Two Black Sheep

Since U Been Gone

What kind of Fuckery is this?
-Amy Winehouse

Ok, I know that you were planning on posting, but I got reasons.  I rolled over, looked at the clock & that lyric blared through my head. The clock says 6:32 a.m. Of course, I try to go back to sleep before my pissy walk to the coffee machine. Defeated, I'm up! 

This is my all-time favorite On-the-Road bathroom.  Smack of the corner of Rt. 250 & 71!  When you spend a sizable amount of time on the road, you learn to find these gems.  When I started this job, I'd take a tinkle any ole place.  I've got standards now, & I'll hold out for this gas station.  Probably bigger than the fact that each toilet has it's own sink and a nice tile motif,  there's are excellent breakfast & lunch options.  If this picture were taken at lunch time, there'd be a bag containing a spicy chicken sandwich.  Alright enough potty talk.  Sock Pal, I warned you that I was taking your sock along for all my adventures.  I never said that they were going to be Paris Hilton sized adventures.  Come June, your sock will listen to President Clinton address some graduates.  It will also save me from jumping off the balcony onto those graduates.

Here's where I'm at today, what type of leg should I knit for my pal?  All of these stitch patterns can be found in Vogue Stitchionary Vol. 1.  I'm changing the names for a some Two Black Sheep flavor.  Humor me, it's been a crazed family week (just strengthened my belief that I never want to spawn a girl).  Click on the picture if you need a better look.

Left Option: I Haven't Talked with You in 6 Mos., But I'm Pregnant
Right Option: Look Ma, I'm on Cops

Left Option: Stumbling Home after a Bachelorette Party
Right Option: It's noon & I Just now saw the Bar's Hand Stamp is now on My Cheek

I'm leaning towards something off of the top row.  While I love both of the bottom swatches, I'm afraid that it make look a bit skewed.  I think that if I went with one off the bottom row, I should have knit the top foot also in the pattern.  Would it look silly?  So which to I knit?
-Lola

Knowing People

My Dearest Sock Pal,
One day, I hope that you will read these letters and enjoy seeing where your sock has been.  Let's start by saying, I've got a question for the lovely readers of the Sockapalooza.  I'll get to that first, they may not want to read about the sock's adventure and I really need some help.  I'm so used to making toe-up socks for myself.  I usually take measurements from my heel bone to the big toe; this is the length that I knit until I start my heel.  Is it safe for me to knit 2 inches shorter than my Pal's length and then start my heel?  Please, help a fellow Paloozaer out.  Ok, on to your sock's weekend fling.

Unfortunately, Gus was born to people who hate sand more than sand's mortal enemy (Would that be water or wind?).  Gus loves sand as most 2 year-olds do.  Here's the problem, we have a lovely park, but it has the world's largest sand pit.  So we sucked up our hatred, and took the little bugger to the park this weekend.  Gus is a cautious kid.  The toddler-sized slide at daycare looks like Mt. Everest to Gus.  When we got to the park, it took a little nudging to get him to sit on the "truck".  It took SK to climb the 2 steps for the little slide for Gus to look at it.  Did you know that every slide has a bar that prevents kids from falling forward and off the slide?  Huh?  Well, imagine the shock when Gus grabs that bar, hangs off it & says, "Monkey boy <insert monkey sound>".  Then, please imagine me passing out when Gus walks up and slides down the 20 foot twisty slide.  From that point, he ran around the park testing out all the rides.  I decided to whip out the sock because SK didn't want to be more than 6 inches from Gus.  I only got one strange look, but it was from a father that had a baby strapped to his chest while also carrying coffee.  Now if we were Uber-Baby-Safe parents that baby proofed the entire house & the dog, I would have shot back an equally snarky look.  But I've walked around the house nursing a baby while carrying a coffee, so I can't throw stones.  It's safe to say at the park I added an inch and kept the sand away from the Sock & my own toes.

Here's how the Sock & I spent the day yesterday. 

Can you sanitize a sock?  It may have to happen.  Tomorrow the Sock visits Sandusy!  Home of the Demon Drop and the smell of burnt tires.  I'm also going to take the Sock to northern Ohio's cleanest & most fabulous gas station ever.  Tune in people.

