which is unusual and shows just how convinced I was I would fail. That evening I finally gave it a go: I got my plait of Krafty Koala's merino and silk blend that I bought at Fibre Fest last year and simply got going. And it worked! Right from the start! I was and still am amazed how easily I took to spinning with a supported spindle. The photo shows the result of that evening's spinning.

I've not found any nice spindle bowls, oddly enough. There don't seem to be many made in the UK. For now I am using a cermamic bowl that's actually for dips, but I will go to a kitchenware shop soon to find a smaller bowl. It will do. Actually, I quite like the one I am currently using, even though the spindle sometimes slips around in it when I forget about it.