Easter WIP

Happy Easter to those that celebrate. Happy Sunday to all. We had a quiet day which we greatly enjoyed.

As I mentioned in the past I use the WordPress app to write my posts. Our desktop has reached the age where it is on the way out. I had to download the Jetpack app to read blogs and comment and I finally got around to doing it. My phone is nearly the same vintage as the desktop so asking it to do new more modern things doesn’t necessarily go well. If you’re reading this it worked!

I cast on some new socks when I finished the last pair. I had serious concerns about sticking with them but now that I’ve turned the heel and started the gusset I guess they stuck. The pattern is Down the Rabbit-Hole by Purrlescent. It is available for free on Ravelry. The yarn is Western Sky Knits Aspen sock in the Lucy colorway.

I’ve knit with this yarn in the past and I really like it quite a lot. The colors are deep and vibrant. The purples and orange are just a little outside what I’d normally choose. The pattern is basically a pair of slipped stitches that travel around the sock. I like the combination of this pattern and yarn. The only drawback is I tend to split the yarn when I’m knitting the slipped stitches. The yarn isn’t overly splitty so I’m blaming my needles. They aren’t the pointiest I have but they are a little longer which I wanted for this pattern. I’m only a little bit concerned that there won’t be a load of stretch but not enough to try them on. I did knit the leg an inch shorter than I ordinarily would just in case.

Now that I have the Jetpack app I’m going to go read some blogs. It’s been a while.

FO Friday: About Those Heels Edition

Sorry for the dark photo. I neglected to plan ahead. The other photo is a better representation of the colors of the yarn.

By way of review, these are the socks I’ve been working on for the last two months. Yes, I’m barely just knitting. The yarn is the discontinued Wisdom Yarns Saki Bamboo in the crayon box colorway. The pattern is mostly my standard 64 stitch pattern that I keep in my head but I did try out a new heel. It’s called the Strong heel and it was developed by Gerdine Crawford-Strong. I bought the yarn at Goodwill for $4. It is impossible for me to pass up what I’d consider to be good yarn at that price. Even when the colors aren’t me. Plus I’d never tried this yarn and I’m a sucker for that too.

We’ll start with a little yarn review just so you’ll understand my comments about the heel. I’d consider the yarn to be a fine fingering weight. It’s not super soft but not rough either. It’s somewhere in the middle. The stripes of color were not what I was expecting. They didn’t follow a regular pattern but it wasn’t random either. Had I bothered to take the time I probably could have made matching socks but it would have involved unwinding quite a bit of yarn to compare the stripes.

Now, about that heel. In the photo the leg of the sock is to the right and the foot is to the left. The line of stitches that passed through the maroon stripes is the increases. Because the yarn is so fine and my knitting rather tight there are no visible holes where the stitches are increased. The pattern I used called for a make 1 (m1) increase. I did a m1 right and a m1 left even though the pattern didn’t specify that. The increases went fine and look ok. The line of stitches that run along the orange and green stripes is the heel turn. I followed the pattern as written. It’s ok. I didn’t find it to be any easier or harder than a traditional heel flap and heel turn. Because I knit my socks so they fit tightly the fit is fine. I haven’t tried wearing them in shoes so I can’t say how the heel will wear. I will say that the heel turn stitches seem to be more under the edge of my heel and if you have sensitive feet you might feel them*.

When I first encountered this type of heel I couldn’t picture it in my mind. I expected it to be a set of increases followed by a set of decreased. I didn’t expect a heel turn, the same that is done in a traditional heel flap sock. So really the only change between this and a traditional heel flap is the picking up of stitches. I guess I’d say if you don’t knit socks because of picking up the stitches this method might work for you but I think I’ll stick with my tried and true traditional heel flap.

* I am not linking to the pattern I used. It is linked in a comment on a previous post. There are videos on YouTube that do a better job explaining than the pattern I used. I looked at a few before I turned my second heel but was too lazy to rip out and start again.

The Weekend That Was

Did you have a nice weekend? It was a wild ride getting a glimpse of the late 1920‘s. Are we having fun yet?

I filled my hours with Myles grooming, Pokemon Go and knitting while catching up on my YouTube viewing. There was also house chores but no one wants to hear about that.

I completed the heel on the second sock. That’s it sticking out in the photo. I sort of wish I’d tried this heel with a big fingering weight yarn. This yarn is very light fingering weight. I’m curious how it would look and feel. Once the socks are completed I’ll explain what I mean.

So being that the weekend is over I’ve got to get the things done for today and finish the hangovers from yesterday. So I’m off to the bank-a deposit not a withdrawal from me, pick up a few things at BJs and then I’ve got starters to feed, cookies to bake and about a third of a Myles to groom. He’s hoping I get stuck in a long line at the bank.