-Lola

Mission Impossible Theme

I really wanted to post a Sock Update, but I'm sick again.  I hesitate to say that I'm "sick", because it's just a head cold.  But it's enough to make me  put the needles down and crawl under a blanket.  Daycare is slowly suffocating me under a pile of nasty tissues.  At least once a month, I've got this nasty Visitor taking up residence.  I usually don't make an appointment with the Doctor for something like this, but I'm so busy with work that I've got to see if anything will fix me. So a sock update must wait, but I'm very thrilled with the Cider Moon choice.  Guess who will be filling up on the Moon in June?

So here's the reason for the title choice:

When you read the amount of blogs that we do here at Two Black Sheep, you tend to get lost in the Blogsphere.  I stumbled on this fabric months, maybe years ago.  I think it's called Road Trip by Alexander Henry.  After doing some digging, it was a short run & it also came with a pink background.  I'm obessed with it!  I looked through hundreds of Google pages with the hope of finding an internet store selling scraps of it.  So take a good look at it!  If you see it anywhere, snatch it up!  Fast!  If anyone knows where I can get my sick little hands on some, email me.

Not to leave you on a begging note, here's some fabric I bought for a Big Boy Bed Quilt for Gus:

Also from Alexander Henry (imagine if he & Amy Butler made kid fabric) and is called Smiles from Around World.   The faces are about 3 inches.  I'm planning a mix of favorite fabrics in primary colors.  Nothing crazy, maybe another subway tile one.  You think it'd be in poor taste if I mixed in some of this fabric, but in black?

Sock post tomorrow!

-Lola

McFearless

I will definitely give the PGR tutorial a looking over after class and Spiderman 3 this evening. Right now, I think that the "Fucked Up Socks" - at least that's what I am calling them - will get the full on toe-up treatment. Honestly, I have tried just about every method I can think of with them and nothing is working. I tried the PGR directions and got a rectangle. No good. I attempted to do the toe from the latest Rockin' Sock Club. No dice (didn't have time to comletely read the direction). I did the Cat Bordi square toe from the Knitty Gritty episode. No way. You can see them below in all their fugged glory and snicker all you like. Come on, people. You have to have had at least one project go awry. So, what was it? Confession is good for the soul. Get it off your chest and leave it in the comments. Besides, you'll make Lola feel better when she begins talking crazy that all knit bloggers are perfect knitters.

The small package that I ordered from England came yesterday and I am so pissed that I had class last night and today. I could have finished Shedir; I should have focused on the Chevron; I would have cast on the hug me tight with the chocolate Calmer. Could've, should've, would've. Notice, no where in there did you see the words "Grace" or "Doctor's Bag" or "Embossed Leaves" yet they still remain on my needles. Why is that? Why do I get bored with the knits that I have? Truly, I have no answer, but I must get a crackin' on at least Grace and the socks. After all, the Bro is walking for graduation in a few weeks, and I would like to give Beaner her sweater. Given the other sister's response to yours, Lola, I might only get to see it on her in the flesh.

I love The Knitting Answer Book these days. Sure, I have other helpful books, but this one seems to be filled with the most help. Sometimes I have to search a bit to find what I am looking for (different grafts and bind-offs) but it has been helpful as of late, so much so that it doesn't go back on the shelf with the others. There has been much talk about the latest IK and I have to say that I don't really find it that interesting. However, I am in love with the cover sweater (the yoke is too wide for me though . . . seriously, not putting on a damn strapless bra to wear a sweater) and I love the lace blouse - not to be confused with 1824 Blouson. What the hell were they thinking? Betty loves the blouson number, but she is 16 and can probably pull off that look with panache. Me? I am 37 and would look like an elephant in it. Of course I love the Veronik Avery socks, but she and I have a checkered past . . . one that I am not quick to repeat. I leave you with the latest cake of yarn from the Rockin' Sock Club and a cake of Knit Picks Shadow. The STR is obviously destined for socks, but the Shadow is heading for Sarcelle sometime soon. Oh, to my sock pal, I love you . . . in a completely sisterly way . . . your emails have cracked me up.

