FO: Widdershins...

The fastest socks I ever knitted, and my first FO of the year!



Pattern: Widdershins by Brooke Chenoweth Creel (Knitty.com Summer '06)
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM in "denim/pink" (#P400)
Needles: US1/2.25mm Clover bamboo DPNs
Time: 1.5 weeks
Mods: Adjusted for smaller row gauge, increased up to 60 sts on leg.

Notes:

I found the toe-up with heel flap construction way more fascinating than is probably healthy. =P For the first sock I was simply figuring out the pattern, for the second I thought about how I could convert other sock patterns to be worked like this. I see much more sock knitting in the future now that I've found a technique I really enjoy.



My overall gauge was smaller than what was stated in the pattern. It didn't matter so much on the foot--it ended up being a perfect fit. I just had to calculate how long the gusset and heel came out to with my row gauge and knit the foot length accordingly. However, I was afraid it might be too narrow once I got to the calf, so I gradually increased up to 60 stitches up the leg. My mom loves the socks, and they fit perfectly!

As for my first impressions of the Koigu...Well, I'm personally not crazy about variegated yarn. I think I've only used it for myself once although I've used self-striping sock yarn for gift socks. Even so, they did a really good job with dying the yarn. I've also read that the base yarn for Koigu is from Louet, so I guess if I want some nice sock yarn in the future I could probably get it directly from them in solid colors.

Now, back to my reknit project...

Reknit: Ribbon Tie Cardigan...

Which I'm still not happy with.



This was the first sweater I knit when I was still twisting my purl stitches. I got quite a bit of wear out of it and figured I may as well knit it again the right way. It looks much better than before (and the yarn was still okay despite being unraveled and re-used). The only problem is that in the year since I last wore it (I decided not to take much with me to school in England), my personal style and taste aged a bit as I got closer to going out in the real world and working in professional office settings.

Or as my mother puts it, I'm getting old. =P This cardi just isn't for me anymore.

This could pass as a child's cardigan, though. I think I'll include it with this year's contribution to the Dulaan project.

As for my current RIP, well, let's just say all that 2x2 ribbing isn't a lot of fun. Just to keep me from getting too bored I started a new, but small, project.



This is sock 1/2 of Widdershins in Koigu KPPPM for my mom. We went to a yarn shop a few towns over where I saw Koigu in person for the first time. I picked out a couple skeins of a deep purple for myself to try and told my mom if there was anything she wanted, she could pick out the yarn. She decided to go for socks in this pink/purple/blue colorway.