Baudelaire Socks, Swallowtail Shawl

18Feb07

I’ve been working on my first Baudelaire sock since I finished the Clapotis, and this is what it looked like as of the fifteenth. This is my first toe-up sock, and I kind of felt like I was knitting blindly. I was sure the foot would end up too short, but it turned out to be the perfect length. However, the increases on the toe and gusset are holey and just not as neat as they are on the top-down socks I’ve made. I knit a few rows of the leg after taking the photo, but the knitting seems really loose in places. As much as I love this pattern, I want to blame its toe-up nature. I’m used to having one little hole that I have to close up when I join the heel to the instep stitches to start the gusset, and right now this sock just looks sloppy to me. Eventually I’ll go back to it, and maybe if I keep going a bit it will look better. That’s what I’m telling myself, anyway. And, to be fair, the yarn (it’s Opal) is bugging me too. It’s overtwisted, and I’m pretty sure that isn’t my fault, because I didn’t rewind the ball and this isn’t a problem I usually have.

And I knit most of the foot while watching Firefly and Serenity on DVD, and working on it now just makes me sad that there isn’t any more of the show to see!

Anyway, I’ve gone back to working on the Swallowtail Shawl I started last month. The picture shows how much I did last month before I was distracted by the Clapotis; I’m about halfway through the budding lace pattern now. I sort of wish I had decided to make it in a slightly heavier yarn, because it turns out that I hate working with laceweight. I mean, the yarn itself – Alpaca with a Twist Fino – is gorgeous, but it’s so damn delicate. Plus, I’ve realized that when I “throw” the yarn when I knit, I completely drop the right needle. That makes things a little precarious, especially at the beginning of a row, and especially with the metal Knit Picks needles.

I actually invested in the Knit Picks Options set for this project, though, because I thought the needles’ pointy tips would help with the nupps (and I think that will turn out to be true). Plus, I figured investing in a set of interchangeables would be cheaper than continuing to buy each size individually, since I don’t have a huge variety of needles in my arsenal at this point. Although I’ve primarily been using wooden needles lately, and I don’t have another set of interchangeable needles to compare, I really like this set. The joins between the cables and tips are smooth and haven’t come loose (in fact, I haven’t disconnected the tips and cable that I used for my Clapotis because it was difficult to get them unscrewed, and I need to dig out the little key to help). The cable is thin and bendy, but still feels strong – it certainly held up to the rather heavy Clapotis. I’m still getting used to the slicker metal needles, but since wimpy laceweight yarn isn’t the norm for me, I don’t think that will be a big issue in the long run, and it will probably just serve to speed up my knitting.

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Tags: baudelaire socks, swallowtail shawl