Sock Madness....yet again

Sock Madness 18 has started. This is my ninth sock madness and this year I've made a vow to make sure I get gauge and fit correct.

So, in February, when you register, you get a pattern for a Warm up sock. This year it was 'In the Twilight', a twisty cable pattern. I used Naturally NZ – Waikiwi – Shade 420 which might end up being a present for someone else as they are too small.

Here, I played around getting the gauge correct. It was interesting as I knit at 7sts per 2.5cm in the round and 8sts per 2.5cm flat. However, my row count stayed at 10 rows per 2.5cm on 2.25mm needles. 

I obviously knit looser in the round, so I tried going down to 2.00mm needles for equivalent correct gauge.

It took me 9 days of gentle knitting to complete these socks while we all waited for the Qualifying 

So the Qualifying socks are Hydra Scales by Clair Wyvern. I got the correct gauge on the 2.00mm needles.  I Knit the Large and added a 16 row repeat to both socks. Did not adjust for my different foot length which didn't really a compromise on fit.

Used Katia United Sock, Queensland Collection Perth and yarn from an Indie dyer. The entire effect was all green. Took me another 9 days of easy knitting.

                                                 

It all now starts in earnest as we are allocated to Teams. This year the theme is pastries and I'm in Team Qatayef. Now we can get dropped. The first round is from 48 people down to 42. The pattern is I walk the line by Shuyi Wu

Took me 5 days to knit and it was passed and I'm into Round 2, not without a hitch, however.

I used the leftover Queensland Collection Perth yarn from the Qualifier and some Bendigo Sock yarn. I had a leftover ball which did most of the two socks which I was very happy with only to find that the whole ball I thought was the same wasn't. Fortunately, you are allowed to 'run out of yarn' provided you do used all the yarn and join in the new yarn for the rest. All I can say is that you won't see it when I'm wearing them!

Qualifying and the First Round

 Boy, the Qualifying sock for Sock Madness 17 was fun but very time consuming. An exercise in knitting intarsia in the round. It's a trick, and you knit back and forth and end up with a sock in the round.

The Round 1 sock was completely different. Socks knit flat, another trick. Sewn up at the end. Love it, it's like a scar! Unfortunately, had to rush these as we were around from the weekend and being in Team Rambutan I thought that we would be quite fast. I had to resew the seam, so was a little more stressful. But I did make it! 

They are a bit small...not sure how that happened, so someone else is going to get these.

Sock Madness has started....again....for the 17th time

 Yes, indeed, Sock Madness has started again. Registration is up until the 14th February. If you want all the details about Sock Madness, it's on Ravelry at https://www.ravelry.com/groups/sock-madness-forever. If you're not on the worldwide knitting community that is Ravelry, perhaps you should have a look and see if it's for you.

Anyway, Sock Madness is, basically, a sock knitting competition, where everyone knits the same sock in two weeks. Over the 7 rounds there are fewer and fewer knitters as the time frame shortens and shortens. The patterns are amazing and you learn alot about knitting and yourself, and, you get a drawer full of beautiful handknit socks.

But I do have to ask myself why I keep doing it. I have an overwhelming number of handknit socks. My first Sock Madness was SM9 where my first socks were the Stroop Stroop socks, which were the warmup sock pattern for that year.

I've just finished this years warmup sock, which was one of three!

I continue to look forward to the challenge. It can be challenging, there are difficult patterns to interpret and knit fast. There are invariably, a new or nearly new technique to look up on Youtube, or figure out, along with fellow competitors. Again, the designs are amazing and done especially for the Madness. I love that people do this for free, they are so generous. We get a veritable library of patterns. 

I also like the competition. It's friendly and in many ways, collaborative as we help people with their difficulties, knowing that there will be someone to help us. But it's still a competition and that deadline, whether it's time based or numbers based motivates you to knit faster.

It's going to be interesting this year with one pattern apparently having a main colour and 34 different bits of colour.

I have bought myself a set of sock blockers, not so much to block the socks, but to be able to photograph them without have to get my feet in all sorts of positions. I hope it helps the moderators to view my finished socks also.

I've downloaded the other warmup socks, but don't have the time to knit them, I may never, but I have them. So, now, I wait impatiently for the 14th and the drop of the first pattern, the qualifying pattern. 

Sock Madness 2020

Sock Madness came at just the right moment this year. I suspect for many people this was true. Most of us around the world were in various forms of lockdown, and in various forms of shock, as COVID-19 became a pandemic and restructured everyone's lives. Sock Madness gave me a structure and a goal and resulted in a terrific set of socks. 

