socks, socks, socks, and more

socks.  2010 found me knitting quite a few pairs of socks.  I'm a bit of freak, unless I'm gifting socks, I save them all in a basket until the end of the year.  I gifted very few pairs of socks in 2010 - the total was 10 - wow!  More than I thought actually.  I knit 26 pairs during the year and of those 26 pairs - 23 came from stashed sock yarn.  Not too bad - another year or three like that I'll have to buy sock yarn. 

So - does your knitting (or sewing, or stitching) tell stories?  I can look at the basket of socks and tell you what I was working on when I last saw JB's father and how enthralled he was watching me knit.  I can tell you the ones I had with me the weekend we buried Pop.  And the pair I started when we learned Dudley had cancer - there are vacation socks - in the sense of yarn bought on vacation or socks knit on vacation.  3 different pairs of socks went to Mexico, and then there were road trip socks.  Every single brown bag from the 2010 sock club was started in 2010 - the last pair was finished on the 9th of January. 

Seriously - I need to start knitting something else.

Let's Wrap This Up.

Okay - the final two pairs from pile o' socks. First up: Wisteria Waterfalls (pattern: Waterfall by Wendy Johnson). Cast On: May 8 Cast Off: May 17 - that's more like it! Needles: 2.00mm 47" circular - two at a time, toe up. Yarn: Mini Mochi. The yarn was a gift and I love the colors and how soft it is. I hate that it doesn't have a twist. It's rather like what I would expect knitting with roving would be like. I wish I had matched the stripes up. Because I have a thing for odd numbers, I modified the stitch pattern to have 5 lace patterns running up the foot. To do this and not make them huge - I decreased the number of stitches between the lace. All notes can be found in Rav. The final pair is Creative Mystery (pattern: Mystery Sock 2009 by Kristen Kapur). Cast On: October 12, 2009 Cast Off: November 7, 2009 Needles: 2.00 mm 47" circular, two at a time, top down. Yarn: Creatively Dyed Ocean. this yarn was gifted to me by Channon for my birthday last year. I put the yarn aside because I've decided I really don't like multi-color yarns. However, this one just has little tiny spots of color. To me - it doesn't say multi-color so much as a semi-solid. It's fabulous. I don't know why I put it aside so long. In fact, I probably would have forgotten about it altogether. Except another Rav Friend told me how fabulous this pattern was. So - I sent her into my virtual stash and had her pick a yarn. She picked out 5, I pulled them all and had JB pick one of those. So this pair was a true mystery and I loved every minute of it! thanks girls. So - did I get them all?

Grape Leyburn

According to Ravelry I started this pair on April 7th and finished them on May 3rd. The pattern is Leyburn and it's a freebie. It's a great pattern that uses slipped stitches and floats to create a pattern. Just be careful to keep your floats really lose over your heel - otherwise you can't get them on. Don't ask how I know. As is my usual - these were knit toe up, two at a time, using 2.00 mm 47" circular needle. The yarn is Malabrigo sock in the grape colorway. The color is truest on the mini pair. This yarn is really soft and thin. The socks are super warm. but I'm not sure how well the Malabrigo sock will wear as socks - it might be better suited to stoles. For the record - the socks actually fit me. I was just in a huge hurry to get 5 or 6 pairs of socks on and off, cook dinner and get everyone fed before we had to get the Princess on a flight and she was snap happy!

The Next Float Is. . . .

Koigu Cloverleaf Socks! My friend VeeDogKnits send me the pinkish red Koigu for my birthday a year or so ago. I love Koigu - the colors the twist - I mean really, what's not to love? After caking this yarn up I looked through my knit stitch a day for something to wake the sock up a bit. I chose the cloverleaf cable. I started at the toes and was halfway up the foot when I freaked out thinking there wouldn't be enough of the red koigu to finish the socks. So I searched my LYS for another hank or two of a contrast color to work with the red. I went with yellow - there was a fair bit of yellow in the red. I believe accents should come in three (it's a sewing thing) so these socks have yellow toes, afterthought heels and cuffs. If you remember - I was worried about not having enough yarn for nothing - I had plenty left over and made VDK a matching short pair!

