The Evil Vilai Socks

It was February, just after the birth of my youngest, when I started knitting the Vilai socks by Cookie A.  I'd just received Cookie A's Sock Innovations for Christmas that year, and having heard so much about this book on various podcasts, I decided it was time.  I love sock knitting and the patterns didn't look that complex.  I know a lot of people had problems with the socks and found them too challenging, but I'm one of those knitters who thinks nothing is too challenging.  All of the other things I'd knit so far seemed easy.  I'd decided to use some Serenity Sock Yarn, which was pretty much the only yarn I'd had on hand.  I pulled out my needles, and off I went, knitting like a mad woman.

The first problem I came across was the darkness of the yarn in comparison to the darkness of my house.  Dark yarn, dark house, and complex knitting project can make for difficult pattern reading.  I was having a hard time actually seeing what I was doing half the time, which made it a challenging knit.  Every time I made a mistake I had a bear of a time with the yarn I'd undone.  The yarn just wasn't ideal for the project, yet I struggled through.

Then it was the pattern that made me want to rip my hair out.  If I wasn't knitting on the socks at every free moment, I got lost every time I put the pattern down.  I started to cry one day saying that these socks just didn't want to be made.  I called Cookie A evil and swore I'd never knit any of her socks again.  It was just too hard and it was so unfair.  Keep in mind, this was February.  I'd had my baby in the end of December.  I was an emotional train wreck!  I'm sure that and the distractions of a new baby weren't helping.  It wasn't exactly a good time for me.

About two months later I decided I was going to dedicate all my time to finishing the first sock.  I had finished one whole pattern repeat and was halfway through the next.  Unfortunately, the sock was not meant to be.  I took one look at the stretched out cuff and realized there was no way it would ever fit legs as thick as mine, and my legs aren't all that thick!  These socks were never going to fit, so I gave up.  The book was put away and I'd pretty much forgotten about it for a year and a half.

Lately I've been getting back into knitting.  I've finished the seasons shawl I knit, which was such a challenge that I feel I can take on everything.  I followed that up with another shawl that took near no time at all to knit. Then I threw in a couple small projects.  I've still got ends to weave in and blocking to do, but I feel pretty good about myself as a knitter lately.  Things have been moving off my needles with a quickness.

About a week or so ago I bought myself a new skein of sock yarn.  It was a Heritage Handpaints in beautiful pink and purple.  The color is called Azalea Blooms.  I'd found it at the LYS when I was conveniently looking for sock yarn.  I wasn't able to pick it up that day.  I just don't have the yarn budget to be a knitter (well, maybe if I used knitting as a substitute for enough store bought stuff!) so I don't have a huge amount to spend.  If I'm going to spend over $20 on a pair of socks, it had better be the best yarn in the world, at least in my perspective at the time.  By the time I'm done knitting my socks I know I'll have something beautiful, but it's just never seemed worth it unless I'm completely in love with the socks.  In this case I was so in love with the yarn that I actually asked the yarn store owner to hold on to it until I could get the money to her.

When I got the yarn home I refused to knit it.  I've never been one to stash yarn, not really.  My yarn stash is tinier than most yarn stashes are.  I like to get my yarn balled up right away so I don't have to go back to the yarn store to do it.  It also means I'm more likely to use the yarn right away.  I don't like having yarn sit around, neglected, unused.  It seems kind of pointless to have then, except in those days when we've really got no money for yarn, which is sadly frequent these days.  So with the yarn all balled up and ready to go, I had to find a pattern to knit.  I didn't just want to find a good pattern.  It had to be the perfect pattern.  I pulled out New Pathways for Sock Knitters, only to be disappointed.  My next choice was Cookie A.

Opening the book I told myself I could pick a simpler pattern this time.  I didn't have to go all out with something crazy.  I didn't have to go for the hardest pattern I could find.  Some of them seemed really pretty and simple, but I needed something that would work with this beautiful yarn.  It took some time before I could really find something that screamed out to me, the same pattern that screamed to me from the first time I picked the book up, the Vilai socks.  The beautiful combination of cables and lace screamed out to me.  The complexity of it all seemed the perfect challenge.  I'd managed the crazy lace of the season's shawl, and after that, anything seemed possible.  The pattern didn't look that hard to follow and I was pretty confident in my ability to read my own knitting so I wouldn't lose my place in the pattern.  These socks screamed that they needed to be knit with this beautiful new yarn.  It was a match made in heaven, and I was ready for it.

This time everything just seemed to work out.  It was as thought the yarn and the needles both knew exactly what I expected them and they all decided to get along.  The yarn looks so beautiful as I knit up each row.  It's a little more striped than I had hoped, but somehow it just works.  I'd decided I needed happy socks, and happy socks are what I'm getting.  These socks make me smile.  After all the hard work that will go into them, I know these will take a place in my favorite socks.  How could they not?  This is the most challenging pattern I've ever done.  (That being said, I've only made two pairs of socks for myself prior to this, one of which got felted, so it's not going to be hard to make that list right now.)  I can't wait to see them finished.  If nothing else, it'll be nice to tackle something I wasn't able to get through previously.  Maybe it's just one of those things where I needed the right yarn before I was able to make it work.  Here's hoping.