I know the moderators plan the socks well ahead and couldn't have known what was ahead, but they do seem to be a particularly good set of socks with challenges and beautiful outcomes.

The socks are (from right to left):

    Qualifying Round : Wohin?

    Round 2: Echoes from a Transylvanian Forest

    Round 3: Lacy not Lazy Madness Socks

    Round 4: Adament Hears

    Round 1: Diamond Duality

    Round 5: Mobius Madness (this was my dropping out point but I decided to continue, especially, as it turned out, because round seven was written by Adrienne Fong who passed away. Such a lovely tribute.)

    Round 6: Lampropeltis

    Round 7: Suky

For me it was a bit more of a challenge than usual. Early on I made a mistake, picked up by the moderators and had to reknit a toe. Then later I completely misread the instructions and unfortunately the fix was too difficult and as I was in Round 6 I knew there was little time left, so I quit. A bit unhappily, but I'd never got two so wrong before, so a lesson learnt.

Can't wait for next year.

 

Finally the Qualifying Round has started!

Day 1.

Ah, Sock Madness. As usual an excruciating wait, and, finally it arrives in my Inbox at 3.20am! Oh well, people will have some part of a Sunday to get started. I'll have to fit it in around my Monday. I have two weeks to knit my sock.

I have my handspun yarn, it's the Gotland with a bit of green in it. Unfortunately, I'm worried I don't have enough. The yarn is slightly thicker than I would like. I'm going to knit the two socks at the same time. This is to see if it is quicker this way, and, it will help if I am running out of yarn. I'll start out knitting the small size on the suggested needles. I did a quick swatch and I get 8sts per inch, not 9. It was a bit tight, would love to use 2.5cm needles, instead of the 2.25mm. Depending on how the sizing goes maybe I will. The big question will be the length if I go to the larger needles.

The pattern is a Smock stitch. Simple really. It's mostly a rib with a twist every so often. A good starter pattern.

Panic stations, thought I'd lost a needle.....under the sofa cushion where I was swatching.

Now I start, just the cuffs.

Ok, the cuffs are done. The yarn has turned out to be finer than at the start. That's good, but it's still giving me extra length, I think. These could turn out to be very long socks! The two socks are turning out to be different.

Now for the legs.

 Day 2

A lovely day at SNB at Four Leaves. Managed to keep knitting my socks despite the distraction of conversation!

I am in trouble. I've just started the heels and I'm going to run out of yarn. I really don't understand how. I should have measured the length not just gone on weight. The only thing I can think of is that having the navaho plied yarn is denser therefore heavier for the same yardage. I

I do have the same top, but I haven't finished spinning it. Just as well it's the qualifier round. I may not be able to have all the socks handspun and I'm going to have to spin even finer than I have been for the other fibres. At least I've started spinning it.

The socks will be a tight fit, so maybe they might have to be gifted.

Day 3 to 8

Heels. Ok, I'm really running out of yarn. I'll have to finish spinning the other batt of Gotland. They're going to be a bit of a mixed batch as the second batt is blue. Partway down the first foot I've changed to the new yarn. I haven't had a chance to wash the finished yarn, it's a bit over twisted, but it will be ok when I've steamed the socks. I've finished one sock, just a toe to go!

Days 9 and 10

Ok, finished. The socks are a nice fit. The colour difference is noticeable. Now to get my Ravelry project listing up to date and send off my Sock Madness email. 

The Madness has begun!

Signup was announced at the beginning of February for Sock Madness 13. I love this knockout competition where you have to knit socks in two weeks. this will be my fourth year! I signed up immediately and then panicked as I was supposed to have spun all my sock yarn by now.

Yes, I've decided to handspin the yarn for Sock Madness. I'm trying out all those breeds that are said to be good for socks. I have some Gotland, Jacob, Southdown and Shropshire tops. It's a limited pallette, but I thought it might be fun to see if you can get away from having to use nylon in the yarn to strengthen the socks.

I have managed to spin 3, spun 1 without plying yet, and have another half finished on the wheel. That should be enough to keep me ahead of the pack. I'll keep spinning while I'm waiting....

Oh, no the Warm-up sock has arrived and it uses all those little bits that you have left over. It's too tempting.....

Here they are:

And, here is the bag of leftovers that I still have. How does yarn keep filling up the spaces it's stored in, no matter how much you take out? Should I do another pair?!

