Frosted Socks with Sprinkes

I finished another pair of socks yesterday. These are Zigzagular Socks, the yarn is Madelinetosh Twist Light, and the colorway is Holi Festival. I kind of loved/hated the way this colorway was knitting, and in the end I loved them. This yarn is especially soft and lovely.

I had to knit these quickly, as once I settled on a yarn and a pattern I had 5 days until my sister's birthday. I completed them in 4 days.

They look like Animal Cracker frosting and sprinkles, yum!

Waving Lace Socks with Kool Aid Overdye

I seem to be on a knitting binge right now. I made these socks in 2 days over the weekend. Then immediately cast on for a sweater and another pair of socks.

These are Waving Lace from the book Favorite Socks. I actually own a pair of socks in this pattern that I received in a swap, but this was my first time making them. An easy knit, though I made the heel flap shorter than the pattern.

The yarn is Madelinetosh Sock in Tensha Bead, from the thrift store. It's more pastel than I typically like, so I overdyed the socks with Ice Blue Lemonade Kool Aid. This might have worked out better if I'd let the socks soak longer before I dyed them, so it's a bit uneven. I may overdye them one more time to even it out a bit.

I will gift these to one of my sisters.

I have 4 days to make another pair for my older sister's birthday this weekend. Wish me luck!

Simply Waterlily

It's been a while since I last posted any actual knitting content. Here are some socks that I made in about 10 days. I bought the yarn at the thrift store, it is Madelinetosh Sock Yarn in Waterlily. Not a color I would normally pick, but I do love Madelinetosh.

The pattern is Simply Ginny, so that's a repeat of for me, I made another pair of these about 8 years ago.

Since finishing these socks I started on another skein of Madelinetosh sock. Expect to see that finished project soon, though I may overdye the socks, as they are very pastel, and I am not big on pastel.

Birthday Socks

I had an emergency knitting moment on vacation last week. I was two days into our trip and I'd already blown through two projects and was stalled on a third, so I was out of knitting! I drove the 45 minutes to Bainbridge and grabbed an easy sock pattern and some lovely merino sock yarn and I was back in business. I knit these to the toes in two days and then set them aside for a few more days and then finished them up this morning. Six days from start to finish, not too shabby. I hope my mom enjoys them!



Try and ignore my daikon legs, yikes!

Churchmouse Basic Sock pattern in 2 x 2 ribbing
Madelinetosh 100% Merino sock yarn in Glazed Pecan
US size 1 1/2 Bamboo DPNs

Bed Socks

I sleep in socks and slippers every night. Weird, I know, but I have a nerve pain issue that makes my brain think that my feet are excruciatingly cold, and insulating my feet is the only things that makes it so that I can sleep. So my favorite slippers are falling apart, and I need to knit a new pair, but I figured in the meantime I would try knitting some thick socks.

I started these in mid-January, and they were a fast knit on #6 needles. The only thing that slowed me down was those periods where I didn't knit on them for several days at a time!

This is a free pattern, so I won't quibble too much about the pattern writing, but I will say a few of the directions are a little vague or confusing for first-time sock knitters, but I know enough about socks construction that there weren't any challenges.

These are only moderately warm, so I won't be able to ditch the slippers, but they are comfy and a very cheery bright blue!



Easy Aran Socks (Ravelry Link)
Cascade 220 Superwash
US Size 6 DPNs

Nothing Says Summer Like Wool Socks

These Neapolitan socks look tasty, and I hope my sister things so too. I held off giving them to her since they are already overdue and I finished them on Wednesday when the temperature got up to 103 degrees and she wasn't needing a pair of wool socks in this weather!

They took over a month, mostly because I have been lacking in concentration lately. But eventually I pulled them off. Even with some funky Kitchener stitch in which I somehow stitched through the back loops. I'll just call that a customized detail, not a mistake.

Do you see how the striping worked out on the heels? I love that detail, and it wasn't intentional, the stripes just worked out right. I love that kind of happy accident.



Generic sock pattern
one skein of Vesper Neapolitan
US size 1 1/2 bamboo DPNs


Today I cast on for a new sock, and I'm ready to start the heel flap, so this is zipping along. In fact, most of this was knit while the kids played at the wading pool.

Unpopping Cables and Sorted Stash

Up until yesterday my craft supplies occupied the space on top of, under, and around a large table, plus several storage tubs under our bed. But I got a shelf on clearance and did a little reshuffling, and behold...



