good-natured ribbing

So I’m a little slow with the photos :)

Details: Artyarns Ultramerino4, Size 1 dpn, toe up, magic cast on, 60 sts, wrap/turn short row heel, increase to 64 sts before 2×2 ribbing.

They pooled like crazy and the color is a bit muddy but they feel great. I’ll definitely use the yarn again if I can find it in a solid or semi-solid color.

I found myself knitting a standard sock for Nigel instead of finishing my flat foot pair, and decided to put in an afterthought heel. I haven’t done one in a while, and wanted something I could do without a pattern. I’m using two colors of Regia “4-Fach Haltbar: 4 fädig.” I don’t see the equivalent English on the label, except some that states it’s “dimensionally stable” and “hard-wearing,” which is just what Nigel needs in a sock. I started with 68 stitches for the cuff, and increased to 72 for the rest of the sock. I think the heel turned out really well. Sometimes I have a gap in the corners, but avoided it this time.

I also got it into my head to knit a Forest Canopy Shawl for a friend. In a meeting at work last Monday I found myself staring at Beth’s Forest Canopy Shawl instead of paying attention, and decided it would be a great pattern for the Karabella Lace Merino Silk yarn I picked up at School Products in NYC a while ago. I think I was right.

I finished one sock while we were driving, and took pictures of it in Bellingham. You can see that the sock changes color at the heel. I knit until I reached the end of the first set of rectangles. There seems to be enough Flat Feet yarn to knit 3 socks my size. Or, maybe one pair my size and a pair of child size socks. There is plenty of yarn for a large pair of socks for sure.

I like the feel of this yarn a lot. It’s a little nubby from being machine-stitched, but when I get home I’ll block it and see how that changes the appearance.

Backing up a little bit, on Sunday, while we were visiting Portland, our hosts graciously took me to Abundant Yarn and Dyeworks, where I found more yarn I had never seen before!

Must be nice to live in the Pacific Northwest, with such great yarn to be had everywhere!

The joys of summer vacation! Yesterday I got to go to three yarn stores in Spokane with my mother-in-law, Mary, and my brother-in-law, Chas, both of whom are knitters. There were many great things about this. Since we all knit, and we’re on vacation, we took our time in all three stores. My favorite of these was Paradise Fibers, which is oddly (or maybe conveniently, depending on your point of view) located in a building adjacent to an adult bookstore. Also great was the fact that I found some yarns I had never seen before, which doesn’t happen all that often. And, finally, we got to go to Sonic Burger for lunch, which we never get to do in Michigan.

The first of the two things I had never seen before was this:

This is not a scarf. It’s Flat Feet sock yarn, which is sock yarn that’s been machine-knitted into material and then dyed flat. Chas explained this to me, since I don’t dye, but this method (quite logically) yields different results than dying skeins of yarn. There is waste yarn at the end of the flat material which you remove, and then you start knitting. Instead of having a ball of yarn, you knit directly from the material as it unravels. I’m not sure if my hotel-room photos are doing justice to the bright colors, but here’s a slightly closer picture.

The second thing I had never seen before is this: a lucet. It’s a little wooden thingie that you use to make i-cords. With a little bit of coaching from Chas, I got the hang of it very quickly. He says that you get to the point where you don’t need to watch, and then it’s really easy to do this on a bus or while you’re walking to work. I have to admit, it’s oddly addictive. I can’t wait to get one and then find a project that needs i-cords.

Now, from the hotel room window I see tons of smoke. There seems to be a warehouse fire north of us, which is bad news since it’s windy and hot and dry.

Two days into summer, and the Summer of Socks, and some knitters have finished entire pairs of socks already. Boy, not me. But I have made progress. I decided to start with the pattern designed especially for participants, using some Schaefer Anne I’ve had in my stash for a while. First, I learned how to do a Turkish Cast-on (here’s one tutorial) which is what this toe-up sock pattern calls for. I’ve never finished a toe-up sock; started many, never finished. This may be a first.

Here’s the toe, held up by my very accommodating husband:

The instructions for this cast-on specify two circular needles. As soon as I could, though, I switched over to dpns. I’m just not comfortable with the circular needle method of sock knitting. Too many dangling ends. And here’s how far I’ve gotten:

Summer and the Summer of Socks both started yesterday. Coincidence? If you take a look, you’ll see a lot of sock frenzy going on. I am a slow starter–I began summer by finishing one pink sock, modeled here by its recipient.

