Startitis

I think I might have it. In case you’re keeping track, I’m currently working (in order of cast on) the U-Neck Sweater Vest, the Cold Mountain Stole, the Red Lace Scarf, and now a pair of Mock Cable Socks. Sigh…I think I’ve caught the startitis bug. Happens to everyone now and then, I suppose.

Mock Cable Socks - trickier than they look

I started these as a travel project since I will be traveling twice this month. Tomorrow I leave for the ALA annual conference in Chicago. I’ll be getting back late Monday. In a few weeks I’ll be heading to Florida for the ACRL Immersion program. I’m excited about both trips, but I really wanted something small to bring with me. I’ll probably still bring the Red Lace scarf as a backup should the socks get boring though.

This pattern looks pretty simple, but it’s been a bit tricky for me. The pattern is from Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy Johnson of Wendy Knits. I decided to try Judy’s Magic Cast On for the first time and really liked it. The book has excellent instructions, but you can fine them here. The pattern is called a mock cable since only two stitches are actually being cabled in each column. Feeling extremely adventurous, I also decided to lean how to cable without a cable needle after “losing” my DPN cable needle stand in several times just sitting on the futon. Can you imagine how many DPNs I could lose between here and Chicago?

I used these instructions from Grumperina. It took me several tries to figure it out, but that fault lies squarely with me. For some reason I couldn’t comprehend the need to pull the right needle entirely out of the cabled stitches in order to switch them. I got it though, I’ve finished one row of the socks cabling without a cable needle. I’m not sure I’ll do it all the time, but it’s definitely useful for traveling while making small cables.

When I get back from Chicago, I’ll post progress pictures on all my other WIPs. It’s not terribly pretty. My short (knitting) attention span these days means I haven’t actually finished a project in months, though I do have all sorts of fun things on the needles.

If you have any suggestions for fun yarn shops in the downtown Chicago area, let me know. I’ll be taking some non-conference time to visit Loopy Yarns for sure, but I’d appreciate any other suggestions.