Thankfully, I've gotten further than I did last time.  Last time I wasn't able to complete the second pattern repeat.  This time I've managed to make it almost to the heel turn.  Yeah, there's been a lot of challenging problems, mostly due to me not paying attention while I'm knitting.  Isn't that what I get for knitting a challenging pattern while watching television?  Will I learn that lesson?  Probably not.  I just can't wait to see these the first sock finished!  Thankfully, it's complex and interesting enough that I think I'll be pretty eager to cast on the second sock almost as soon as I'm done with the first.  With a little luck I'll be done with the pair in no time!  Of course, this does make me wonder when exactly I became a one project at a time kind of knitter...

My First Piggy Warmers

When my littlest was just born he sounded like a little pig when he was upset.  He would grunt and snort like a little pig instead of cry.  Somehow that gave me a brilliant idea of something to knit for little babies.  I would call them "Piggy Warmers".  Why?  I'd already created a set of warmers I'd named after my older son, so now, since we've been calling my littlest Piggy, I decided Piggy Warmers were just to perfect.  I would be warming my little Piggy's piggies!

The idea for my older son's set were matching arm warmers and leg warmers.  Most patterns just include arm warmers or leg warmers, but my son liked wearing both at the same time.  Well, to keep in the same vein, Piggy Warmers were going to have to cover both hands and feet.  They would be little fingerless gloves and yoga socks, effectively.

I'd figured I'd start this project about the time Piggy started walking.  The little open heel and toe would be perfect for a new walker as it would allow him to really feel the floor under him.  Since are floors are made up of cheap linoleum tile in all rooms but the bedrooms, I figured this would also help him not go falling all over the place, but still be enough to keep him a bit on the warmer side when the weather turned cool.  They can also be pulled over socks for a little extra warmth when we go out, or his little leather shoes.  They would be the perfect addition to my littlest's wardrobe.

Not really knowing where to begin, I searched for a pattern.  Having no luck on finding baby yoga socks, I decided to get adventurous. I pulled out Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters and got to work.  That book always inspires me.  I decided to base my idea very loosely on a combination of the Sky Sock pattern and the Sucky Thumb Mitts I'd knit not long before.  I used the same yarn as the mitts, doubled up so I could keep the same look and gauge.

In the end the pattern turned out to be more tricky than I imagined.  It's not easy to pick up stitches when knitting in the round.  All of the cast on methods I've seen seem to want to go the other way, except for long-tail, which I always cast on in the direction I knit.  Then there was the act of knowing how many increases would be enough, and at what rate.  Thankfully, on the first try it all came together, and I was able to repeat it all for a second sock.  I think I'm going to have to rethink the whole idea before I knit another pair, but that shouldn't be a problem.  I've got plenty of time!

As for the mitts and the socks, they match up perfectly.  I couldn't have asked for a better combination.  I can't wait to wrap them all up and stick them under the tree for Christmas.  Just seeing the way my littlest fought me on taking them off when I was done trying them on him, I know they're going to be a hit.  Maybe I'll be starting a trend.  Who knows?  Maybe babies everywhere will want to share in his stunning sense of style.  If not, at least I know his little piggies will be nice and toasty all winter long.  What more can a mama ask?

Sucky Thumb Mitts for Christmas

Yes, that's right.  I'm starting my Christmas knitting early for once.  It all started with a little pair of mitts for my littlest one, the one that still sucks his thumb when he's tired.

When I saw this pattern, I immediately thought of my littlest.  The mitts were designed with the idea of little kids who suck their thumb in mind, but they're also fingerless gloves for very small children.  I'd been planning on making a set for him when he was still pretty little, just in time for him to start walking.  I was going to match them with a pair of socks.  This pattern, of course, made things so much easier.  Apparently I'm not the only one with the brilliant idea of making gloves like this for my little guy!

The pattern is fantastic and they went up in no time!  I just can't wait to make more.  I just wish  I had more yarn to work with so I could make him a whole bunch of them.  Unfortunately, I don't use a lot of DK or sport weight yarn.  I doubled mine up with sock yarn from my Cheshire cat socks I made a few months back. I accidentally made them with what I thought were size three needles, but apparently were size twos.  Even so, the gauge was perfect and the mitts fit perfectly!  The only problem was getting them off his hands so I could put them away for Christmas!

Cruising through Another Shawl

I'm starting to wonder if perhaps this should have been my first full sized shawl.  This one is so much easier.  The pattern is easy to memorize, so row after row I'm able to cruise through without too many corrections or looking back for more information.  It's quick and easy.

I'm already loving this shawl.  Soft alpaca circles the neck and shoulder area at the top, so the section that would contact the skin in a tank top or camisole will be nice and soft.  Then from there it blends into the tonal, which...I'll be honest, I'm not in love with.  I'm not much of one for variegated yarns, so the color changes really don't suit me well.  It creates this strange striping image to it and I'm not much of a fan of the way it looks.  Of course, everyone else likes it, so I suppose I shouldn't complain too much.

If I keep up at this rate this shawl is going to be done in no time.  I guess that's a good thing where my Christmas knitting is concerned.  I've got a lot of work to do between now and then, and that's assuming I'm just knitting for the immediate family!

This shawl has really gotten me thinking about how much I love shawl knitting.  I'm trying to come up with excuses on why I need a new shawl.  I need something in a different color.  I need it in a different weight.  There's a million reasons why I need another shawl.  I mean, I could have one to go with every outfit and every occasion, right?  Now if only I had the resources to make that many shawls!