Waiting....

Sock Madness 10 - waiting for Round 6

Ok, I made it through Round 5 and am waiting for Round 6, ANY MINUTE NOW! This means that I'm in the last 10 for my team and only ONE will go through to Round 7.  There are several fast knitters in my group, should be fun.

Here are my socks up to this point for Sock Madness 10. One theme peeking through is me running out of yarn, for no good reason.....

Sock Madness 10 has started!

Yes, it's started again.....Sock Madness, number 10. Last year I actually made it to Round 6. Remember the first five rounds: last blog in May. So far we've had two warm up socks and I've just finished the first round.

The first sock, called SlipStripSpiral, is a mix of two yarns in a simple, but very effective slip stitch pattern, the interesting thing is the jogless change of the stripes. One colour is used for the toe, heel and cuff. So for the second sock I reversed the pattern for these. It makes an interesting fraternal pair of socks.

Last year one of the socks was based upon the Stroopwafel biscuit, apparently a favourite of the Dutch and Sock Madness participants. A friend gave me some last year, and, this year, the lovely Fitzie (on Ravelry) has given me more. I don't know if they do make me knit faster, but who's to argue!

 The first round finishes on the 14th March, so if you're interested go see Sock Madness on Ravelry.
I'm looking forward to being put in a team and seeing how far I get this year.

Meandering Mind

All bloggers seem to have a love/hate relationship with their blogging. I would like to do more, I always thought that being a writer would be nice....even though I can't write well! My initial reason for blogging, that is keeping myself focused on my work isn't really needed anymore, studios, exhibitions have all added to that and I can say that I do work. So why write now? Because I want to. Do I care if nobody reads it? Sort of, not really, maybe??

So, where am I?

With a studio at 601 Waterdale Rd.

 I'm working on my red madness. Three metres of all sorts of yarns with a woven backing. Don't know if it's going to work yet.

Working on using recycled materials found at 601. Look what a bit of old rope can do!

Participating in the projects of the Textile Art Community making community works for an exhibition in June. This is my Daily Weave project and the second length finished by some willing helpers. 

Whilst at home, I'm participating in Sock Madness (on Ravelry). This is the first pair of warm-up socks, before the main game in March.

Finally, trying to finish the now woven Samoyed Blanket. Just working on the edges before washing.

Five on Friday - regrouping!

I know......

Not alot of photography taking place and alot of work not suitable for photography taking place....do you really want to see a picture of my vacuum cleaner?

A finished Sock Madness warm-up sock, the Stroop, Stroop sock.

Another Sock Madness warm-up sock called 'Choose your own Adventure', involving choice of the stripe, the pattern and mixing it up with a dice.

And I am anxiously trying to finish the second sock before the games begin!

I did manage to make a trip with my Mum to Herring Island. This is becoming an annual event for us. From December to April, Parks Victoria run a punt over to the island where there is a permanent sculpture park and a gallery with exhibitions running. This year I wanted to see the Basketmakers of Victoria eachibition, and, as usual, they are fabulous. Lots of interesting work, both innovative and traditional.

It's a short trip over on the punt, costing me all of $2, Mum is free. The advantages of age! It's just a gentle day, where we walk all around the island, seeing how the permanent sculptures are wearing and becoming part of the landscape. We have lunch and then coffee when we get back at the coffee shop directly opposite. Well worth the trip.

Five on ffffff....okay Sunday!

A bit late, a week full of events, but very little textile work done.

I did manage to get the first Stroop Stroop Sock done. This is a warm-up for Sock Madness 9, which starts in March. I thought I'd warm up and get used to posting my projects on Ravelry, as this is part of the competition.

Sock Madness 9 Warm-up Sock
The Stroop Stroop Sock

A completely relaxing evening was spent at Melbourne Zoo with their twilights session featuring the always wonderful Paul Kelly, with Vika and Linda Bull, Dan Sultan and some other fabulous guests that I didn't quite know. Zoo twilights used to be a regular on our calendar, but we haven't been for quite some time.

I did manage to get some shots of those animals that hadn't be bedded down for the night.

A new enclosure where you can view the Lemurs up close and personal

Love these birds, the amazing Jabiru

Who doesn't love Koalas?

The last event was the 90th birthday celebrations of the Rosanna Cricket Club, of which my partner is President.

Equipment in the rooms?

 I did take some photos to add to their collection, featuring the current facilities. A great night with lots of stories!