Ava PS - Did I say I would leave you with that photo? I lied. My brother-in-law sent me a link for a perfect dog present. Clearly this enters the "what the fuck" category in my book. Enjoy!

PGR Tutorial

I have been making socks from Simple Socks; Plain & Fancy for the past 3 years.  It takes a lot for me to try another sock.  I enjoy that the book gives you the tools to make a sock by remembering a couple of numbers & knitting a tube.  I don't have any issues with Heel Flaps, but it's a lot to remember for me.  The toe & heels are worked the same way.  Once I've figured my gauge and pulled out the calculator, I'm ready to start knitting perfect fitting socks. 

I knit alone.  When I started my first PGR socks, I had a ton of issues.  I didn't understand the YO method for the purl side.  I had no clue where to knit to and or when to stop.  I couldn't find a good web tutorial.  A couple weeks ago, Ava called with some of my same concerns.  I thought I'd try to photograph a couple of the stumbling blocks.  I'll won't be giving numbers because that'd be wrong, but here are some tips in working the PGR method.

Since there are lots of yarnovers, this is an important tip to decrease holes along the side of your toe. Knit side YOs are done the regular way, yarn in front of the needle.  PGR recommends that you do you a YO on the purl side differently.  This really screwed up the first time since I thought that I was doing a purl YO correctly.  She says to start with the yarn in back and make a purl stitch.  I only found out later that you make a YO for a purl stitch by wrapping the yarn around the needle, yarn in front of needle, and make the purl stitch.  Like I said before, I knit alone.

There are 2 parts of a PGR toe/heel.  The first part creates the short-row triangle.  The second part will create the pocket.  OK, let's learn the most important player.  Find the Stitch/YOs Combo & learn to tell the difference between it & a plain stitch.  The first part of the Combo is the stitch. The second part is the YO it leans, but recognize both as the Combo.  Spread the fabric apart if you are having a hard time noticing a regular stitch from the stitch/YO Combo.  The picture below features 5 Combos.

During the first part of creating the toe/heel, you will knit to the Combo.  Refer to the picture, I will purl the next stitch and then turn the work.  During the first part, never knit from the Combo.

Continue in this manner, knitting/purling to the stitch before the Combo.  The book will tell you the exact time to move onto the Second step of the toe.  14 stitches is what I need to  move to the the Second part of the toe. 

This is where you will begin to separate the Combos.  If you CO an even number of stitches, the side to begin the pocket will start with the Knit side.  The Combos are circled.  YO and knit a couple of stitches, count the stitch from the Combo & all the stitches between.  14. 

On this side only, you will only knit the stitch of the Combo then flip your work.  You've broken up a stitch Combo.  YO, purl up and consume the stitch from the Combo.  The next stitch will be the YO from the combo.  Work the next step according to the directions in the book.  Turn, YO & knit.  Knit the stitch from the Combo.  You will now have 2 YOs.

In the above picture, the first two loops are YOs and the 3rd stitch is the first stitch of a Combo.  On the second part of the sock, after you knit/purl the stitch from the Combo, you will always work the following 2 YOs and the stitch from the next Combo; 3 stitches are always consumed from this point. 

Do the same on the Purl side.  Continue YO-ing & flipping until all Combos have been eaten up and you have a cute little toe pocket.  The very last turn of the work will be a knit side and the pocket is finished.  Rip the waste yarn, and get knitting!

Obviously, there are lots of steps in between what I've described; I guess I didn't give you a tutorial as much as a post full of tips.  I wanted to provide an a reference of the things that I found difficult to understand.  I was used to wrapping short-row stitches, and the PGR method just wasn't making sense the first couple times I read it.  If you like making socks, I strongly encourage everyone to purchase this book.  It is my most worn & used knitting book.  Yesterday, Jen left in the comments that in the newest IK there is going to be a PGR tutorial.  That should help with anything that I've left out or didn't explain properly.

Hope it helps.  Any questions, please let me know.

-Lola

 

 

Baby's Got Sauce

Good morning Sock people!  As I said in my last post, I'm going to document my sockapalooza adventures.  Perhaps it will force me to take more pictures or at least knit the sock.  I would hate to be franticly knitting on July 20.  Shall we start with the birth of my sock?  That's a good beginning.