This pair won’t count, but that’s okay because I’m not trying to knit the most socks this summer. Instead, I am in the group that is taking socks on vacation because, for the first time in a long while, we’re actually taking a vacation this year! In anticipation, I tried to find some socks from Knitting on the Road that fit with our vacation locations, but there are none from Arkansas or Washington State. So I am choosing to knit ones that I’ve wanted to do for a while. First, the New England socks.

Second, the two Hiiumaa Mismatched Mates.

Third, I really want to try the Francie sock pattern which I purchased recently, and think I’ll do it in green.

There has also been a sock pattern created just for the summer of socks that I may start with. So many choices, it’s almost paralyzing.

That’s all. Another pair done.

It was warm and sunny enough to take my socks outside yesterday for a picture. Here’s a progress report:

Pink Socks

I’m using Lorna’s Laces Yarn in Flamingo. The cuff is simply k1, p1 all the way down. I have 2 skeins in my stash, so I can afford to make the cuffs a little longer than usual.

I decided to use a heel flap on this one instead of my usual short row heel just to experiment with what it does to the stripes. There’s a little bit of a garter stitch border there, too. Maybe I’ll make the second one with a short row heel just to see how the color behaves differently. For myself, I find that short row heels fit better.

Blue Socks

Since it was so nice, I took Nigel’s new socks out, too. Almost done! These are basic socks from Vogue Knitting Socks Two, except with a short row heel.

The heel on the right sock looks a little messy, doesn’t it? It’s my curiously recurring attempt to figure out the Jojo-Heel. I have tried knitting this heel seven times, but have failed miserably every single time. I always think I have it until I reach this line:

“After these 2 rounds work again short rows with double stitches, however this time from inside to outside.”

I have no idea what that means, so when I reached this step I just continued as if I were doing my regular short row routine, but with some sloppily wrapped stitches instead. I figure after a wash or two it will all even out…

I secretively delivered the socks of kindness to their recipient today (thus the bwa-ha-ha). This pattern is by Chawne (and here), but I can’t find a story. Why are they called socks of kindness?

Not that perfection has ever been a problem with me, but luckily all my socks end up with enough quirks to prevent hubris. In this case, I somehow lost my mind and knit the first sock cuff with a k2p2 ribbing and the second with a k1p1 ribbing. Way to be wild. But will the recipient notice?

As I said, this was a great pattern and it seems to have rekindled my interest in knitting socks. I already have 2 more pairs going. In addition to a plain pair of blue (see previous post) I’ve started a pair of pink ones with yarn purchased long ago. Beth knit a pair of socks for Ava with this same yarn, and it’s interesting to see how the stripes are coming out slightly different.

Quick post. This weekend I finished two socks, one (on the right) of kindness, and one, well, not. Just a basic sock with a short-row heel.

The blue one is made of Wildfoote sock yarn, a sturdy sock yarn that will last a fairly long time for my husband. He actually wears my handknit socks until they wear out.

Now, I must go to work.

Life has been crazy, but I have been knitting away during my commute time in the morning. I’ve done a clapotis, years later than everyone else, but now that I’ve finished I love it. I want to marry it. (Sorry, dear.) It’s made of Sea Silk, which is 70% silk, and 30% sea cell. So, I’ve been exaggerating slightly when I’ve told people it’s made of seaweed.

I also realized, with shock, that I haven’t finished a pair of socks yet this year. I’ve started several, but they bored me. So when I saw the pattern for Socks of Kindness, I thought I’d give it a try. I bought a skein of Jawoll Color at Stitches East when I was in New York a couple of weeks ago, and really like the way it’s going with this pattern. I don’t know if there’s any story behind the Socks of Kindness, but I like that the initials spell SOK.

I’ve had an overwhelming response to my Noro Kureyon sock. The pattern is now available at Knitzi.com.

I was lucky enough to have a fabulous test knitter, Donyale. She did a terrific job and helped to perfect the pattern. Check out her awesome red socks, too. The socks look great is the red semi-solid, don’t they!

Get Jenny Wren here!

Maybe it is because these turned out so lovely but everything I’m working on right now is orange. And I didn’t even notice until I took all these pictures today.

