Help! Everything I’m Knitting is Blue!

Okay, at the moment there are a number of strong trends in my knitting.

1. I keep having to restart projects because they aren’t fitting.
2. I keep frogging projects because I decide they won’t work as started.
3. I’m becoming a sockhead.
4. Everything I’m knitting is blue.

I’m not quite sure how that last list item came to be, but I have plenty of ideas on the first three.

Yes. I am not knitting gauge swatches. Knitting a gauge swatch seems a lot like actually knitting the sock, so I’d rather just jump in, especially since I can so easily try the socks on as I knit them.

I extended this philosophy to knitting a pair of hand warmers and found a flaw in my thinking.  I started knitting the Malabrigo Hand Thingies and first the fabric seemed too loose so I went down a needle size. Then I went down another needle size because they seemed so loose and I knew I would hate wearing them if the cuffs weren’t snug.

However, the cuffs are knit in a purl two rows, knit 3 rows type of pattern and that does not behave like ribbing or stockinette.  As I knit farther on, the cuffs seemed to do a magic shrinking trick and soon I could barely pull them on. So I frogged and started again on bigger needles. At least  I’ve learned a bunch and I’m getting much faster at the pattern. These are for my trip to New Zealand. I know it is summer there, but I’ve got thin, tropical blood now and they’ve been having temps in the 40’s and 50’s.  That is going to feel cold to me and I want to knit in the car.

Another  project that I frogged project was this lovely Snow Drop Lace scarf. I was knitting really well; my best lace so far. The Dream in Color yarn was so lovely that every time I’d catch sight of it I wanted to drop everything and knit it. I like the pattern although I suspect it will be pretty dull by repeat 50. So why frog it? I decided the pattern would look better in lace weight yarn. The Smooshy is pretty thick so it is a bit bulky for the pattern. I can block it a bunch when I’m done, but why not use such smooshy yarn for socks as it was intended?

And so my another of my WIPs is a pair of Garter Rib socks for me. I know. I seem obsessed with this pattern. I’m knitting this pair for me in hand painted yarn that doesn’t stripe because I’m doing some research knitting.

I’m trying to devise a more cushioned sole because I’ve been displeased with the thin soles on the two pairs I made for Kent. Granted, those were not all wool. They were blended with bamboo which made them much less sproingy. However, my plan, thanks to a suggestion in Ravelry by ladiosaRosa, is to hold two strands together for the sole, and carry that strand over the instep. Then, when the sock is done, I cut those instep strands, leaving a long enough tail that they won’t pull through.

I had though of doing heel stitch on the sole, but kind Ravelers pointed out that heel stitch is shorter than stockinette or garter rib, so I’d need to work in short rows to make the sole as long as the instep. I also wondered how it would feel to walk on. This method will waste yarn, but I’m going to give it a try anyway. Smooshy comes in a generous hank so I should have plenty of yarn. Do you think it will work?

Yet another frogged project was the Fixation on Lace socks.  They were also turning out fine after a few false starts and the insertion of stitch markers after each repeat.  I love how the pattern looks in the book, but as I started looking up FOs of it in Ravelry, I made the disheartening discovery that I don’t actually like how it looks when people wear it.

That yarn is now in the process of becoming a pair of Pretty Comfy socks.  I just finished the cuff last night and started the lace, but I frogged the lace today because I realized that the way I was intepretting the pattern to be knit two at a time on two cirucular needles rather than one at a time on DPNs, was flawed.  Luckily I was only a few rows in when I realized my bad reasoning, so not much is lost.

Notice the lovely stitch markers? They are from Ayumi. I’m pretty sure she made them!  Amazing.

Why so many socks on my needles? The usual reasons…

• They are portable.
• They are useful, even here in Singapore.
• They don’t require much yarn.
• I have quite a bit of sock yarn in  my stash.
• I’m getting better at them and learning lots which is gratifying.

Are those good enough reasons to become a sockhead?

I can’t explain the last item. I don’t quite know how I ended up with all WIPs being blue.  I have plenty of other colors in my stash.  Any suggestions? Should I seek medical help?