Sock-school went overtime Tuesday

MrB spent many hours cranking yesterday!  He was determined to do a certain amount of tasks which he all accomplished. He made a pair of socks. Hurray!  They were a little wide but that is part of the learning curve and on the next attempt I am sure they will be more to his perfection.  After supper we took on a lesson together and worked at for another few hours.  Thanks to MrB, I did not throw my sock across the room, and by the end of his long day I think I did become successful in what I wanted to learn in the end,  as he mastered it and could show me what I was doing wrong.  You gotta love him, the patience he has for the machine and for me too after 10 hours of continuous studying.  Ending on a positive note, we wrapped up the evening by unwinding in front of the TV. The picture above is of MrB's first made pair of socks....they are not to perfection yet but are somewhat a glimpse of what's to come........I love the colours...good colour scheme to wear with jeans either for gals or guys!

No Monday Mundane here

Well folks we got a very late start to our day today!  Oh my gosh we slept in, but that is one advantage of being retired and working at home too!  A biggie that we so enjoy, and also being able to do what we need to accomplish an agenda and stay in lounging jammies all day too if we care too.  Once we did get rolling....MrB worked on some notes that he is keeping for record purposes as he takes his learning curves to new levels.  He worked very busily in sock-school today.  Although I do not recall all he worked on today I do know that he cranked off another cast- on bonnet to be a permanent tool not to unravel but to use in his sock making tasks to come. He is just telling me now that he also worked using the ribber to make a start of a sock with 60 rows of ribbing stitches which were flawless.  He then tried to turn a heel with the ribber on the machine and that all went haywire. But that proves to be a very successful day of learning.  Me, msb, did some networking, some more research and answered some emails pertaining to Socks Made On 88, as well as checked into all the sock machine groups I have joined. All and all another productive day and there was No Monday Mundane here!

6 Pictures added this morning

They say pictures say a thousand words!  So here are my 6 thousand words for this morning! LOL  
I have posted a picture of our actual CSM, Brigadier 88.  I have also added a photo of our ball winder and of the swift that Blake made.  And lower down the blog page you will see 3 other pictures also.  I have add a photo of our ribber, the fork weights which assist in making heels, and soft weights which are used and put in a cast on bonnet.  A picture of a cast on bonnet will come later.  Blake will capture a pic when he is back at sock-school and starting yet another practise sock.  As he cranks out the practise socks we inspect them and use them for tasks and then they become unravelled and the progress goes over and over until Blake wants to move forward to produce a pair of socks.  That project is just on the horizon........

MrB cranking out practice socks

MrB is cranking out socks for me to practice the kitchener stitch on the toes.  OK I did three, still need way more practice as I am not getting the hang of it!  But I have had enough of that for today.....MrB is still hard at it at sock-school , he has definitely made a full day of his learning today!  Kudos to him!

No sock-school held today!

There was no sock-school in the household today!  But tomorrow there will be, with new challenges for each of us to tackle.
MrB plans a day working with the ribber.  And msb plans to learn her Kitchener stitching to close the end of sock  toes!  I will come back tomorrow evening and let you know how both tasks turned out. Hope to post a :-)


msb from Socks Made On 88

Exciting accomplishment for MrB today

MrB spent all day in sock -school and had an exciting accomplishment of producing one sock!  Hurray for him!  He did not unravel this one as soon I will have to take my turn on it as I have to practise the kitchener toe closing on it.  If that works out well, then we will be on a roll.  MrB hopes the next challenge for him will be completing his very first pair of socks soon.  We both look forward to this even bigger accomplishment in the days to come.

msb from Socks Made On 88

Other preps

Before 88 arrived, (whether I refer to the machine as our Erl 88 or Brigadier 88) you should know what I am talking about now. mrb did have to make some other preps other than researching and watching you-tube videos.  He made a swift from wood, and also made some soft weights.  It was a challenge finding some lead shot for the soft weights but eventually we tracked some down at a local dive shop.  A dive shop that was familiar to me as I had been there a few times with my son.  mrb made 3 soft weights, a 4 pounder, a 2 pounder and a 1 pounder.  The soft weights are used in the cast on bonnet and in the beginning tubes of the socks.  Weights are a very important factor in the art of sock making that much I have learnt from mrb and fork weights are used for heels.  The swift takes the yarn from its present state and winds the yarn into a form it can then be taken to cone on a ball winder.  mrb was fortunate that msb bought him a ball winder for Christmas.  I was so proud of myself that I found it on ebay and was able to complete the transaction.  The yarn that is winded on a cone now goes over to the CSM used to start the sock process.  mrb also winds waste yarn which is used in the sock project as well.  I think mrb is trying to locate a couple flat bed needles, if any of you know where he can get some?  He needs them to make some special latch tools.  I guess that is a question many of you may be able to answer once this blog becomes activated for public viewing.  Ok that is my goal today to see if we are online yet!  mrb will no doubt be attending his sock-school in the basement today and put a full day at it as we wally-wagged the day away yesterday doing errands and going to a movie and going out for supper.  i will probably check- in again soon but for the next couple of days I have some other issues to attend to.  Next time I am here to post.....I should be able to release the url so that you can check us out here at  my Socks Made on 88 blog.  

msb from Socks Made On 88