I’ve been wearing hi-leg boots while decorating, because they support a very weak ankle. This has kind of influenced the decisions while making the lizard ridge socks. The socks will be long enough to come up above the boot tops, to stop the leather seams irritating my calves.
I never thought I’d say this, but… These would probably be easier to make on dpns!
I have one and a bit repeats done on the lizard ridge socks, after much swearing, ripping and redoing!
I had made a swatch (in the round) and had managed 6 st and 8 rows to the inch on 3.5mm needles with ordinary kureyon. When it came to actually working the socks however, it was obvious that my tension had slackened. Somewhat frustrating, as I had a plan.
Out the window with it! In with the new, and finally giving into the fact that I _would_ have to resize the st pattern. Cue using excel again. Instead of writing the row 4 instructions of the lizard ridge repeat all on one line, I put each instruction in its own row with the relevant number of st in a column beside it. I then set up formulae to calculate the instructions for working the lizard ridge pattern over 10, 12, 16, 18 and 20 st wide repeats as compared to the original 14 st wide. 10 st just doesn’t work, and 12 st may produce a ‘bump’ that’s too pointy, which means the stockinette rows in between would also need to be altered so that the whole piece can lay flat more easily. Not that a sock is flat, but you know what I mean!
I’m going to refine the resizing instructions and get them up sometime next week , in between packing, decorating and everything else 🙂
The weekend was fun, and my friend loved her birthday present – a lizard ridge hat I’d made earlier this year. She has to travel to Edinburgh everyday for work, and it’s going to come in handy when she’s waiting on chilly Scottish train station platforms. She and a friend tried it on for the camera 🙂
When I got back, I cast on and finished another one – this time the one I’d been planning for my friends kid. It’s very pink!
The boucle (ahem, astrakhan) yarn that I used as the contrast worked well. It’s turned into a lovely soft ‘fluffy’ fabric. It produced an interesting dimple effect on the crown, when the hat’s ‘worn tall’. However, I think I’ll wait a while before using that type of yarn again – it was a real **** to work with!
While I was knitting the pink lizard ridge hat, my thoughts turned to knitting socks, as they seem to do rather a lot at the moment. Now there’s a little voice in the back of my head whispering ‘lizard ridge socks… you know you want to!”
I’m so pleased with how this turned out. A friend has said that all I need now is a snowboard…
The crown was the tricky bit. Originally, I had been aiming for a kind of flower shape, with what are now points being petals. When I realised that wasn’t quite happening, I frogged it and tried a different set of decreases which emphasised the last short row pattern worked in CC. I realise now that I may need to use an intarsia or fair-isle technique if I want the flower petals the next time I work with this idea.
hmm, I spot another hat on the horizon… And I’m still waiting for the pomatomus sock/glove yarn.
Ok, I seem to be able to finish a hat in two or three evenings – not counting the playing with paper/excel, one count of frogging (this time), and completely changing what I was going to do for decreases. I still think I knit slowly though.
The hat’s not quite what I was aiming for, but still looks cute! Photos when it’s been partially felted and blocked. If I can figure out how to block a 3D object without a bowl the right size that is 😕
I’ve been fascinated by the Lizard Ridge Afghan ever since I discovered the pattern on Knitty a couple of months ago. Once of the first 10 sampler blanket squares I worked on involved playing with the short row pattern the afghan uses. At the moment, I can’t quite justify making the afghan, but the pattern’s so fun I’m going to incorporate it in a hat.
In an effort to understand how the short row pattern works, I charted it. This made things much much clearer. However, when actually working the pattern, Laura Aylor’s written instructions are much quicker to follow.
I contacted Laura and she is happy for me to make the chart available here. Thankyou Laura! So this is the Lizard Ridge pattern chart (as a pdf). The Lizard Ridge afghan pattern may be found at http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall06/PATTlizardridge.htm
The yarn for the pomatomous socks hasn’t turned up yet, so I’ve cast the hat on instead.
Zeph Knits 