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.