German Stockings FO and Project Three

Finally have these German Stockings done and just in time. I finished these Saturday morning and really couldn’t be happier to get them off my needles after all the trouble (aka frogging) I had with them. In the end, they were worth the trouble. They turned out gorgeous and I love them. Now I just need to figure out when I can wear them and what I’ll wear them with.

I didn’t get a chance to blog about the issues I had with this sock last week. To sum it up, I ended up ripping back over 5 inches because I was doing the increase portion of the traveling row in the wrong place. I didn’t realize it until I was about to start the heel. I considered continuing on as I was, doing the increase in the wrong place, or leaving what I had done already and doing the increase in the correct place on the foot. After debating about it, I decided there was no choice but to frog it. If I’d done either, it would have looked quite a bit different from the first sock and I knew I didn’t want to just finish it to get it done on time because I know I wouldn’t want to go back and rip it out later on. I sucked it up, risked not finishing on time and fixed my mistake. Thankfully I ended up getting it done with a few days to spare!

German Stocking

Pattern: German Stockings by Cookie A. (My Ravelry project page.)
Started: July 15, 2011
Completed: August 13, 2011
Yarn: Socktopus Sokksu Original in Fontainebleau, 1.5 skeins, roughly 650 yards
Hook: US 1 (2.25mm) Knit Picks nickel circular
Notes: Didn’t change anything about the pattern. I wouldn’t say they were a difficult knit, I just seemed to have a difficult time following the pattern properly and reading the notes section (which I actually did do, but apparently missed the info I needed there). They turned out great despite the issues I had that caused lots of frogging. Had I not made so many mistakes, I think I could have had these done in about 2 weeks time. I’m just happy I got them done in time for Camp Loopy!

German Stocking – Motif Detail

German Stocking – Back

You can see more pictures on my Ravelry project page.

Now that Camp Loopy Project Two is off the needles and a photo has been uploaded to The Loopy Ewe, it’s time to move on to other things… like Camp Loopy Project Three! Today is the starting day (and finishing day for Project Two). I’ve got my yarn and needles ready to cast on for Eadon. I think as long as I don’t have any major issues, I can get it done in less then 4 weeks, but depends on how busy I am between now and then. I knit my swatch on Saturday, measured it on Sunday and was happy to find that I got the right gauge the first time. Getting gauge on the first try seems to not happen often for me. I usually have to swatch 2 or 3 times!

I’m trying out some new needles on this project: ChaioGoo Red Stainless Steel cirulars. I’ve heard a number of knitters rave about these needles and particularly love the cable. I knit a swatch with them and so far I like them quite a bit. The cable is different then anything else on the market and the tips (regular ones, though they do make a lace circular) are somewhere between regular Addi’s and lace Addi’s. They’re pretty inexpensive, too. I paid $8.50 for the ones I bought through Grandma’s Hand Knitting Etsy shop. Shipping was pretty cheap and they arrived in a few days. Definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for something new to try that’s not too pricey. I’ll definitely be ordering more and really want to try the sock sizes.

I don’t think I mentioned it, but this past Friday, Knit Picks had a warehouse sale at their warehouse in Columbus, OH. I went with a few friends and scored some good deals. That experience deserves a whole post to itself, though, so I’ll share that next time. I may even have a little giveaway for one of the items I picked up! 🙂