JessaLu Knits (and Spins!)

…and no, I’m not talking about Dobby. Let me start from the beginning. Last week, this is where I was on the CPH:

Please note in the back of the photo that the working yarn is tucked nicely into a plastic bag. At that time, Jazz still had her elizabethan collar on from getting spayed (no, I didn’t take a picture. I know, shameful lapse on my part - but she was just too pitiful and I just couldn’t exploit it. I know, I suck, I’m sorry. ;o) ). She couldn’t chew on anything because she couldn’t reach it to get purchase. (Smart doggie figured out that if she tucked her chew bone between the couch cushions she could chew away. My couch will never be the same) She had the collar taken off on Friday and has been bouncing off the walls since. I worked on the back portion all week and managed to reach the arm decreases Sunday night while watching Northanger Abbey. At this point, I was at a new ball of yarn. I didn’t tuck it into the plastic bag since I thought it would be safe in my knitting basket. Monday, RR and I had a few errands to run so we left the dogs (and my knitting) in Dobby’s capable hands. When we got home I was greeted with this sight:

The note says, “Jazz got into your yarn while I was in the shower - I left it here because I didn’t know what to do!” (smart kid, eh?) Thank God she only chewed the yarn ball (apparently they have good ‘mouth feel’ - this isn’t the first time she’s done this) and left the knitting alone. It probably saved her life:

I’ve been carefully pulling lengths from the mess to knit and it’s working so far. What have I done to correct this ‘mouth feel’ issue? Well, since I found a somewhat molested hank of BFL on the couch last night, I guess the baby gate will be a permanent fixture on the door to the fiber room. *sigh* In other fiberey news, I’ve finished the ‘Grinchy’ yarn that I showed you last week:

4oz of BFL from Spunky Eclectic = 275 yds of sport-ish weight 3ply

Yes, the green is as electric as it looks - kind of retina-burning in fact - but it works well with the pink.

…and in even MORE fibery news, I used one skein of the Shibui Sock in ‘Honey’ to create a pair of socks on the CSM for my Aunt:

Nice and simple. She says wool makes her itch but I refuse to believe it until she’s tried these. She’s never had hand-knit socks (or cranked socks) before and as far as I’m concerned, there is nothing like merino on your feet (unless it’s cashmere - or silk). ;o)

…in pictures.

Thanks to Tina, who visited me on Saturday for some Sushi and CSM fun (see her post for pictures and more detail), I now have more up to date photos of how I go about making a pair of socks on the machine**.

Ready? (photo-heavy for those on dial-up):

First, I hang the setup bonnet on the hooks.

Next, a few rounds of waste yarn (an acrylic/cotton blend that’s easy to rip out).

Then, I begin with the ‘good’ yarn (in this case, I’m using Tina’s own Phoenix Fiberworks yarn).

After 10 rounds, I make a ‘YO’ row (by moving a stitch to the next hook).

Then, after knitting another 10 rows, I hang the hem by putting the stitches from the first row onto the current row.

This is the fun part - cranking 75 rows for the leg. Can you see my blurry arm?

Here is a close up of the picot hem.

Time for the heel - I lift up the hooks on the back of the cylinder to put them ‘out of service’ so I can knit the short-row heel.

I use bent forks with 1 lb weights attached to weigh down the heel and/or toe.

It happens to the best of us - dropped stitches. :o(

Picking up dropped stitches is SO much fun!

Finally (two hours later), a pair of almost finished socks. All they need is a kitchener on the toe. (You can see the finished pair on Tina’s blog)

I hope you all enjoyed the walk-through! It’s hard to show here but it really isn’t as easy as some might think. These machines are antiques (unless you invest in a NZAK), are very persnickety and you need to pay close attention at all times or you end up doing what I had to do in the 2nd to last picture. I was *very* lucky in that the machine I purchased on Ebay was in working order - and I did quite a bit of shopping before I settled on the one I purchased.

However, I’m not complaining. It may be a bit challenging at first but hell, a pair of socks in two hours? You can’t beat that with a size 1 needle (or a stick). ;o)

**All photos in this post were taken by Tina with my Pentax - thanks again!

Somehow, some way, some one told the ribber that I was all flaunting the fact that I managed to wrest a pair of ribbed socks from its cast-iron grip.

…and now its pissed at me.

The ribber and I are now locked in all-consuming death match. It is merciless.