Everything is visible and organized! Yes, terrible picture. There is one container just for sock yarn, and the giant knitting on top? That's on 1/2" needles, which are so big it's not even a real needle size. My sewing machine is out on loan, but I can squeeze it in on top of the shelves. Oops, I noticed an unintentional bias as nothing is labeled as crochet!

I am getting rid of a heap of stuff that's not shown here. It's true that I don't have a ton of stash, which is just right for me, because, say for instance I stopped to ponder how long it would take me to sew and knit my way through all of the patterns that I have and want to make? Way too overwhelming.

So what am I working on? The other day I just had to start a Purl Bee Beret in Denim Lorna's Laces. I knit it all the way up in two days and then decided to make it bigger and ripped back. I am now ready for the decreases and am feeling pretty meh about it.



And a week ago I started these Paraphenalia Socks in pink Lorna's Laces. I knit that much in two days and am thinking about ripping them out, as the cables don't sufficiently pop for my taste. The really funny part? I read the chart symbols backward, so I made a mirrored sock, which would be the normal procedure for the second sock, so I messed up, but in just the perfect way! I need a present for my sister in nine days so I'd better get cracking.



My latest plan is to ride the bus to my full time job that I will start in a few weeks. I need to eek out a little time in my day for knitting and podcasts, plus to Ballard and back is a haul, and have you seen the price of gas?

Aw, I Shouldn't Have!

In the previous decade, when I had the lovely taught porcelain skin of a 20 year old, I, for one reason or another, rubbed aloe gel all over my face. For moisturizing purposes. Right before I had to leave for my job serving lattes and pea salad. I had an immediate reaction, and my skin turned red and welted up. I called work and told them that I wasn't going to enhance the food service. They threatened my job. I insisted and stayed home. I repeated the experiment on my day off with the same result. Since then I practiced strict avoidance. I had a close call when someone offered me some juice at a trade show. Do you know people actually drink the stuff? Recently I have noticed that a few of my skin products contain aloe and I have not had a dramatic reaction, but still, I wasn't going to go rolling around in the stuff.

But did you know there is a sock yarn impregnated with Aloe and Jojoba? It makes your hands feel soft as you knit, and it lasts many washes and moisturizes your feet. It's inexplicable, but I saw this yarn in Chicago and had to pick up a ball. And no reaction so far, whew.

Now that they're done and I just couldn't bear to give away this pair. See those cables? Yummy. And do you know, I have worked with cables, but this is my first finished cable project. Umm...darn it though, I realized a ways into the second sock that I had intended to mirror the cable and instead I matched it. Sigh. And after I went to the trouble of breaking the yarn a ways into the ribbing so that I could adjust the striping to make the socks all matchy. And I am not used to making stockinette socks and I noticed the tiniest bit of laddering but a little adjusting of stitches from needle to needle and problem solved. Still I love these, so squishy and yay, a Mother's Day present for me of the very best sort, finished this morning! And I did give my mom some socks too.

Happy Mother's Day to you!



Austermann Step
Simply Ginny Socks, pattern loosely followed
Bamboo DPNs Us sizes 1 1/2 & 2
20 days, start to finish

Cables & Home-Barbering

Hello, it's my toes! (And what my husband refers to as my brick feet.)

Isn't that cable just yummy? And, wow, doing mostly stockinette makes this sock is just zip right along now that I got the gauge issue resolved. I went against my usual trend and am doing one sock at a time. Hmm...that could explain why it's gong so fast... In any case, I think this pair is a keeper.

And I finally got sick of scraping a fine tooth comb through my locks as a precautionary measure against crawling critters and I hacked off about 6 inches of length. But in case you didn't know, I am a bonafide beauty school dropout, so I sorta know what I am doing. And now I have the same haircut as my (almost) 6 year old.

Holding Out On You

I finished these socks a while ago and never managed to take a satisfying photo, so I just started wearing them and never blogged about it. These are also a few pairs of ribbed socks floating around that I have completed in the past year and never blogged. Such is the fate of some of my projects.

These are another pair of SpringGrass socks, knit from the chart, but knit cuff-down rather than toe-up, so the lace runs the opposite way of what the pattern intended (I did it on purpose this time.) Not the greatest picture, but the variegated yarn does not want to translate well on my camera, darn it.

