Saturday, October 27, 2007

to blog or not to blog...

that is the question.

Seriously... blogging feels somehow redundant now that I have Ravelry. For those who have been living under a rock (or aren't really into the knitting thang...), Ravelry is essentially a huge knitting database. It is such a simple concept, but... wow.. it's just an amazing resource, and has bought together a HUGE amount of information. With the growth in members, the database is ever expanding, and it's such a huge time-sucking monster that I would be embarrassed if people knew how much actual time I spent logged on there. Anyway, blogging feels like I'm double dipping because all of my in-progress and finished-objects get listed at Ravelry, and I'm not sure if anyone reads here that doesn't have access to Ravelry... anyway...

Let me talk about socks. I love socks. I've been knitting lots of socks lately, most of which are secret knitting business, but trust me, there have been lots and they are all lovely! The 2 pairs I'm currently work on are Pomatomus and a generic sock pattern that I'm improvising. Pomatomus gave me a huge headache at the outset because I was doing an incorrect YO to a purl stitch - I was using the same yo used for sock short rows and it was causing the stitches to be too tight. It took a while to work out what I was doing wrong, but when I did, I found my groove and am now well into the second sock. It's a very cleverly constructed pattern, and looks fantastic in the colour and yarn I chose - Monster Knits BFL Ultra sock in 'Blue Bamboo' .This second sock uses all the basic top down techniques, and I've added a picot cuff for interest. It is knit in Dyelicious sockyarn in the "paradise" colourway, and man it is BRIGHT! The yarn screamed for something simple, so I think this works..

And I think I have found a solution to the sock-blocking issue! As most sock knitters know, sock blockers are hard to come by, and when they are found, they can be quite expensive. I now have 2 pairs. One made with a pair of wire coathangers, and the second cut out of a chopping mat that I bought from k-mart. Crude but effective!

8 comments:

lucretia said...

Your Pomatomus is gorgeous! I adore that pattern, one day I'll try and make it into a pair of mermaid gloves.

I think once Ravelry goes open to the public the decision to not blog will be easier... atm I use my blog to show freinds/family in another country what I've made. If I switched my blogging to Ravelry atm they couldn't see.

I hear you on the embarrassing amount of time spent there! lol

Jack said...

Yep, bright is the word. Or is that not quite enough. ;)

I like to blog as well as Rav. I don't rattle on quite as much on Ravelry, generally just the facts and of course there is nowhere there for my other exploits.

Blog on babe!

Kat said...

I agree pomatomus is gorgeous! i think there's still some place for blogging outside ravelry

tikki said...

I like the narrative style of blogs, it's more personal. The whole presentation and ability to explore other aspects is really appealing for me. And Sam, yours is one of my favs, keep blogging please :D

Ann said...

The socks look great especially the Pomatomus - love the colors! I am in Ravelry but still can't find the time to upload my pics - you are right as maintaining a blog & Ravelry will mean less knitting time.

Tania said...

I hear you on the blogging void, I have always been pretty slack. I knit slow too, so there's hardly any FOs to put up - heh not even one a month at the moment.

Anonymous said...

The pomotoamus, pomostoams, potamus - you know what I mean LOL, is gorgeous in that colour! I LOVE the blue flash at the ankle on the brights socks :-) I agree a bit on Rav versus blogs. I'm wondering whether to continue my blog or not but there's a lot you can blog about that you probably wouldn't put on Ravelry. I log into Ravelry every single day and keep checking on and off for hours!

catsmum said...

Re Ravelry - I just discovered this week that there were several projects that I hadn't blogged about [ hello Auntie Fay's angora scarf ] but it felt like I had what with the uploading to Flickr and then to Ravelry... major major time suck thingy indeed ;]