Let The Parade Begin

You might remember that this summer I made JB more socks - after swearing that he was no longer hand-knit sock worthy. Well - when you make short little ankle socks - those knit picks balls go pretty far. So - after winding one ball off so I

could make the stripes match - I started a pair of Channon's heel huggers.

I got almost to the heel - about 3 rows from grafting when I ran out of yarn! UGH! So down to the sock stash in the Studio and up I cam with the some dark grey. You can tell that the heel and cuffs are a different yarn, if you look really - really closely. But who's looking that close? Since the socks were so dark, I decided to do a rolled edge rather than the picot edge as designed. Channon liked the idea so much - she added it to her pattern!

Teaser!

Pile o' hand knit socks.

all for me.

this is sorta how I threw them on after their glamour shot on Sunday.

Parade of Finished Socks to begin on Friday.

Earl Grey

So over the Summer I knit Earl Grey designed and shared by the Yarn Harlot (but I can't find it on her on blog - but it can be found on Ravelry). Anyway - these were finished quite some time ago. JB tried them on and promptly swept them away into his drawer. I modified the pattern because I didn't read through it and realize that only the tiny side cables were suppose to go down the length of the foot. I knit these toe up with a gusset and heel flap and hubby likes them. But - I added a second set of cables on the back side of the socks. Last week he came downstairs wearing them. I quickly grabbed the camera and tried to get a few shots before the bottoms where filled with dog hair - be careful clicking on the photos - what you see might scare you. Anyway - he seems to like them.

Are You Bored Yet?

Welcome to Fall. In honor of the season - these are my pumpkin socks. Pattern is ladybug socks - but I made them out of orange yarn and they are now pumpkin socks. They took me forever, through no fault of the socks. I got them cast on, but then because they needed concentration they kept getting put aside for knits that needed less thought. Once I actually started working on them - I was able to commit the pattern to memory and even work on them on the bus! I know, right?! They have all my usual specks - toe up; two at a time; gusset and heel flap. I do increase the gusset to 20 stitches per side and I like them much better that way, but I need to remember to start the heel earlier - about 3.5" short. While they fit fine, I think they will fit better if I start the gusset increases earlier. These will be fun to wear this year with my jeans. A nice bright pop of pumpkin peaking out when I sit or walk.

Some Knitting

Well this first pair of socks doesn't count toward my "use up stash yarn" goal. While JB bought the first ball of the Paton's Stretch Sock, I bought 2 more. JB wanted a pair of socks from it and we have a friend who wanted some socks. Basic, boring toe up socks. Both worked at the same time, ribbing around the arch, no-wrap short row heels and only about 1.5" tall after the ankles.

Next up - a pair I finished for The Musical One. This was an unidentified ball of sock yarn. I know from the texture while knitting it that it's most likely not a superwash wool - but is definitely wool.

Again - toe up, both at the same time, no-wrap short row heels. These are a bit taller than I usually make for her - but she likes them.

Finished Friday

I've fallen way behind on showing the socks that I've knit - but I have met the goal of knitting 12 pairs of socks this year from stashed or gifted yarn. In other words - yarn that I personally have not spent money purchasing during 2009. Once I reached that goal, I decided to see if I could knit 36 pairs during 2009 all using stashed or gifted yarn, with three sets of 12 - 12 pair for me; 12 pair for JB; and 12 pair that are gifted. 18::12 Taylored Test Knit socks. This is a pair of socks that I volunteered to test knit the pattern for a Ravelry Designer. I don't remember if the pattern is free or not, but the details are over at Rav. Yarn is Pink Baby Ull that I've had in the stash for awhile. Needles were US0s, both at the same time, toe up. 19::12 Y's Ty-Dyed Summer. This yarn is so soft and just lovely to knit with. Everyone who saw them thought the yarn was a bit bright - but I'm telling you - you smile when you see them. Pattern: Dash Needles: 2.25mm, magic looping Toe up, gusset heel, traditional heel flap. 20::12

