Looking for These?

For those of you who’ve been watching Sock Madness from the sidelines – we’ve got a treat for you today.  Pattern 6 – Mad For Fair Isle Batik Style socks – is now available from the designer, Tina Lorin.  She’s charging a small fee of $3.25 for this pattern and it’s so worth it.  Go get a copy for yourself.

The Last Sock Madness 1 Prizes

I’m still busy wrapping up the loose ends and I have 4 more prizes to give away. 

 

The first goes to our runner up, Joy. She was an amazing competitor and she really gave Kristi a run for the money in the finals. She’ll get a skein of SM yarn and some treats. 

 

For the last three, I turned to the Random Number Generator to help me find a few names and here they are:

Goldenpurl Jean of Wendy’s division will be getting a set of Susanne’s Ebony dpns from Yarnatic Vikkie.

 

Emmie from Nancy’s division will be getting a set of stitch markers from Tezzcan.

 

CC, who is also from Nancy’s division will be getting one skein of variegated merino/tencel sock yarn in her choice of colors from Beth of Socks That Fit. 

I still need to incorporate some edits into the Mad to Dance pattern and then it will be available.  I think that Tina and Kristi also want to polish up their patterns, Mad For Fair Isle and Mashup Madness respectively, before they make them available through their websites.  I’ll let you know when I have an update on that. 

Meanwhile, I’m watching the socks and discussion that continue in the Flickr group.  I hope to join you all over there soon.  I still need to make mates for my Mad socks and there are a few patterns I never got to try.  Of course I’m also thinking ahead to SM2.  All good things for sure!

New Voices and Mad Weaving for Free!

It’s so nice to see that the Madness continues over on the flickr group.  New socks keep popping up and some of them are from people we haven’t heard from in quite a while.  New voices are almost always a good thing.  They add to the diversity and provide inspiration.

 

I’ve been putting off saying too much about Sock Madness 2 because it will have a new voice as well.  Felicia is an amazing friend of mine and I couldn’t have done this (or anything else) without her.  In real life, she often steps in to help me with stuff like picking up my kids when Hubbo and I are caught at work.  She helped me do a little surprise renovation on my daughter’s room while she was away at camp last summer too.

 

Felicia will be around for SM 2 but not quite as much because she’s got some big stuff happening at home.  It’s not my place to say any more than that.  The bottom line is that I needed a new co-host. 

 

I’m really excited to say that Carole has agreed to step in and join me as co-host.  She made the official button for the last round and she was a player in Nancy’s Division.  I’ve read her blog for a while and she’s got some great skills.  She’s also a librarian like me which is very cool.  I’m sure that she’ll have great ideas to contribute so that we can make SM2 even better than SM1.  Feel free to welcome her with a shout out! 

 

By the way, as of last week, the Mad Weave pattern is available for anyone who wants to try it.  Tina has incorporated many of the suggestions and comments from the players and is offering it on her blog here. There will be more to come soon.

And the Winner is…

Kristi R! 

I cannot believe that I just typed those words because it means that, after all the planning and all of the fun it’s over.  on the one hand it will be nice to have a little breathing room but, on the other, I feel sad that it’s over.

This game was very competitive but it was never cutthroat.  How many people would have predicted that?  There were knitters who had difficulty with patterns and knitters who found that life got in the way.  No surprise there!  What was surprising was that there were many who stopped their own knitting to help others out and knitters who waited until a competitor was feeling better before continuing on themselves.  That still amazes me as I expect it probably does us all.  The only thing that surprised me more is learning just how fast some knitters are.  Perhaps Kristi will explain to us all just how she does it. 

It is to the credit of all of the players that this competition will be remembered for the supportiveness showed by everyone and the friends that were made.  I am so proud of that.  Although I had to watch from the sidelines, what I saw gave me such a thrill.  I love the idea that you all want to keep things going.  It would be wonderful to see these friendships continue and thrive.  I hope to be more of a part of things in the future and I really hope that there is a Sock Madness 2. 

