Too little time

I’m sure it can’t just be me that seems to suffer from TLT syndrome - or Too Little Time. More specifically too little time to knit what I want. No day feels complete without a little knitting at some point but a series of particularly busy weeks and a lot of domestic upheaval have seen my knitting time drastically curtailed.

Now, the logical response would be to spend the available knitting time that I do have, knuckling down and getting some progress on my current WIPs. Instead, my default response seems to be to spend an inordinate amount of time rootling through my stash in search of beautiful skeins to knit with “when I have the time”. When I’m not doing that I’m browsing Ravelry in search of inspirational projects or surfing indie dyers shop updates for that perfect, elusive OOAK (one of a kind).

So, this week I have given myself a stern talking too and bribed myself with cake. By Friday I will have finished 2 longer term WIPs and will reward myself with a mammoth cast on session in which I will start many gorgeous projects-to-be. So far on my mahoosive cast on list I have:

1. A new login cabin style blanket

2. A new sweater using some Illustrious DK I recently bought

3. Cast on something using the glorious yarn club yarn (pictured above)

4. Some new socks ....just because...well why not.

Whether any or all of these projects will come to fruition is another matter. But for now, my virtual knitting plans are keeping me sane in a pretty chaotic week. 

Sock yarn scraps

As knitters and more specifically as sock knitters we instinctively hoard our precious, jewel-like scraps of yarn. I don't know about you but I have no problem with merrily chucking a part used ball of dk into the 'charity shop' bag and I don't feel compelled to save oddments of other weights but give me 2g of hand dyed sock yarn and I will treasure it for all eternity.

Partly it's the fact that the vast majority of my sock yarn is hand dyed. Lovingly created with thought and care by fabulous fibre artists. When so much work has gone into the yarn I feel almost duty bound to care for it and make sure it is well looked after.

Currently my sock yarn leftovers are divided into those destined for the sock yarn blanket and those which aren't. Aso I have kept my sock yarn blanket to the more muted end of my stash - with mainly solid and semi solid shades I find myself with an increased large amount of bright self striping leftovers to use up.

I was thinking about starting a more wildly coloured blanket or whether to maybe combine a part skein of self stripe with a neutral grey for stripey socks or fingerless mitts - of which I seem to have absolutely none at the moment.

Either way, if you come across some uses for leftover self stripe yarn for let me know. My stash drawer will be eternally grateful.

Mini skeins and mini eggs

The title neatly sums up my plans for the rest of the weekend. After a busy day of teaching and domestic stuff yesterday today is a day for relaxing with two of my favourite things - yarn and chocolate. I also get to watch the rugby too which is always an added bonus

The Everyday Knitter Facebook group is having a sock yarn mini swap and I am swapping yarn with two lovely ladies. Today I am planning to rootle through my sock yarn stash in its entirety and wind off yarn for them. I also need to take stock of my ever expanding collection of left over self striping sock yarn and come up for a cunning plan for what to do with it. I'm trying to keep my sock yarn blanket restricted to my more muted solid and semi solid yarns but that leaves me with a lot of my less subtle yarns still to deal with.

I did think of a crochet Granny- stripe style blanket but then all the ones I really admire are in subtle, muted colours and my self stripe might produce a slightly more ‘colourful’ effect. I think I may need to indulge a little in my third favourite activity as well and have experience a good browse of Ravelry for some good old fashioned inspiration.

If I go quiet for a few days, send help. I'll probably be submerged under a sea of mini skeins. 

Stress and stripey socks

I always think you can tell a lot about the current state of my life from my Instagram feed. A lot of garter stitch or a lot of plain vanilla stripey socks is a sure fire way of signalling that I'm under stress. When times are difficult I do what knitters the world over do and reach for their needles. But complicated charts and fiddly cables are a no-no when your brain is fried and all you crave is the comforting embrace of yarn and soothing stitches.

DH had surgery at the weekend for a planned knee procedure and I thought we were well prepared. Turns out that we were just in denial, both about the procedure itself and the cold hard practicalities of his extended rehab and lack of mobility. It's been a grim week, I can't lie but as ever my knitting and specifically my stripey socks have kept me sane.

I'm afraid that keeping up with my daily sock tips rather fell by the wayside though. Something had to give and whilst it turns out that I can quite easily manage a short blog post every day (I quite like being able to pop on here for some random rambling) coming up with a short, snappy and actionable sock tip every day was a bit beyond me at the moment.

So we are 1 week into a 6 week rehab programme - wonder how many stripey socks I can churn out before the end? And I wonder whether any will be for the patient or will they all be for ME??

Sock musings

There are many good things about knitting your nearest and dearest a pair of warm and woolly socks. Particularly the fact that it does give you a lot (really, a lot) of time to sit and think. My husband is eminently knitworthy and supremely appreciative of his handknit socks, but he only averages about 1 pair per year due to the length of time it takes me to knit them.

It was during one such marathon knitting project that I found myself wondering “How many more stitches are there is a man's sock compared to a woman's?”

Being of an enquiring and scientific mind I did a bit of idle working out on the back of an envelope and came to the conclusion that knitting socks for an ‘average man” takes precisely 21% more stitches than for an ‘average woman’.

This is assuming a 64 st sock for a woman and a 72st one for her male counterpart. I didn’t include the heel in the calculation but just based it on a 15” tube and a 17” tube respectively with a sock yarn gauge of 11 rounds per inch.

Using these numbers a ‘standard’ women’s sock came out at approximately 10,500 stitches in total whereas a standard man’s sock was a significantly higher 13,500 ( a difference of just over 20%). Obviously - you need to multiply this by 2 - unless your DH likes single socks.

It’s not rocket science and it certainly won’t help you get the socks knitted, but at least it is something to ponder whilst knitting on that second sock.

Check your gauge

As with anything to do with gauge this post comes with a huge caveat. Everyone knits differently and you might not have the same experience as me. That being said I find that often when I knit a plain vanilla stocking stitch sock I find that my usual 64st on 2.5mm needles doesn't work for me and the sock ends up being ever so slightly loose on the foot.

Instead I find that dropping to 60st for me (and from 72 to 68 for DH) gives a much better fit in plain stocking stitch.

Socks with a pattern or cable often have a slight degree of extra rigidity, unless there is a lot of ribbing. Plain stocking stitch however tends to have equal stretch in both directions. This makes for a beautifully smooth fabric - all the better to show off that gorgeous self stripe yarn - but which also has the potential to be ever so slightly baggy.

Going down just those few stitches creates the negative ease that is so crucial for a good sock fit.
Do you find the same thing ? I've love to know if you have the same experience too.