Pattern: Twisted Tendrils

Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy, Good Luck Jade

Needles: 2.00 mm double points, worked one at a time, top down. This pattern was fun and challenging, but easy to keep track of. The yarn was fabulous. I will say this was another test knit and I followed the pattern exactly. I was devastated when I realized these socks wouldn't fit me, so they were gifted to Miss L.

Size 7 feet and legs provided by Miss L.

In case you're wondering - to date I have knit 5 pairs for me; 4 pairs for JB; and 11 pairs have been (or will be) gifted. I have 2 pairs on needles - one for me and one for JB.

hand-knit socks

are a good thing. Although wearing wool socks on a hot Summer day - not so much. These really pretty, simple summer socks were made especially for Miss VeeDogKnits. She brought her Army Hubby and came to visit our coast (remember we went to visit theirs last year). Anyway - for my birthday a couple of years ago, she sent me the lovely red Koigu that the main portion of the socks is made from. At the time, I asked if it was in bad taste to make socks for someone using yarn they had gifted to you. I decided it probably was and finally set about knitting my own socks. For some reason though, it didn't look like there would be enough yarn to make my pair, so I ripped them and added contrasting toes, heels and cuffs. Well - duh! Of course there was enough yarn - so much so that I had enough left over to make a similar pair for Miss VDK. But I'm just lame enough that I never got her birthday box in the mail.

As a reminder here's my pair, they are different, they are taller and have a cable running up the side of the foot. But thanks to the same yarns being used they are very similar. Thanks VDK - I love my handknit socks I hope you enjoy yours too. Remember it's Koigu so handwash and dry flat :)

Liar, Liar

pants on fire. Me that is. I promised that my next crafty post would be sewing and it's not. I haven't been sewing. What with the current events in my life and the Indiana girls visiting. So what you get is a new finished knitting project. On Tuesday before heading downstairs to meet the gals, I raced downstairs to find sock yarn that didn't need to be wound. This is what I came up with. It KnitPicks Felici in the Fireman Colorway. I started them in the car Tuesday and finished them on Sunday. They are knit toe up, two at a time, magic-looping all the way. 68 stitches on the foot, 1x ribbing over the arch, short row no wrap heel. I decreased 8 stitches after the heel and another 4 before I started the ribbing. He spent the last couple of days finishing the new doors on the back of the house. While you can't really see them in the photo they are now the same deep purple as my front door. And since JB promised not to clean up any paint or stain with his new socks, I let him wear them. Oh and for anyone keeping track - this is pair 15 for the year, 14 from stash yarns and 12 started and finished this year.

finished object

the remake of the ankle socks for JB is complete. he wore them and although he wishes the ribbing was tighter i don't know what to do to fix it. these were knit on US1s over 56 stitches. the foot is stockinette with 1x1 ribbing around the arch. this time i used another new to me heel - the no-wrap short row heel. it worked fabulously and there are no gaps and no pesky wrap stitches to pick up! yea. since JB loves a short row heel best this will be the one i turn to from now on.

hopefully soon there will be sewing.

It's Another

6::12 pair of socks. This 6th official pair finished this year. Technically - I have finished 8 pairs this year, but 6 were also started this year! My friend Channon wanted a cute, short pair of summer socks. So she searched the pattern database at Ravelry (really what are you waiting for?) and came up with a pattern. But it was weird and she didn't love it.