Yup!  I said it.  I’m going to try to put together another Sock Madness and I hope that it will be even better.  I hope to play with the timeline a little to give myself a little more time to test and edit the patterns.  Spread the word to anyone you know who might want to design for the game.  I suspect that the division structure will stay but there will be more rounds without matchups since time trials seem pretty popular.

More really soon!

Pattern 7 – Mashup Madness

This is the last pattern and I really hope that it lives up to your expectations.  Late last year, when I was still trying to decide if Sock Madness was a good idea or not, I asked a few people for their opinions.  I had been reading Kristi’s blog for quite a while after being attracted by her creativity and designs so she was one of the people I sent my idea to.  I was so excited when she wrote back and said that, not only did she think it was a cool idea, she was interested in designing for it.  It was more than I ever expected and it was so exciting to know that at least one person would be submitting a design. 

Kristi submitted her design along with everyone else and, as I worked on it, we decided that this would be the finale.  It took me many trys to get the looped top correct but it could just be that I’m a spaz.  There are cables and lace and they are all mixed up in a nifty combination.  This pattern may remind you of Mad to Dance and I think that’s a cool thing too because it illustrates how 2 patterns which have similar elements can have totally different outcomes.

We hope that you enjoy this pattern and, because no pattern release is complete without a few words from the designer, here is what Kristi has to say.

Hello!

I’m honored to have one of my designs chosen for Sock Madness. I was
aiming for a more difficult design, but never guessed mine would be
the final pattern of the challenge! It has been a pleasure to watch
you guys from the sidelines.

Often my designs are sparked by nature, but in this instance when I
thought of the need to use “mad” or “madness” in the title I couldn’t
shake those old Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup ads from my mind. All I
could think of was “who put the lace in my cables and who put the
cables in my lace?” So, that’s what I did. When I have fairly lacy
design for socks I like to use an unusual top treatment. Often I opt
for a simple picot top to set off the lace but I was getting a little
tired of my usual. For Cables and Lace Madness I opted for a fun
little scalloped top that can be a bit of challenge to execute, but I
find worth the effort. I can’t wait to use that top on some summer
anklets here soon.

To those who have already been eliminated, I hope you feel free to
play around with the design some. I think the pattern on the back of
the leg might look even better worked in a stockinette lace rather
than garter. You could also switch the patterns between the front and
back of the sock as well. If you do knit the pattern as is or with
your own variation, please consider submitting to the Designedly,
Kristi Flickr group (http://www.flickr.com/groups/dkknitting/).

I hope you find the pattern challenging and the final socks a nice
addition to your summer sock wardrobe!

Best of luck to those remaining!

Kristi
http://blog.designedlykristi.com

More Treats For You!

Thank you for all of your kind birthday wishes for my daughter.  I apologize for being such a slug lately but life had exploded around me lately (in good ways).  I’m sure you all know how life tends to get in the way from time to time.  I’m also coming down off a fiber rush.  Felicia and I were at Maryland Sheep & Wool last Saturday and had way too much fun.  We may have gone over our respective budgets too.

No matter what else is going on – the Madness waits for no one!  Don’t you love Yarnatic Victoria’s artwork!  I suspect that by now you all have seen this and you know that the last knitters standing are Kristi R and Joy.  Is anyone surprised by that? 

Tomorrow I’ll release the new pattern but first let’s give away more stuff.  That’s always fun.  As before, some will come directly from me and some will come from the people who donated it.  All winners this time were chosen by the random number generator because I hate to choose.

From Round 4

Linnakat, from Wendy’s Division has won a yarn bowl from Sarah of SKH Pottery.  I am so jealous!  Those bowls are gorgeous and, I suspect would hold many things with style - like spinning fiber perhaps. 

Carrie, from Stephanie’s Division has won a skein of Sock Madness yarn and, of course a few treats of my choice.

From Round 5

Stitchinwench, from Wendy’s Division has won a bundle of sock knitting treats from Jan.  This is very cool because apparently the random number generator was really with it and chose to reward the last novice standing. 

