Monday, June 23, 2014

That's more like it

I'm up to #30 on this round of Tour de Sock. It would've been even better, but I was not careful about reading instructions and had to frog most of the first leg. Ribbit, ribbit = pay attention! It'll be fun to find out how far up I moved on the leaderboard.
This was an exceptionally cool pattern. You make some paper dice and your pattern is set by rolling them. Roll the dice, knit 10 rows, roll again. The designer was so clever in how she got all these little pieces to fit together. No two of us will have exactly the same socks.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Tour de Loop

I'm joining another Tour. Nope, I haven't lost my mind. Tour de Loop requires you to knit or crochet for a minimum of an hour a day. ::snicker:: Unless I'm sick, I never knit or crochet only an hour a day. This runs parallel with the Tour de France bike race. It's July 5-27, with rest days on the 15th and 21st. There's a group on Ravelry where you post your hours. I imagine that I'll end up admitting that I may have an obsession with fiber crafting. No surprise there.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Tour de Sock update

I'm 167th out of 244 on the leaderboard. It's nowhere near what I did last year. There are many more players this year and I suspect a bunch of the new people are Finns. I can't believe how fast those people can knit! I did finish the first two socks.

Round 3 starts tomorrow night. I've got a sneaking suspicion that it'll be argyle. Or as those of us dreading it, arrrrrgh-gyle.

I'm caught up on both of my Mocks and am past the 75% mark on my Fruity Oaty Scarf. I'm waiting for new yarn to come from Biscotte & Cie before I restart the Little Flowers socks. That watermelon yarn needs to be used for something designed to be stripey.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Stash Enhancement Saturday

Tour de Sock has yarn company sponsors. They supply prizes and they supply discount codes to players. You get extra points for using sponsor yarns in your entries, too. I decided that it was my duty to buy some sponsor yarn. Don't look at me like that, I had a discount code! They both came from Invictus Yarns.
This is Timid. It's similar to another Invictus yarn I've already got. I bought it because it's a 460 yard skein. I'm paranoid about not having enough yarn for my Tour de Socks.
This is Glory. Once in a while I want a red/white/blue yarn. Usually the red and blue are too bright for my taste. I really like the blue shadings and that the red doesn't scream RED.

Friday, June 13, 2014

FO Friday

Pollinate
Bloom
Wye, Tour de Sock #1

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

WIP Wednesday

I'm taking a break from the current Tour de Sock. It's the one on the left.

We were given the option of using a more adventurous yarn than solid or semisolid. What I picked was obviously not a good choice. Over all, it's going better than the first sock. I finished it in time to get on the leaderboard. I think I'm 164th. I had my second annual German Twisted Cast-on tantrum, but it lasted a fraction of the original one. I still managed to frighten a cat with it. I really hate that cast-on.

Dream: It's the green cuff on top. I don't think the second clue's been released yet.

Akero: It's the silvery one on the bottom. One sock is up to date. The one in the picture is not.

Little Flowers: That's the one in the watermelon stripe yarn. This is for a contest that the yarn company Biscotte and Cie is having. It's another bad choice for the pattern, but I don't care that much. I probably won't bother entering it in the contest because the design is a bit too lost in the stripes. I like the yarn very much, though. It's a good thing I've got so much going on or I'd buy some more and start it over.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

WIP Wednesday

Tour de Sock, sock 1. I had the first sock nearly done when reality hit. There wasn't enough yarn for a second sock. I started over with more yarn, a smaller size, and the needles that give me gauge (1.0 mm/US 000). Very tired of working this pattern.
Bloom. I misread the heel chart and had to do it over. It wasn't completely caused by flakiness. The chart didn't print out the symbols clearly. The next clue should be out in the next couple of hours. I'm alternating working on this with the Tour de Sock sock.
Akero. I started the second clue late at night which was a Bad Idea. I'll restart it once the TdS sock is done and the next Bloom clue is done.
Fruity Oaty Scarf. I started this one before my interest in Mocks began. Work will continue when the socks are caught up.
Name of the Doctor scarf. I put this to one side to start the Fruity Oaty scarf. It's made with laceweight while the other one is fingering. That makes a big difference. I'll be back on this one once the other scarf's done.