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Friday, May 3, 2013

On the Needles 5-3-13

I've been doing quite a bit of knitting lately, but mostly just dishcloths, and I don't have much to show you because I've given them all away!  I did keep this one for myself.  It just needs the ends sewn in.   As you can see, I'm getting better at tension and althought it is still not completely square, it is not nearly as whoppy-jawed as my first poor attempt :*D


As for my first attempt at socks, I've hit a brick wall I'm afraid.....


I was moving along quite happily until I hit the heel.... and I'm obviously doing something wrong.  The stitches are way too tight and there's no way this is going to form a heel - at least I don't think it can anyway.  And then the directions totally lost me with all the turns and leftover stitches!  Oh my!!!


I told my friend Joanne that I'm going to put it down until a day when she can sit with me and help me interpret the directions and get it going again in the right direction.  I've watched a few videos, but it seems everyone has their own favorite way of doing heels, so I still can't tell what I'm supposed to be doing with this particular sock.  I was pretty sure I would need help at this point, so I'm not discouraged, just delayed.

I wouldn't want you to think that I am going sockless however!!!  Actually, while I was in Gatlinburg I came upon a wonderful Sock store!!!  There were socks of all kinds - including quite a few with cats of course.  Needless to say, I think I spent more money in this shop than in the quilt shops LOL!!!

Here are a few that I brought home....

Seahorses!!!!!  Do you know how hard it is to find things with Seahorses on them????
My mommy bought these for me =^..^=

These are really cool with black jeans and a red t-shirt!

What's not to love about cats on lime green????

The ones on the left have a pale blue background and look really cool with my black Burks!
I also got a pair of cream/light blue colored patchwork kitties just like the ones on the right.

Footies!!!!  I just loved these!  Can you tell I can't resist anything Laurel Burch???
And just in case I might be tempted to make more socks, Gatlinburg had me covered.  One of the artisan craft shops had hand-spun wools in so many different colors and textures that I was simply overcome and charmed!  It's a shame that I really wasn't far enough along in my sock-knitting adventure to be able to know how to pick a few of these to make a pair for myself to remember the trip.  They were really expensive so I didn't want to buy something and find out it wouldn't work for socks.  Hopefully I will know what to buy next time!  For now, I'll leave you with pictures of the various beauties....



I wanted these - badly!!!!!


Yep, I could see me in these too!

Don't these look like warm, wonderful winter socks?  YUM!!!
Be sure to go by and check out what everyone else has on their needles at Judy's Patchwork Times!

Hugs & Blessings!
Teresa
=^..^=

12 comments:

  1. Love your cat socks. So colorful and charming.

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  2. The socks are cute but the wools are gorgeous! They make me want to spin again.

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  3. The yarns are as delicious as new bolts of fabric, lol! LOVE those socks!

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  4. Who knew there was a market for cat socks? I love learning about these sub cultures! LOL I am sure you will get that sock thing down!

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  5. I love those cat socks! I'm a sucker for cute socks - I'm always cold, so I have socks on from October through April so why not have cute socks? ;-)

    Good luck on the heels.

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  6. Love your selection of socks and the wool - very nice! Now for the sock you're working on. I'm thinking that you still need to pick up the stitches and make the gusset....

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  7. I love your dishcloth!!!!! And the yarn you used. Mine are a bit wonky, too. No one seems to mind. People love em.
    Beautiful yarns and socks. I love all of them :D
    Thoroughly enjoyed your post today, Teresa.

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  8. Love the cat socks! I'm a sucker for them too. Most of the yarn you liked looked like lace weight, too fussy for me to try to make socks from. I make mine from sock weight with some nylon blended in. They will last longer than 100% wool will. The lace weight though looks really pretty made up as shawls and scarves so if you would have picked up a skein you could have tried making a lacy scarf. It looks like you need to pick up your gusset on the side of your sock and the decrease for the heel. Good luck - you can do this, really!

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  9. Loved all your cute cat socks too. I have bought a pair of Laurel Burch socks a long time ago too. I also enjoyed looking at all the beautiful colors of yarn that you shared. Wouldn't it be great to have many pairs of socks in such beautiful colors.? You will get the hang of the heel, I'm sure of it. I haven't gotten back to trying my luck at making socks yet, but I will one day. I wear socks from Sept. through April, but this year I'm still wearing them. It's darn cold here today -- in the 40's. burr

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  10. Good luck with your sock. I haven't ever made one, but I would imagine that the heel would be the tricky part. I'm sure you will get it figured out eventually.

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  11. Teresa you knit the leg and the heel flap and now you need to turn the heel next which is creating the heel shape. Then you will pick up the stitches for the gusset. You sock will start to take shape then.
    Turning the heel is a series of short rows. Have you tried looking at Knitpicks.com tutorials? They are all excellent.

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  12. So sorry but it doesn't look bad at all. You are working the heel flap and when you put the rest together it will be great. Wish I could be there to help.

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