Jo, who’s also from Wendy’s Division has won a skein of Sock Madness yarn.  I’ll have a lot fun finding treats to go with it. Hmmm…

That’s all until tomorrow.

Round 7 Specs

Well, we’ve reached the final round and here are the specs.

Yarn = The designer used 2 skeins of KnitPicks Gloss in dusk.  I used Socks That Rock in Cobalt Bloom.

Needles = 2 US #1 circulars and 2 US #2 circulars.

Gauge = 8.5 st/inch in stockinette on US #1

We’ll start the next round on Friday between 3 and 7 just like last time. 

I apologize for the brief post but it’s my daughter’s birthday today and we’re a little busy.

Pattern 6 – Mad for Fair Isle Batik Style

When we asked for patterns last fall (can you believe it was that long ago), many designers sent us ideas.  Many of them sounded really interesting and we would love to have been able to use them all.  Then there was Tina.  Tina sent us quite a few ideas and, as Felicia and I read them we thought they sounded ambitious and scary.  We may even have used the word crazy.

When her patterns started to arrive we were amazed to see that, what sounded crazy in writing, was really cool and creative as a pattern.  She submitted quite a few and they were all very different from each other – and different from anything we’d seen in general.  Although we hadn’t intended to use more than one pattern from a given designer, we found that it was in the best interest of Sock Madness to include more than one of her patterns.  Believe it or not, she’s still got more ideas and has offered to work something up for Sock Madness 2.  I say bring it on!

As usual, we have a few words from our designer:

BATIK SOCKS INSPIRATION

Hello sock knitters,

I’m so humbled to be here again but thrilled to share this sock pattern with you mad sock knitters!

Many use “Fair Isle” to describe the general technique of stranded colorwork, while others reserve “Fair Isle” for those specific patterns established on a small island in the north of Scotland.

I didn’t want to limit myself to the patterns of the Northern “Fair Isle” so I traveled south to the fair isles of Indonesia.

My Dutch grandmother lived in Indonesia for 7 years before my mother was born. Almost 60 years later my mother went with her sister to Indonesia for the first time to see all that she had heard about in her childhood. This Mad for Fair Isle Batik Style sock pattern is inspired by batik cloth my mother got on that trip.

To remain true to the original colors, I used blue and white for my socks. But I hope you’ll experiment and pick two contrasting colors you like. Or use one solid and one variegated like Hillary did in her tease photo. Just remember to choose which one will dominate and be your foreground color. While knitting always bring the dominant foreground yarn under the other yarn to knit the next stitch. In my sock the white yarn is dominant.

 

If you’re not familiar with color dominance, take a look at these explanations before starting:

http://treschicveronique.blogspot.com/2006/12/last-fo-of-year.html

http://nonaknits.typepad.com/nonaknits/2006/01/yarn_dominance.html

Good luck! and as my mother would say, “Veel breiplezier! (Happy Knitting!)

Tina Lorin

http://woolgatheringandmore.blogspot.com/

Randomness

Tomorrow is Friday, the release date for the next pattern – number 6!  Expect to see it in your inboxes between 3 and 7pm. 

Speaking of Round Six, I did the matches last night and the last 2 rounds have their very own page in the Brackets section.  It’s simply labeled The Finals.  I took a little while to put together these last matches because it really stinks that there have to be winners and non-winners and it’s sooooo hard to make determinations that will affect that.  Know what I mean? 

I took the easy way out and put the 4 names on index cards which I placed in a basket.  I called in my girls and had the 2 of them alternate between choosing a name for one of the spots on the grid.  Totally random and out of my control. 

Because this is my game and I can (and will) break the rules as I please, I’m going to break with tradition and give you a clue as to what lies in store for you tomorrow.  It’s pretty obvious from the specs anyway.  It’s Fair Isle! 

