Sunday, January 21, 2018

Yopping Update - darn socks!


I have the test knit off the needles - but it needs s p a c e to be blocked so that hasn't happened yet. 
On the upside, I cleaned up my craft room on Friday night so that :

a) I had a place to do yoga, and
b) more floor space for blocking. 

Of course b) means I can't do a).   Lol.   Chock this up to #firstworldproblems.

We have a house full of visitors this weekend, but once the dust has settled I can set up the blocking mat in the spare bedroom and all will be well. I have three shawls to block at the moment so the bedroom will be seconded for quite a few days.

While cleaning the craft room I discovered my bookshelf was about to fall over, so I had to take everything off it and nail it back into some semblance of security.  It mostly holds all my teaching paraphanalia and if that had collapsed I can't even imagine the mess I would have been in.  (especially if it collapsed while I was on my yoga mat.)

I am motoring along on my scappy bias shawl and now have 117 stitches of the required 200.  I am really enjoying this knit and my scrap basket is seeing a dent in its contents which was the whole point of the exercise. 



I got my Knit Pick order:

Two shawls and a cotton tee are in my future!


This Tee pattern comes from one of my Simply Knitting Magazines. 

I started it on Wednesday.  By Thursday I had about six inches done, but it was too big.  I measured it against a tee shirt that I really like the fit of and decided to frog and restart with a smaller size.  I am back to where I was and loving the colour and how this yarn  has such lovely stitch definition. 

One of my Year of Projects goal was to darn socks.  I pulled down my basket of holey socks last week and there were eleven lonely socks looking for some love and rejuvenation. 

Ten were mine, one was my husband's.  Technically one didn't need darning - it just needed a split stitch to be laddered back up and secured. 

See?  Good as new.


So on ten socks I went from this:


to this:


and by the end of the day I had fixed all these and returned them to my sock drawer.


I don't know why I put off darning socks - once I get going it is quite fast, quite easy, and I feel very accomplished once it is done.  Also, my poor sock drawer was looking so empty, and now I know why! How did four holey socks become eleven since July? 

So that is my knitting week.  It has been raining like crazy here this past week but as well as all the knitting we got the camper off and then back on the truck so the truck could have some maintenance done before our next camping trip (soon, I hope, very soon), and I did make it to the pool four times. 

My Croatian lessons are going well, and yesterday my daughter and I had a  long conversation in Croatian via Whatsapp.  I have so many flashcards now - and I am happy with my progress. 

We are making a turkey dinner tonight because my son will be in town and we haven't seen him since before Christmas.  So I better start peeling potatoes. 

To follow other yoppers you can check out their weekly progress here.


16 comments:

  1. I need to learn how to darn socks. Hubby has one with a hole on the side of the sock. Not sure how that happened. Looking forward to seeing all those shawls blocked and ready for wearing.

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    1. I learned how to darn via good old you tube. easypeasy and with practice it gets neater and neater.

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  2. Your darned socks should make you proud. That darning job looks awesome! I'm chuckling at your First World Problems. Yoga or blocking? We are truly blessed. Happy turkey dinner tonight with your son!

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    1. It was yummy and so great to spend a couple of days with him.

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  3. I am super jealous of your sock darning egg -- I might need to go on Etsy and find one for myself. At the moment I just have two socks awaiting mending, so no terrible rush. Your darning looks very tidy and durable. Well done!

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    1. I have three - two my children made in woodworking class in their school, and the bigger one was from my aunt. I love them.

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  4. I'm glad you fixed the bookshelf before it collapsed on you! Hope you've had a good weekend with your company.

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    1. omg. me too. Can you imagine doing a peaceful shavansana in yoga and then being buried alive by all those books???? ack

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  5. Look at that darning! I'm not great at it, I think I am going for so many socks they never get worn enough to need darning.

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    1. I have so many pairs of socks, but I have a bad habit of putting my shoes on without undoing the laces and I think that wears the heels. I will have to try to break that habit.

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  6. Glad you got your shelf fixed and boy did you get a lot done this week! I still haven't gotten back into my craft room which I started before Christmas. I would love to learn how to darn but I imagine when my socks get holes I will be more motivated to learn! LOL! I adore your scrappy bias shawl and it is going to be lovely! It already is! You go girl!

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    1. I am loving the scrappy bias shawl too. I am at about stitch count 150/200. I can't wait to wear it, but oh my there are so many ends to sew in!! I will probably take it to my knitgroup tomorrow and sew in the ends there. Misery loves company.

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  7. I admire you for darning your socks. I kind of know in theory how to do it but have never been very successful - perhaps I am not patient enough or don't have the right instructions. Do you have a YouTube channel that you recommend for learning such skills?

    Socks that we have made by hand are too nice to not mend!

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    1. Here is one I have used alot:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=GIrjpOQZ6ds

      if the hole is smaller I just set up some warp threads and then tightly weave the hole closed.

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    2. here is another good video for weaving the hole. I have a darning egg. Some people suggest using a lightbulb put that seems dangerous to me. - maybe a cricket ball?? lol
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nY1jTVyBE0

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  8. Wow, kudos to you on learning Croatian; that doesn't sound like an easy language to learn. You are a sock darner pro, whippin' through those so fast. Ten pairs is a lot. What great goodies you got in the mail from Knit Picks. I admire how you're using your scraps. I hate looking at my leftovers; some are wound into nice yarn apples and labeled and I have two bags of tangled up yarn that need to get sorted.

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I look forward to reading the comments. It makes me feel like I am not just posting into the void.