I started these socks for a recent trip to Washington D.C. I love the yarn (wollemeise sockenwolle) and I think the simple lace pattern works nicely with the colors. The pattern is called Express Lane and is fun and very easy to memorize. Unfortunately, I bound off a little too tightly. I think it will ease out a bit with wear, though.

I’ve had this yarn for a while and have been looking for something good to use it for. I finally decided that it needed to be a vest and that I’m going to wing it. I have picture in my mind and am keeping my fingers crossed!

I was sick for a while but still needed to knit. I grabbed some colorful yarn and started a plain toe-up sock. I’m still trying to figure out why I was drawn to this colorway at the Mich. Fiber Festival last summer. It’s pretty bad. The yarn is lovely, though, and I’ll use it again but in a solid color.

I’m going to try very hard for my next project to be in a completely different color scheme!

I finished a pair of socks that I’ve been working on for a while. I started them back when I was participating in that single sock swap. I couldn’t decided which yarn to use for my pal so I started knitting my chosen pattern in two different yarns. I decided to send the other one and put this one aside for a while. I got it out again for a recent trip and was inspired to finish them.

The pattern in Baltic Socks by Clementine’s Shoes and I used Oceanwind Knits Merino in Amber. I’d never seen this yarn before (ordered it via The Sweet Sheep) but I love it. It was a delight to knit with.

I made a few modifications to the pattern:

1. Picot cuff because I didn’t think the ribbing did the lovely pattern justice
2. Short row heel because I like doing them and they fit me well
3. Short row toe with 3 needle bind off because I was traveling and didn’t have a darning needle with me

I must say, I’m quite taken with these socks. They fit very well, they are very soft (especially compared to my last socks – Kureyon), and they have such a lovely leafy motif. And I really love the color.

I finished my Kureyon socks a while ago but never took a picture of the completed pair. Instead of waiting until I get around to taking the picture, here is another shot of the first sock:

I didn’t bother blocking the socks before wearing – they didn’t really need it. After wearing them for a full day, I can say with certainty that my feet are not bothered by the roughness… I can feel it, of course, but it isn’t irritating. And they are VERY warm. If you are thinking about it, you should definitely try it out!

Now I must tell you about a new online yarn store called WhitKnits. You will be thrilled to hear that for the month of January, they have all Noro yarn (including the Kureyon Sock) on sale for 20% off. I just might have to get a little more!!

Oh, look at her Nutkin! And, oh, look at the sock done in Knit Picks gloss. I’ve only done one sock with Gloss so far, but maybe I shouldn’t bother with the second. Look at Pat’s blog posting to see what I’m talking about. Here’s my Canada sock, destined to be a loner:

I made this out of KP Gloss–will it last?

And the pattern is now available for free! I’m thrilled with how this sock turned out. The yarn is awesome – I really love that Wollmeise (these socks are in Spice Market, medium intensity).

Other things I like about this sock: the turned down cuff (no ribbing) and the 3 needle bind off (no kitchener).

It is a lovely sock, if I do say so myself. Give it a try!

Just dropping in to let you know that I’ve posted another pattern on Knitzi.com. This one is Hunca Munca, a collection of 3 baby socks.
You can download it here.

I had a long day on Saturday – buying yarn, visiting with the family, etc… I got home quite late and was exhausted, but I perked right up when I saw that I got a package in the mail. Woo hoo, it was my single sock from Christine. She picked Drunken Bees for me, a pattern I had been eyeing already.

And that lovely yarn is Yarn Nerd‘s 900 MHz in Red Wine. Isn’t it great? What you can’t see is how soft it is. I can’t wait to get going with the matching sock. Here is another shot for you:

And that wasn’t all. Christine also sent me and extra skein of yarn. It is Colinette Jitterbug in Florentina – bright purples, blues, and greens.

Thanks Christine! I really love that sock. It fits perfectly, by the way.

I’ve been knitting, yes I have. Christina’s socks are coming along. I took a closer-up picture than the one below, but it came out too dark. I’ll add it later. Anyway, they’re Ribbed Lace socks from Sensational Socks. I’ve admired this pattern for a long time, and the yarn, something by the Great Adirondack Yarn Company, seems to be a good fit. It’s sort of knobby and has an interesting texture.

