Beer Cozy Madness

I made the mistake of asking a friend for one of those plastic beer bottles to use as a felting form for my beer cozy.  Then I had to explain at dinner what I was doing.  Apparently i am now expected to crank out beer cozies as fast as humanly possible so everyone can have one.  Hmmmmm Christmas is coming.........

The Dailey [sock] grind!!

I do hate this project, not sure I want to do 2 at once ever again.  I definitely get the fact that 2@once overcomes the un-inertia of finishing the second sock of a pair. I definitely suffer from UFO sickness...It just takes twice as long reducing the im-making-progress-look-at-this-project-move factor.  Not sure if its a good trade off yet.  Below is the latest progress shot.  I have about 4 inches more to go before putting the two heel marker rows in then about 8" to the top of the sock...UUUUUUUUggggggghhhhhh  (PS look at thos damn pointy toes, uuuuhhhhnnnnnnnn)

Missing Needles

I realized last night that my entire pouch of Knit Picks Interchangeable needles has gone missing.  not missing as in stolen but simply SHIFTED to some other location.  The last time i had the pouch open was shortly before thanksgiving in order to start a dish cloth.  Now I want to start my beer cozy and the needles are nowhere to be found??  I have been racking my brain on where I might have shoved them while moving "stock" around for the holidays.

I hate when I do stuff like this because i distinctly remember saying to myself, "Oh, I will just put them here so i know where they are."  Famous last words.  So until the needles are found..........Beer Cozy on hold.......

As Time Goes By

I have relegated my two-at-once project to lunch knitting.  lets me put about an inch a day on the project.  Found one more toe up method for beginning that I want to try.  May do it for grins with some sock yarn to see if i like it and it works OK.  It is the short rows method from Knitty It looks fairly nice.  i guess I just need to try it to see.  I just hate the points on these toes..... but spurred on by my cohorts on MWK i will finish these.

Moving Along

Just to the point where I have done my increases and just getting to the tube.  Doing two at once is challenging but manageable.  The beginning was horrific. the small number of stitches, getting it onto 2 needles.  So far my socks (as you'll see below) look like latvian mittens.  So far not a real fan of these.  if they suck and are ugly I will felt them and wear them out but will NOT make a pair in my nifty hand dyed yarns.  I think I would have to start with like 10 stitches on each needle to make the toe look OK.

A note on hand dyeing.  Wools like acid dyes.  Basically an acidic environment and simple colors (usually FDC colors work great, hence kool-aid dyes) and the color automagically adheres to the wool when heated.  So while there are plenty of companies that offer a huge range of acid dyes there are readily available form of DYES you might not have thought of.  PASTE FOOD COLORINGS used by bakeries and available in a pretty wide selection of colors.  Wilton industries are the most widely available.  However if you have a pastry/candy supply shop near by they may have even more brands and colors.  Paste colors are ULTRA concentrated and some experimentation is necessary, but I have had good results....  pics tures of the hand dyed soon!!!  Still Thinking "Telquila Sunrise for my color way.  Deep yellow orange, Light lemony yellow and a pale pale yellow with red spots....(Wilton Colors Orange with some terra cotta, lemon yellow, daffodil yellow and christmas red)

Not as Easy as it Looks

Today I will be restarting my Two At Once socks for the third time.  The beginning is tough.  Not because the technique is tricky or two hard.  The hardest part is managing the two yarn streams and the two socks.  I have managed to twist my feed yarn through the middle of my two socks so have to pull it through the hole left over.  It sucks big time.  I will endeavor and think I can get it right.  Third times the charm right?

So I restarted and used the toe up starting method called EASY TOE (towards the bottom) and this worked fine.  However it seems that 5 stitches may be too few and my toes will be pointy!!  The yarn streams twist at the drop of a hat.  More as the project develops.

Proof of Concept

Before aggravating my self by just jumping into this with my new hand painted yarn I have decided to do a proof of concept pair in Patons Classic Wool. In Grey Mix to see how it works out for me.

The Plan

So the plan here is to use the Two At Once, Toe-Up pattern from Knitpicks.  However I am going to use size 11 needles and Bare Peruvian Highland Wool Bulky to make an over sized sock that Can then be felted.  I ordered my yarn in natural and will do a quick handpaint job for self striping.  I love dying wool.  its like magic the way the color just comes out of solution!

Anyway the numbers I am going to use are from another felted boot pattern, just done in a different technique.  The pattern I am using is from the Socks Soar on two Circular Needles by Cat Bordhi, just slightly modified for larger foots.  it is written from the cuff to the toe so working backwards.

The pattern says I should end with 10 stitches.  So i will start with 5, which will be doubled to 10.  Then increase until I hit 40 stitches the size of the foot area in my pattern.  Keep this until the heel row (after thought.)  The pattern has you starting with 48 stitches then doing the heal over 24 stitches

So maybe i will have to continue increases to 48 stitches then do the heal.  Their pattern also has you narrwoing towards the top for the ribbing.  We will not be narrowing since we are not doing ribbing.  Their heel is also done in stockinette stitch.  I may do it in garter for heel wear purposes.

So that is my plan thus far.  i think i am going to handpaint the yarn in a sort of tequila sunrise colorway.  A dark red with a yellow and orange sounds really fun!!!  Maybe orange, yellow and a pale yellow with red spots???  will think on it stay tuned.

Two At Once, Toe-Up Socks

My latest project will be to use this pattern with big needles and bulky yarn to make a feltable version of these socks for use as boot liners maybe..  I plan on removing the ribbing (no sense if your felting) andmaybe just working in some increases as i do the leg portions for better fit.

Will be hand dying the yarn before starting.  Colors are still up in the air.  ordered the yarn today!

Welcome!  Greetings and Salutations.  I will tie this blog to Ravelry so I can use it in conjunction with my current progress on whatever is next.  Note this is the project parade.  expect to see lots of projects started and very few finished.  I am always about new techniques or ideas and once I have them under my belt i fall out of love with the project.  Sorry just how i am.....