Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Feather and Fan Sock and Surplice Progress


Feather and Fan Sock
Originally uploaded by sunasak
Last night I finished this here sock, which sure knitted up quickly, thanks to the plain foot (haven't knit anything plain in a while). It is in Tofutsie, that trendy soy, wool, cotton and chitin blend. I just HAD to knit up socks with pieces of crab in them! The ball band is all torn up from the puppy getting to it when I first bought the yarn--I guess she smelled seafood (it does NOT stink, honest, but dogs have more sensitive noses).

The pattern is another Wendy Johnson model, a toe-up feather and fan design. Why'd I choose this? I simply LIKE feather and fan. It reminds me of the shawls I am not knitting while I am in a sock phase.

Issues? I think I'd prefer a more narrow end to the toe, so if I do this type of sock again, I might go down to ten or twelve center stitches in the toe. And the heel seems a bit short to me, so next time I do a short-row heel, I might make it a bit deeper, too.

What I like is how the foot (64 sts) does not pool at all, but the leg, which has 72 stitches, has some interesting pooling where the green parts clump up. It's centered on the back of the foot for a long time.

I have to say that the yarn feels GREAT on my feet, light and cool. And I didn't have as much trouble with it splitting as some folks seem to have. Heh, we'll see how I do with Panda Cotton, which is next.

Yep, got ANOTHER order of yarn yesterday from the Loopy Ewe. I will review those tomorrow or later today. Panda Cotton was in there, since so many folks have used it and are commenting. I was impressed with how it feels. Very "powdery" soft.


Surplice Top

I see a lot of hits to this blog from people looking for the surplice top I am working on (supposedly). This is from the Nashua Handknits American Designer Collection, and it is knit in Natural Focus Ecologie Cotton So, I thought I'd share a photo of my progress on it, which is one of the lace bands. I wish I had someone to talk to about this pattern, because I do not like how you are supposed to knit many separate pieces for the front and back, then sew them on. I'd much rather pick up and knit the pieces, to make one piece. Anyone else out there modifying this pattern?

I'm making this in the exact yarn called for in the pattern. I really liked that color best, and everyone at the LYS said it went best with my complexion! Whatever...

4 comments:

  1. Now, missy, it you 'whatever' our opinions, how are we supposed to feel appreciated? I mean, really.

    hee hee. Seems I stop by on occasion to bug you. :)

    Surplice is loverly. I really would like some socks. Sadly, I really don't want to knit any at the moment. I've been carrying around some Koigu socks with almost both feet done (toe-up) for a damn long time without progress. The lace void has sucked me in again. Sigh.

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  2. I don't have much of a way with words this week. I apologize. I should have used many more words to express what I meant (like that all the colors were so similar I had a hard time telling the difference). Not my week for graceful word usage!

    Of course, Jody's opinions are very valuable. You will note many past decisions made on the basis of a Jody opinion!

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  3. Hi Suna--like perhaps others, I found this by searching for someone doing the surplice lace top. I'm working on it too (SLOWLY!...I am only about 4 lace patterns repeats for the first piece). You asked about modifications for putting it together...it's not completely what you want to do I don't think but check out this link: http://esostarikaknitfo.blogspot.com/2007/06/suplice-lace-top.html She didn't make the top of the front and back different pieces which meant only front, back, 2 sleeves actually had to be sewn on...it's what I'll probably do when I ever get to that point! Anyway, just a FYI. I'll keeping stopping by!

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  4. Thank you SO much Rachel. I went to the site, and the information is exactly what I needed. I'll get back to knitting on the surplice top tomorrow evening or Tuesday, and just work on my socks at lunch or riding in the car for a while.

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Suna says thanks for commenting--I love comments!