Springgrass socks from Craftoholic.
Lorna's Laces Shepard Socks in Devon
Women's size 7 1/2
size 2 Crystal Palace bamboo DPNs
about 3 months start to finish

Is It Possible To Knit Too Many Socks?

After completing my last pair of socks I immediately cast on for... (what else?) more socks! The pattern is Simply Ginny and the yarn is Austermann Step (it's soft and almost slippery what with being impregnated with Aloe and Jojoba.) These started out well with the twisted rib (I truly love alternating KTBL & Purl, it really is so easy on my wrists) and then the pattern changed to size 3s that feel like a log compared to a sweet little size 1 1/2 or 2, and then wouldn't you know it, they were knitting up way too big.



So I dropped that project like a hot potato and started on... more socks. This pattern is Giles Wavy Socks (link is to PDF) and the yarn is Vesper Sock I was mesmerized by the color changes and the ripply pattern which suggests feather-and-fan. And then I was stopped in my tracks when I saw that these were also knitting up too big. Sigh. Maybe a third pattern would be the charm?

Tread Lightly

I finished some socks this Monday while the Yarn Harlot was reading at Third Place Books. The funny part was when the knitter seated next to me said, "Are those Clementine's Baltic Socks?" And then she so kindly lent me a darning needle and fancy shears! I did in fact frog back four repeats and fix an error, and then later I frogged back 2 repeats to fix another error. There is a part of the pattern where you repeat the same row three times, and I seem to have a mental block in which I want to repeat the row four times. I did not make these the full eleven repeat height before the heel, because frankly, I got a little bored with the pattern. I am glad I stuck with it because I do think they came out pretty.

Clementine's Baltic Socks (link is to PDF)
7 pattern repeats before starting heel
2 skeins Louet Gems Washable 100% Merino in Sage
Started March 29th, completed April 21st
US size 1 1/2 DPNs

Oh, Hello!

I just got back from three days in Chicago. A change of scenery and an adventure was much-needed, and seems to be helping me snap me out of my funk that has cut into my blogging and crafting.

Amanda says she stole my sock mojo, since she recently completed her first knit sock, which is very lovely and so nicely made. And I couldn't manage to cast on for a sock in two hours of knitting night the other week. I think I'm getting it back, because look at this.



It's Clementine's Baltic Socks (link is to the pdf) that I started on Sunday. I had six hours of knitting time at the airport on Monday, due to my flight being majorly delayed by weather in Chicago. This translated into seven pattern repeats. Normally I would have been frustrated by the inconvenience, but honestly, I was just so grateful that I could sit back and relax with some tunes and knit. There is an error in one of the repeats and I am trying to decide how much I care to frog back four repeats or so. Now that I look at the picture I can see I'm headed for some frogging, so I'd say I'm back to my usual mojo.

Oh, and I got the work part squared away, that bit was only about 10 hours of my time. It was all smooth and easy, other than a cab driver that took me 20 minutes in the opposite direction of the convention, "You said the 6100 block of South Cicero?" (No dude, I said North, ahh!) and then repeatedly asked me the address like he couldn't comprehend it.

The rest of the trip was for museums and shopping; at H&M, Loopy Yarns, where they were most helpful, and Vosges Chocolate, where they have a list of which truffles have gluten, so I could skip those and get treats worry-free, and yum, ancho chile truffles, and balsamic truffles, mmmmm. I'm still not sure about the cheese ones though.

And there was even a package with some lovely yarn waiting for me when I get back, to be revealed in my next post...

Stripes & Other Goodness

See these socks? They are the first pair that I've made and kept for myself. I just tend to make socks for presents. But wow, they really feel toasty and good on my feet. These are made with my sock yarn leftovers from the past two years. It's all Lorna's Laces except the green, which is Louet Gems Pearl. These are a simple 2x2 ribbing knit on US size 1 1/2 DPNs. I thought I'd weave in the ends as I went, but that wasn't a good plan with the 2x2 rib, so I started re-weaving the ends afterward, but frankly, with 50 ends to a sock, about 1/3 way through I just stopped and tucked the rest in and called it good.



Look at what I couldn't resist at the fabric store, I really want to make the Hep Cat, dig those wide legged pants.



And as always, more thrift scores. I am a sucker for any of the Vogue Special Designs patterns like the one on the right. I just love pattern illustrations and vintage design.

