Friday, July 13, 2007

Pictures and Text Don't Taste Great Smushed Together

I'm sure you've probably noticed that the pictures I've been posting have been encroaching on the sidebar items, making it difficult to see both the pictures and the sidebar. Today, I exerted some embarassingly minimal effort (ie, opened the template editor and scrolled down three times), and widened the blog window so it shouldn't be a problem any more. I hope.

Boo's Sparkly Socks

Boo's Sparkly Socks

Pattern: Boo's Sparkly Socks.
Yarn: 1 100g/425m skein South West Trading Company Tofutsies (50% superwash wool/25% Soysilk fibers/22.5% cotton/2.5% chitin) in #730 (Light Foot). 1 87yd skein Lana Gatto Crystal (63% viscose/20% Nylon/17% Polyester) in #4112 (Pinks)
Needles: 2.5mm (US 1)
Gauge: 9 sts = 1"
Notes: Flush with the success of the Fixation socks, I decided to make Boo a pair of pink socks. I showed her the pink yarn I'd bought, and she asked if it was "sparkly." I said I'd see what I could do. The next day, I went back to where I'd bought the Tofutsies, and found a matching pink eyelash yarn that certainly qualified as "sparkly." (And it was on sale.) So, I cast on more stitches than I needed, added the sparkly yarn, and ribbed the cuff in sparklies. After the cuff ribbing, I reduced the stitches to a more normal circumference and just knitted a basic sock. If I had it all to do again I might not double the yarn, and I almost certainly won't rib the eyelash parts, but the effect of the cuff was exactly as I'd hoped: big and floppy and foldable down to a nice anklet, but also capable of staying up.

Boo's Sparkly Socks

Boo modeling her socks.

Boo's Sparkly Socks

Close up of the sparklies, and the folded-down cuff feature.

Some more details about the pattern:

I cast on 64 stitches, because I wanted a big fluffy cuff that I could ruffle and fold down. I cast on with the main yarn (Tofutsies), then added the eyelash and knitted 6 rows of 2x2 ribbing with both yarns held together. 6 rows was enough to a) give a nice fluffy, sparkly cuff and b) drive me insane.

After dropping the eyelash, I knitted 5 more rows of 2x2 ribbing, then switched to stockinette and K2, K2tog around to reduce the 64 stitches to 48. After that, I just made a regular old sock. Well, with about two extra inches in the toe because Boo has long feet. I actually clipped the toe out, ripped back, and added an extra inch after finishing the first sock, because I realized it was just too short.

I really liked knitting with the Tofutsies. I'd heard it was splitty, and it was for a bit until I adjusted my stitch style. I was using Addi Turbos, which aren't particularly pointy (well, I don't think so, anyway :)), and I didn't have much trouble. The yarn knitted up into a beautifully soft and stretchy fabric, even at 9 sts to the inch. We'll see how it wears, but I liked the first impression.

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