Let me share how my day began.  I opted not show you the crumb filled shot of my car.  I noticed that most knit bloggers seem to have really clean houses/lives.  I don't want to kill that illusion.  I was on the road so early yesterday that I heard the entire Stern show.

6 a.m.

I have a lot of very early trainings in May.  It's great because I'm home before lunch most of the time.  "Most of the time" was not yesterday.  I had an early training & then about 5 hours to kill before my next appointment.  Guess I'll have to visit a new yarn store.  This yarn store happens to have just had a trunk sale of one of my new favorite companies.  Somehow Pistachio & Asbury Park found their way into my arms.  I decided to use the Pistachio for my Sockapalooza pal.  Wind it up, ma'am!  My sock was born!

11:06 a.m. 

Isn't she cute?  Precious lil' cake.  I swatched it up (remember I had 5 hours to kill) and it made me think of the name choice.  Is anyone else obsessed with names?  The more creative, the more I want to buy it.  I'm still looking for the "Dirty Martini" colorway.  Please point me in the direction.  But back to Pistacho.  Lots of brown, green & red.  It took me a while to remember that sometimes Pistacho are dyed red.  I'm noticing a trend with my yarn choices, Baby Shit Green!  Could someone please slap my hand when I touch this color?  Please inspire me with a shade of purple or orange.

Today I'm going to work on a PGR short-row tutorial.  Ava was working on this method a couple weeks back & had the same issues that I had had working this technique.  It now has become my preferred method of sock knitting, so I want to share the love.

It ain't Easy Being Green

These last 2 days in Ohio have been beautiful!  Almost a little to beautiful.  I hate when it's time to start shaving the legs, and it felt like it was getting to that time.  Crap, buy me some razors.

I should be working, but I've been tripping all over this city.  I have a very busy month ahead of me.  Right now I have 2 free days in May, but those will be eaten up any day now.  Busy for me means lots of driving.  This month it's lots of 6 a.m. driving.  So it's me & the truckers, my peeps.  Yesterday after a couple of hectic games of phone tag, I decided today was going to be full of Me shopping.  And since I'm getting my newly repaired sewing machine back any second, I thought I'd let Ms. Butler entertain my pocket book.

I've got a new "quilt" idea dancing around my head.  I put "quilt" in quotes, because I don't feel I have the right to call it Quilting.  I know, the act of piecing 3 fabrics together is quilting.  But I feel funny & foolish when I'm in the shop.  The owner is saying phrases that I've never heard, and she's looking at me like I should.  While I'm waiting for her to cut the fabric, I imagine the conversation she's having in her head:

She doesn't know what a Fussy Cut is and she's buying designer fabric!  Poo-Paah, indeed.

I'll just imagine her in a knitting store hearing things like SSK and DPN.  Ahh the look of confusion on her smug little face.  Ok, I'm done, enough of my insecurities.  I'll wash these beauties up & start thinking about some inexpensive fabric for it to mingle with.

Here's another thing I'm insanely proud of, today I only took one plastic bag from a store!  And I shopped at 6 different places.  I know!  Amazing, right?  OK, perhaps this is bordering on the bad side of insanity (is there a good side?).  I'm so tired of plastic bags in our house.  Really I'm not getting all Leo on you, but I'm sick of the piles and piles of the stuff.  So I returned a bunch to Whole Foods and just stuffed other purchases in my large purse.  Please, pat me on the back Mr. Gore.

Off to make some eco-friendly cleaning supplies.  Who knew baking soda & white vinegar would fix everything?  I'm pretty positive that it could clean up Ms. Spears career.

-Lola

PS. I'm getting my Sock Pal's yarn tomorrow.  I think that I'm going to take it with me during the next couple months.  Yep, I'm ripping off Yarn Harlot.  So I'll post a separate category for Lola's Sock Adventure.  Maybe my sock pal would like to see the trouble that her gift got into while hanging with Lola's Crew.

PPS.  Here's a shot of some Lizard Ridge squares.  After reading that post, you should get some sort of reward.  2 more squares and then seaming.  I may have enough yarn to squeak out one tonight.  Pup tried to roll on them outside.  I almost had to think of a story to tell Gus why Pup wasn't with us anymore.