The Feet You Meet

I ate my lunch at my desk today. But this time I pulled out my new lunchbag and laid out the placemat with the utensil pockets and my stainless steel bento containers from the Daiso $1.50 store. Lunch really was more fun, even if I was doing data entry all the while.


I was unexpectedly early to work this morning so I took a few minutes to relax and drink my coffee and knit a bit on my latest socks, Bellocq, and no, I won't be making the thigh-high version. These are going to be knee socks with big girly ribbon bows because almost 38 isn't too old for big silly bows, right?

Tiptoe Socks

Another handknit gift completed. As I pointed out earlier, although I can knit from a chart, this doesn't prevent me from assuming the socks are knit one way when they are in fact charted to knit in the other direction (cuff-down versus toe-up.) But I actually love the lace pointing toward the toe so it's a happy accident.

The heel is from the Anniversary Socks pattern from Favorite Socks, isn't it pretty?



I think these are my favorite socks yet. I really wish they were for me, but I hope that means that my sister will like them too. I haven't actually kept a single pair of socks for myself, (I also make bath bombs even though I don't actually take baths!) but soon I hope to have my very first pair of handknit socks.



Springgrass socks from Craftoholic.
Lorna's Laces Shepard Socks in Powder Blue
size 1 1/2 Crystal Palace bamboo DPNs
6 days start to finish

I Dream in Knit, I Don't Knit in my Dreams

Bus riding is something that I usually try and avoid. The too-close contact, the inevitable passenger conducting a long and boring (or overly personal) cell phone conversation, the mysterious lingering odors (today's ride to Ballard was sponsored by the scent of poo), the longer commute.

Today I did take the bus (car woes!) and started wondering if I could tough it out at least a few times a week. I managed to knit one pattern repeat on my socks. And across the aisle sat another knitter. I like to think she saw me and sat nearby. But I am of course too shy to say hey, whatcha knitting? And then there are the inevitable attention from other passengers. "Is that tatting?" and "Is that a sock? OH MY GOD SHE'S KNITTING A SOCK!" And then someone starts pawing my knits, sigh.

That reminds me, last night I apparently had a dream about Jared of Brooklyn Tweed. Silly, not that kind of a dream! He was walking by and I ran up and started pawing at the cardigan he was wearing, checking out the seams and so forth. How forward of me, right? Heh.

I'm starting to think I will finish these socks for my little sister's birthday next week. Thank goodness they are a smidge too tight for me or I would be tempted to keep them. I am loving them. Every single detail. See that heel? Loving it so much.

Upside Down Socks

It took a week to recover from the intense 48 hour sock marathon and get back on the horse. Here's what I started on last night. It's Springgrass socks from Craftoholic. I was able to get an email probably a year ago with a charted version of the lace repeat, but what I've linked to is a written out version.

Funny thing, I was happily knitting away from the chart and I come to realize that my lace is running in the opposite direction of the sock picture, heh! The thing is, this isn't so much a sock pattern as a lace pattern for a 60 stitch sock, with the heel and toe of your choosing. So it looks like the chart is for a toe-up sock. Which didn't even occur to me. I mean, now that I found the link to the sock I can see it's toe-up, how funny! Um, yeah...well I still think my sock looks pretty so it's all good.

Fraternal Twin Socks

I started this pair at 10pm on Friday and finished them at 10pm on Sunday. Pretty fast, but my goal was to finish them for my mom's birthday party at 3pm. Which might have happened but I made cupcakes and pie and ice cream and pasta salad and corn salad, and I had to clean because the party was at my house. And I had a defective skein (that was missing the light blue stripes) and I had to run out for more yarn. But really it was just cutting it a little too close. You probably can't tell from this picture but the stripes are running in a different order on the second sock. Sigh. I didn't realize they weren't striping the same until it was too late to start over. And I do note the wonky striping at the ankle but again, there it is. In any case they are done, whew. And they feel good on my feet, a great fit if only they were for me.

Regia Silk Color, color #0191
Size 1 Clover DPNS
2x2 Ribbed Sock Pattern, a hybrid of several patterns

Verdant

I finished off the Embossed Leaf socks just in time, as today is the last day to mail out Sockapalooza packages, whew. I hope my sock pal likes them and I really want them to fit well, fingers crossed! The color is actually quite a bit brighter than the photo.

Embossed Leaves
Lorna's Laces color number 207, Envy
Knitted over 3 1/2 weeks