I’m telling you this so that the following comments will make more sense when I share them with you.  Yesterday, the designer of the next pattern (whose name is still a secret) read my post and sent me an email.  She thought these comments might help you all and I agree so, here they are in a slightly modified form:

“My second sock was not only wider but longer than the first (and I did use US 2’s). I think using US 0 would make these socks the perfect size for me.

My recommendation for the non-competitors is to pick one chart for the top of the foot, and knit a checkerboard for the sole of the foot (alternating knitting one stitch with one color and then the other). The checkerboard stitching on the sole would make their gauge more consistent if they’re not practiced color-stranders, I think, and probably longer-wearing.

But I think you’re right, that the gauge is a matter of the nature of the pattern – and one’s experience with color-stranded work.

I read Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Without Tears 2 nights ago, and she said to always strand loosely because one can always (although it’s tedious) tighten up stitches but can never loosen them up. I was definitely stranding tight with my first sock, and I barely got the sock on. I stranded much looser with the second sock, although it still had tightness in places. But all the stitches evened out with blocking.

Also, when knitting more than 5 stitches (or approx. 1″ in worsted weight) between color changes, some like to weave the other color in so the float isn’t too long. I wove much more in the first sock and didn’t at all in the second. Elizabeth Zimmerman did not like to weave in because it can show on the right side…

Finally, as you mentioned about my cotton yarn, I think it makes a difference because the stitches slip whereas with wool, they stay put. I don’t knit continental so I don’t carry the yarns throughout with an even tension. I drop one yarn to knit with the other so it’s possible the stitches loosen when I drop the yarn.”

One more thing!  Here’s a quick message from Indychick/Wendy.  She’s running a little contest to raise money to support Breakthrough Breast Cancer.  Let’s put the power of knitters behind her.

“Would you like to win some yarn and help support a brilliant cause?
Wendy at Wendy’s Woolies is running a prize draw in support of Breakthrough Breast Cancer. The prizes on offer include some fantastic hand-dyed yarns, stitch markers, patterns and knitting kits. Go to http://www.wendyswoolies.com/raffle to see the prizes and find out how to enter.
Breakthrough is the UK’s leading breast cancer charity and they are involved in campaigning, research and education. I expect that all of us either know someone whose life has been touched by this disease, or have been touched ourselves.
Entry into the draw is just £1, you can have as many entries as you like and the winners will be announced on 9th June.”  -Wendy

Confessions

It’s that time again – confession time.  I rarely ever knit a gauge swatch when I knit socks.  I just don’t.  I’ve heard that I’m not alone in this so it doesn’t trouble me too much.  Really, socks are pretty small so the whole darn sock is little more than a gauge swatch if you think about it.  

In most cases, my aversion to gauge swatches is no problem.  If I’m knitting toe up I can try the sock on with such ease that I do it often – just to make sure I’m on target.  Top down is a little more challenging but I can still try it on.  If it’s too small or too big I rip it out and start again and, since socks are small, the amount of time that’s been invested isn’t so great that I feel too upset about the frogging.

Sock 6 is a different story.  *ahem*  I did not swatch and… I paid the price.  Last weekend I realized that the test sock was becoming way too small and frogged it.  I’ve been knitting madly on the second try since then and, while it’s better, it’s still snug. 

This brings me to the questions about the gauge that you all asked yesterday.  I saw them but I needed a little bit of time to check my test sock and formulate an answer.  I’m still not sure you’re gonna love the answer.  Here goes…

The gauge on my test sock is about 10 st/inch – not too far off from the gauge specified in the pattern (which was not a type-o).  I’m using KP size #2 circulars and I think they are measuring slightly small my yarn is on the thinner end of fingering weight.  The socks are snug.

On the other hand, our designer is very dedicated to making sure that her pattern will work well for you so she’s also kniting a pair of these socks now and guess what – hers are coming out a little bit big.  I believe that she’s using size 2’s also. She thinks it may have something to do with the cotton yarn she’s using. 

How’s that?  Clear as mud? My guess is that this pattern is one of those rare situations where there is a very fine line between just right and everything else.  It’s has to do with the nature of the pattern and that’s all I can say about that.