Starting Over

I've started Bianca's Jacket from Interweave Fall 2006, using Lion Brand Cotton Ease. The gauge for that is for a heavier yarn, but I'm knitting the medium size and expecting it to be smaller. I'm also using my left hand only, so my gauge is a little bigger. It's really awkward and my right hand keeps trying to take over. It feels like when I first started knitting, but it does seem faster, or it will be once I get used to it. I like not having to move the yarn much when I'm on the purl rows. The purl rows actually seem easier, because I keep grabbing both the front and the back loops when I'm knitting. The yarn and all the loops feel less secure, but I guess that's because I'm not used to it. The main thing I don't like is that my knitting looks so uneven. Some stitches are really stretched out and everything looks kind of crummy. I just want to get better with using my left hand so I can do fair isle more easily.

I finished the Monkey socks, except they aren't technically done. As you can see, one is taller than the other. Also the foot of the shorter one is in a tighter gauge, so I have to redo the other one to match it. I'm not sure if I should redo the top area of the shorter one, or the entire other sock. The taller one feels a little better with the looser gauge, and I don't have to struggle to put it on. The ironic thing was that I used the same size needle, size 2.5 mm, but used different brand needles. On one I used Knit Picks, and one is Addi dpns, and the Addis seem to look a tiny bit bigger. I used Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Somerset, which I definitely liked for this pattern. It's kind of hard to see the pattern in the picture, but it stands out in person.

Another Single Sock

Conwy 2
Originally uploaded by sphilange.

I finished Conwy from Knitting on the Road. I used Fearless Fibers yarn in Raspberry, which looked more purplish on the website, but turned out to be a dark hot pink, which I ended up liking more than purple. I used size 2.25 mm needles. The yarn seems to work really well with this pattern, because it doesn't obscure the pattern. The only thing I would have changed is to not decrease halfway down the leg. It wasn't really necessary, and made the sock a tiny bit too tight, but not enough so I wanted to fix it. I have now five single socks and for most of them, I haven't even started their mates. I figured that would happen, since I'm not a focused-on-one-project type of knitter.

Rusted Root Done

Rusted Root
Originally uploaded by sphilange.

I finished Rusted Root after several months of having it hibernate. I started off knitting a larger size, but started over with the smaller size. It fits really well now. This was a simple project, but the boring stockinette areas made it harder to keep knitting. I don't usually like to knit something in the exact yarn and color of the pattern, but I like this color and happened to have some. I used Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Sedona, with size 6 needles. The lace part was easy, but I still made a small mistake. I don't know how to go back and add yo's to an area, after I've knitted several inches. If I unraveled the vertical row, it would be hard to recreate the lace pattern, with all the increasing and decreasing. Even with stockinette, I don't know how to add yo's to an area. If anyone knows how, or knows of a good source to learn from, it would help. It happened to me with lace knitting often enough, so I figured there must be a way to go back and fix mistakes.