So, she did what any normal knitter would do - she re-wrote the pattern, with her own changed and modifications and then she shipped it out to a few people to knit up. I knit my test pair following her directions exactly in her size - I hope. I knit to the correct length before putting in the waste yarn, not for afterthought heels but this time for an afterthought ankle. They turned out a bit short in length so I hope they have enough give. I put these in the mail on Tuesday and she should have them by the weekend (if not today) to give us a report on whether they fit. And I have enough of the Heart and Sole left to make another pair. Win-Win!

Another One Bites the Dust

5::12 These are the Dublin Bay socks made for a Christmas 2009 gift for Miss L. See, I can say that here because I don't believe she reads the blog, but even if she does Christmas 2009 is far enough way that she will have forgotten when they are gifted. I'm a bit sneaky like that. The yarn is Tofutsies which I know she loves. The pattern is Dublin Bay which can be found on Ravelry (but I'm feeling too lazy to link right now). These socks felt like they too forever, but my Rav projects page says I started them on March 20th and finished them on April 3. So it's wasn't really that long. The nice thing about tofutsies is that there is quite a bit left, enough to make a pair of short socks for one of my small footed friends.

Koigu Cloverleaf Cables

4::12 A couple of years ago my friend Jessica sent me a lovely box for my birthday. That box contained some beautiful red koigu sock yarn.

Those who know me, know that I love to knit socks. Seriously!

So these were a made up pattern. I started with just the red koigu but didn't think there was going to be enough to make an entire socks. Now there's enough to make Jessi an almost matching pair!

There really is more yellow in the red than it appears in the photos. These are perfect as I like shorter socks. Since I've started wearing my handknit socks more I'm gonna love these!

Money Sucking Weekend

The Princess has been here since early Friday morning (her flight landed at 12:15 a.m.) I swear all I've done this weekend is spend money. 3::12 Wednesday night I managed to finish these: These are the strongheels socks. I saw a very pretty pair of socks made from self-striping yarn and the socks were beautiful! So pretty were they with their stripes continuing around the heel that I had to learn how to knit a strong-heel. With the help of Ravelry and a free pattern explaining the strong heel, I was able to figure it out. Unfortunately, The Princess and Miss L decided to take the photos while I was out of the house and they aren't the greatest - really, you can't see how cool this heel is. I'll take better pictures soon, but for now I wanted to post.

Fit for a Princess

2::12 After my mini-rant the other day about knee socks with skirts, here I am modeling a finished pair of knee socks with the skirt I wore all day. Of course, what else would you wear with knee socks?

Specs:

Elegant Ribbed Stockings from Favorite Knits

Started: January 31, 2009

Finished: February 18, 2009

Needles: US 4,

5 & 6s

Yarn: Trendsetter yarns Merino IV Batik, 5 balls!

Cost: You don't want to know! Seriously. I had a gift certificate for the yarn, it was still $8/ball. I also needed to get 3 new addi lace circulars so I had needles long enough and in the right size for this project. So you all know that I spent more on the needles than the yarn, right? Thankfully, these needles will see lots of use in sweater making.

Extras: 2 yards of ribbon to run through the eyelets at the top of the socks. However, I didn't take into consideration how long these socks are and really - each sock needs 2 yards of ribbon. So, I'll be purchasing more.

Handknit Socks

1::12 One of my resolves this year is to knit 12 pairs of socks from stashed sock yarn. Should be easy enough. So, toward that end - here's the first pair. The yarn is hand dyed with Wilton Food Color Paste by Miss C. Socks were originally started in September 2008 and then the yarn was returned to stock in December. I took them on vacation with me, but they were not a high priority. I knit them on the first leg of our flight and then they got put away not to be taken out again until I finished a pair and didn't feel like starting the Eagles socks. These are toe up with a new to me and very easy heel gusset and flap. They fit great and feel super comfy. I truly knit until there was barely enough yarn left to bind off. The pattern is a variation on Charades - same as the socks for Miss L - which by the way are so tight she can't get them on! Thankfully, my socks don't have the same problem. I already have the next pair for 2009 on the needles and am halfway through the foot.