I finally got my own pair of 'kilt hose' finished Saturday evening. However, I didn't do the final yarn-end weaving until this morning.
I here do solemnly declare that this has to be the most messed up pair of socks I have ever made. One is four stitches larger in circumference than the other--that one is a little sloppy feeling. I made them too short to actually function as kilt hose, so I think I shall wear them with the cuffs sticking straight up rather than rolled down. The feet are a almost too short. I ribbed the toe on one sock and not on the other. On one sock the ribbing on the top of the foot peters out in a place that it does not on the other. The decreases down the back of the leg on the one look ungainly and the cuffs are so minuscule looking that even if I were going to wear them rolled down, they would look odd.
I do suppose that the fact that I made two complete sets of kilt hose and finished up another pair of "short socks" in between the first and second of my own socks may have a little to do with the incongruity of the outcome, but still...they are not a prime example of my work and I shan't be show-casing them as the zenith of my abilities!! With all that being said, I think I shall enjoy wearing them. :) Once I wear the inevitable holes in the bottom of them, I think I will use them as a practice piece to learn how to mend hand-knitted socks. I know people do it, so I might as well learn how myself. Why waste all the rest of that wool up the leg when you have small holes in your soles? (I mean, I know I could rip them out and re-use the wool, but that loosens the fibers in a rather nasty kind of way.)
Anyway, I took the time to clear out my knitting basket and prep myself for the next pair of socks. I'm going back to short ones for the meantime (know anybody who needs a pair of woolen kilt hose? I really enjoyed making them...) since those don't have to be custom made the same way. I have decided though that I am going to learn how to do cables--and this next set of socks is to showcase that. Some friend or family member might end up with them if the cables don't come out right. (Put your bids in here, ladies and gentlemen, if you want to be a potential gainer. ;D Er...no promises, you understand....)
As I was straightening out my basket (I took nearly all the yarn that was crammed into it and put it in the newly designated drawer for the purpose in my room), I got to thinking. I get tired of "loosing" my needles and crochet hook (for end-weaving) and having to take everything out of the basket to find one pesky, but necessary item. I seemed to remember hearing (or reading) someplace about knitting needle cases, so a quick Google search ensued. After merely glancing at a couple of pictures, I ducked into the "cold room" (what used to be front porch 40+ years ago; it's not insulated very well, thus the nickname--and the bisquine hung up between it and the living room in the wintertime) and dug through the fabric scrap stash out there. I turned up the remains of a blue/tan plaid short-sleeve men's shirt. Perfect! I chopped off one of the sleeves, cut the part off it off so it was roughly a rectangle, stitched down the raw edge along that side, and then rolled the raw edges at the upper ends. One of those I rolled much deeper than the other. After I was done with that, I stitched four "pockets" into it: one for my 3's, one for my 4's, one for my crochet hook, and one for the niffy 9-inch ruler Mama found someplace and gave to me. Now my needles and other things are organized and less likely to get lost! Much more convenient.
As I told Savannah, "I can be organised if I want to be..."
Here's knitting fun!
I here do solemnly declare that this has to be the most messed up pair of socks I have ever made. One is four stitches larger in circumference than the other--that one is a little sloppy feeling. I made them too short to actually function as kilt hose, so I think I shall wear them with the cuffs sticking straight up rather than rolled down. The feet are a almost too short. I ribbed the toe on one sock and not on the other. On one sock the ribbing on the top of the foot peters out in a place that it does not on the other. The decreases down the back of the leg on the one look ungainly and the cuffs are so minuscule looking that even if I were going to wear them rolled down, they would look odd.
I do suppose that the fact that I made two complete sets of kilt hose and finished up another pair of "short socks" in between the first and second of my own socks may have a little to do with the incongruity of the outcome, but still...they are not a prime example of my work and I shan't be show-casing them as the zenith of my abilities!! With all that being said, I think I shall enjoy wearing them. :) Once I wear the inevitable holes in the bottom of them, I think I will use them as a practice piece to learn how to mend hand-knitted socks. I know people do it, so I might as well learn how myself. Why waste all the rest of that wool up the leg when you have small holes in your soles? (I mean, I know I could rip them out and re-use the wool, but that loosens the fibers in a rather nasty kind of way.)
Anyway, I took the time to clear out my knitting basket and prep myself for the next pair of socks. I'm going back to short ones for the meantime (know anybody who needs a pair of woolen kilt hose? I really enjoyed making them...) since those don't have to be custom made the same way. I have decided though that I am going to learn how to do cables--and this next set of socks is to showcase that. Some friend or family member might end up with them if the cables don't come out right. (Put your bids in here, ladies and gentlemen, if you want to be a potential gainer. ;D Er...no promises, you understand....)
As I was straightening out my basket (I took nearly all the yarn that was crammed into it and put it in the newly designated drawer for the purpose in my room), I got to thinking. I get tired of "loosing" my needles and crochet hook (for end-weaving) and having to take everything out of the basket to find one pesky, but necessary item. I seemed to remember hearing (or reading) someplace about knitting needle cases, so a quick Google search ensued. After merely glancing at a couple of pictures, I ducked into the "cold room" (what used to be front porch 40+ years ago; it's not insulated very well, thus the nickname--and the bisquine hung up between it and the living room in the wintertime) and dug through the fabric scrap stash out there. I turned up the remains of a blue/tan plaid short-sleeve men's shirt. Perfect! I chopped off one of the sleeves, cut the part off it off so it was roughly a rectangle, stitched down the raw edge along that side, and then rolled the raw edges at the upper ends. One of those I rolled much deeper than the other. After I was done with that, I stitched four "pockets" into it: one for my 3's, one for my 4's, one for my crochet hook, and one for the niffy 9-inch ruler Mama found someplace and gave to me. Now my needles and other things are organized and less likely to get lost! Much more convenient.
As I told Savannah, "I can be organised if I want to be..."
Here's knitting fun!
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