Sign Of The Season

When I was at the grocery store last week I saw they had a display in the bakery of Irish Soda Bread. I love it but I passed on buying a loaf. This morning when I was washing dishes I got thinking about how nice it would be to have a little snack with a cup of tea when I was done. Needless to say I didn’t get my cup of tea or snack. Instead I baked a loaf of Irish Soda Bread. We enjoyed a slice at lunchtime. It always hits the spot. Here is a link to my mother’s recipe which I put on the blog years ago.

WIP Wednesday: Rambling Edition

Yesterday was a scattered day. I had a bunch of little things to do and I kept getting in my own way. There are days like that. Things did get done so that’s the good part.

I did get a few hours of knitting on the sock. The second sock always seems to go quicker for me. This photo doesn’t show them very well but I’m using Prym size 2 6 inch needles. They aren’t my most favorite needles but they are sharp. I prefer nice pointy needles for sock knitting even if I do poke myself sometimes. So the yarn is the discontinued Wisdom Saki Bamboo in crayon box. The pattern is the one I keep in my head with the substitution of the Strong heel. How are your projects coming along?

Here It Is

Trime with dime

Alissa asked to see the 1850’s thing. This is an 1853 silver 3 cent piece aka trime with a modern dime for size comparison. I can see why people lost these. They’re small, thin and light. If this was a coin of today I’d be pulling them out of the laundry all the time.

Here is a wiki with information and additional photos.

The Husband went on a hunt with a club this past weekend. He had no luck. All he found was iron junk, beer cans and a clad dime (in the parking lot). There were a few fabulous finds though one of which was a Massachusetts State pine tree silver six pence dated 1652. That’s a bucket lister for people in The Husband’s club.

One Down

I lost some time here. Yikes! I had to gather and organize the tax stuff. It’s a thankless job but somebody’s got to do it.

I did get the first sock mostly finished. I’ll kitchener it when I finish the second one. I even managed to cast on and just start the second one. In between I slipped the nearly done sock on just to see if it was going to fit. Mostly it did but we’ll get into that once the socks are done.

Lessons Learned When Living With A Metal Detectorist

The Husband has been seriously detecting for about 6 months and boy have I learned a lot.

• No container with a lid makes it to the recycling bin. The bigger the container the better.
• Your house will never be clean and clutter free. My house has always had a somewhere below the Good Housekeeping seal of approval but above the board of health being called level of clean. It’s slipped a bit since The Husband has been digging in the dirt and sand. My kitchen floor, the main entrance into our house now has a fine coat of grit to go along with the dog bone crumbs. We’ll survive but I’m not sure about the vacuum.
• The washing machine is getting a workout too. We live in an area with deer ticks and I’ve had Lyme disease so I am a stickler for clothes that have been in wooded areas hitting the washer the minute he gets home. So far I’ve only picked one tick off of him. Ick!
• People lose stuff. Scratch that. People lose a lot of stuff and a lot of that is coins. And people have been losing coins for a long time. The Husband found a 1907 Indian head penny and an 1850 something trime. The currently in circulation shield pennies don’t survive long in the ground. The metal deteriorates quickly leaving misshapen metal.
• There is a lot of “junk” in the ground. The Husband calls these relics. They are in piles here and there. He insists they are not trash. I’m not convinced.
• Much like spinning wheels, there are a lot of metal detectors out there. Much like spinning wheels, people who own a metal detector want another one and another one. It’s an expensive deep hole.

I can live with all this. The Husband gets out for a few hours and eventually all the coins he finds will pay for the metal detector. As long as his collections don’t infringe on the stash’s space we’ll be good.

Yeasty Goodness

The starter is really bubbling now. I didn’t think I’d get it going this well during the winter. Our house tends to be cold. I’ve been keeping the starter, wrapped in a couple of dish towels, on the dining room table near the radiator and it seems to like that better than the kitchen counter. I’ll have to bake some more bread to warm up the kitchen.

This weekend is a special Pokemon Go event. The Husband and I played most of yesterday and plan to do the same today. Have a great Sunday.

Asymmetrical Information

As you know I love to learn new things. A couple of weeks ago I learned a new phrase. It’s up there as the title. I had never heard it before. Basically it’s two sides making a decision based on unequal information. As an example I thought of insider trading where a regular stockholder has one set of information and a employee would have a fuller set. This is why it’s illegal when an employee uses insider knowledge to profit financially. I guess that’s why they say information is power.

I think I finally have the sourdough starter at high performance. It was full and bubbly last night so I threw together some bread dough. This is the recipe I used. I baked it in a Dutch oven. Mostly I’m pleased with how it turned out. Even though I cut a slit in the top before I put it in the n the oven it still split. I’m wondering if my oven has uneven heat. I’ve noticed other things cook unevenly. Anyway, I like this recipe. It’s got plenty of details including photos. I’m going to try another loaf soon.