Here’s how Emily feels about the swap, in which she gets a new pair of extraordinarily lovely handwarmers for doing, well, nothing:

And what is that sock resting on, you may ask? The baby blanket I’ve been working on forever, which is coming to its natural conclusion. I didn’t do much with it during the summer, and in the 90 degree days of early fall. But now the weather is cooler here I’ve been enjoying it on my lap while I knit, and have been toying with the idea of just keeping it for myself–it’s just the right size for sitting and knitting… But, no, it must go on to a baby. To finish it, I need an i-cord of impossible length to sew around the outer edges, and then approximately 300 bobbles to pull through all the diamond intersections (look at the larger pictures to see the diamond pattern on the blue piece). So, maybe the end really isn’t in sight.

And, a pair of socks for me–made with gray Trekking–which gets me closer to my goal of 14 this year (that is, one pair a month plus two to increase the challenge).

So I’d gotten myself into a panic about this single sock swap deal. It was one problem after another. I decided to order some uncommon, can’t find it in the yarn store yarn. I settled on some fabulous yarn at the Sweet Sheep shop. Since they are in Canada and so is my family, I had it shipped to my dad. I had good intentions of going to get it as soon as it arrived (although it is a different country, it is less than an hour away – even with going through customs). Unfortunately, I ended up spending one day at the hospital while my husband was having his hand repaired. Then I had to go to Denver for a few days including the weekend. I couldn’t get over there! I ended up having my dad drop the yarn at Christina’s and she brought it to work for me. Lesson learned – have stuff shipped to Chrissy’s! Here is what I got:

The brown is for me and the orange is from my single sock pal. I had big plans for a fancy sock with tonnes to twists and cables: Dream Twister (seen here in Ravelry). A couple inches into the pattern, I realized that it was going to drive me crazy. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind for this kind of sock. Shame… it is a beautiful sock.

The yarn was a bit thin for it anyway. I have a feeling that it would have been a bit sloppy on the twists.

Then, after two nights of pouring over Ravelry and every knitting book I have with sock patterns, I decided to go with Baltic Socks by Clementine’s Shoes. Although it isn’t the most complicated pattern out there, I think it is very elegant and lovely. Then, once I started the sock, I wasn’t convinced that the orange was right for it so I started up another one in a different semi-solid yarn. Now I can’t decide:

What do you think? Which one should go to my pal? I like the pattern so much, I might just proceed with the other for myself!

I started a pair of Vinnland a while ago and have worked on them in the background throughout August and September. These will be payment to a coworker who is doing an artsy favor for me.

Ava took this picture for me!

Yarn: Sweet Georgia Superwash Sock Yarn in Life Aquatic colorway
Needles: Size 1.5
Modifications: Described below

I really love the way this pattern turns out – but I didn’t enjoy the process very much. I didn’t get the hand of the pattern until well past half way on the second sock. By then, I was able to memorize the pattern and it went much more quickly! You can see progress on the sock here and here.

In this picture, you can see my modifications. I made the socks a little short in the leg because the recipient said she intends to wear them in the house as slippers and my personal opinion is that short socks are better for that. I also decided to leave the back of the leg plain stockinette instead of continuing the patters because the pattern pulls in so much – I didn’t want to leg to be too tight. I also used the tubular bind off for the cuffs (my favorite for toe up socks).

need a knitzi

Something kept poking me as I walked from the parking lot to work on Thursday, and finally I looked down to see one of my sock needles sticking out of my backpack. It went through a knitting bag and two layers of backpack material just to poke me in the butt. When I showed Beth (of course I left it out to show her) she had our co-worker, Stephen, take a picture immediately with his iPhone.

I should have used my knitzi.

For some reason, I woke up way too early this morning. Although I wasn’t ready to get ready for work, I was happy to get the knitting out. I was able to get the toe going on Vinnland #2, so it wasn’t all bad.

Sorry for the pre-dawn lighting. I’ll get better shots soon!

Several people have inquired about the sock in my previous post. The yarn is Wollmeise Sockenwoll in the colorway Spice Market (which I love!). The pattern is one of my own creation, called Nutkin. I’ll be working up the pattern as I complete the socks and it will be available for free at Knitzi.com.

If you are interested, just leave a comment and I’ll notify you when it is ready.