Turning the Heel

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Originally uploaded by missizii

This is where the fun starts! Now I have to plan out calf increases. I've already charted out the increases from one 4 strand cable to one 6 strand cable to two 4 strand cables. (See chart below.) The hearts in the chart are for increases. I'm not very particular about chart-craft, as long as I know what I mean.

I'm also getting low on my first ball of yarn. There are three balls of yarn for this project, and math tells us that there is a ball and a half for each sock. So once this ball is out, I'm going to have to ration the second ball to make sure that I don't use any more than half. I often wish I had one of those yardage measures, that you run the yarn through and it counts off the yards. Then you could neatly divide a skein into halves, or thirds, or whatever. But they cost fifty dollars. My love of perfect measurements wars against my thriftiness. Thriftiness wins the day, for now.

In the upper-right hand corner is a poor graphical representation of how the six-strand cable should cross. The lower-right hand corner is how I will manage the increases so that they are symmetric. The center back cable will split into two, then those two will split into two, etc. I measured Jim's calf at its widest, and I will need 10 repeats of the 12 stitch pattern at the widest section of his calf. At the ankle, I have six repeats. So I need to increase by 4 repeats, which is marked by the little '4' on the increases diagram. Also note that in the graph, all the cables and things are through the back-loops, in a continuation of the pattern.


Note: The full sock pattern appears in the Interweave Knits, Fall 2008 magazine.

Fifth Wedding Anniversary

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Originally uploaded by missizii

The traditional fifth wedding anniversary gift is something made of wood. This is an easy one - easier than, say, tin & aluminum (10th anniversary). There's lots of good ideas out there:

• Coupons written on thin balsa wood
• Anything made out of paper, such as books and tickets
• Anything made out of rayon (manufactured from wood pulp)
• Wooden art, such as carvings, crosses
• New kitchen cabinets ;-)

For our fifth wedding anniversary, Jim is getting hand-knitted socks made from Crystal Palace's Panda Wool yarn. Panda Wool is a 51% bamboo, 39% wool, 10% rayon yarn. This colorway is called "Menswear." I started on them last Saturday. They're a little further on than in this picture that I took yesterday - there's now 5 little cable-y things instead of 2.

I have another colorway called "Nightshade" that I will start on when I am done with these socks. So Jim is getting two pairs of socks for his anniversary present.