Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Snow days sound fun in theory. No school, yeah! Problem: you are stuck in the house with a bunch of other people who would rather be someplace else.

You know it is bad when your hometown makes CNN for the ridiculous snowfall amounts (and the weather Channel, and MSMBC, and Fox News).

If you ever wanted to know what 16 inches of snow looks like, I offer you this picture of my truck. Not only do I have a foot of snow around the bottom of the truck, there is a foot of snow ON my truck. Not to mention the bed has a 2 foot high snow drift in the back. You should see the street side. The snow plow just piled the snow up over there. I think it is at least 4 feet high.

The nice thing about working in a school, I don't have to work on days like this. The bad thing is all the crap I have to finish YESTERDAY because it is the end of the grading period.

Now, if someone could just find my car, I would dig it out.

Happy knitting!

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Sunday, February 17, 2008

How to Darn Socks

My good friend Jen over at Piddleloop.com sent me a link to the most wonderful video demonstration of sock darning. Since I am preoccupied with knitting, repairing, and mending socks, I thought I would pass the video on to all my dear readers.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

A study of socks

I have been conducting a bit of a sock experiment. In addition to repairing and darning socks, I thought it was about time I systematically find out what styles of heels, ribs, ect. that I like in socks.

I wanted a very "scientific" experiment, so I am using the same size needle (some will be done on DPNs and others Circs. I wanted to test out both for speed and finished socks) and the same yarn for each pair of socks (Knitpicks Memories was discontinued last year, I bought tons in various colors). The first pair I made was a rather boring sock with 2x2 rib and a traditional sturdy heel.

These were done on 5 DPNs. I hadn't used DPNs in a while, and it was a comfort to get back to this style of knitting. I have the Knitpicks DPN set, and these needles are lovely. I used to snap wood and bend metal, but the Knitpicks needles are a pleasure to work with.

Some notes on the actual sock. I find 2x2 more functional than attractive or necessary. So, I will be knitting several different tops on the socks. 2x2 is nice, but limited and not so attractive.

Next, the traditional study heel. Elizabeth Zimmermann said that this is a poor stitch for heels. It is strong, but it savagely pulls the heel in. This pulling creates stress on the sock and leads to the dreaded hole.

For the next sock, I did a 1x1 twisted rib (the knits are done in the back). This a pretty rib, and it is not only stretchy, but elastic as well. It wants to pull back into its original shape. I like this, so this rib will be a "keeper."

I did the eye of the partridge heel on this sock. I noticed right away that this type of heel is as strong as the sturdy heel, but it pulls in less. It is also pretty. So, another fine option for an attractive and study sock.

Last, I have decided to take out all my short row heels and repair them with "toe" heels. Basically, after the sock is done, rip out half a round, pick up the stitches and knit a toe. Short row heels will not be a part of my sock experiment since all I have ever made developed HUGE holes.

I will be doing some real darning this weekend. Thanks to Jen for the video of how to darn!

I will keep you posted on the sock experiment.

Happy Knitting!

Sunday, February 03, 2008