Speed Demon

Now, the following picture LOOKS like roughly half of a men's sock.

In reality, it is so much more than that. I dare say that it is a completed pair of socks.

This sock yarn began its life as a lovely Paul Atwell sock. This combination of yarn and pattern was so absurdly gorgeous, that both I and my father were enamored. That is a rare occurrence. However, I did have the sneaking suspicion that I would run out of yarn. I chose to ignore this gut feeling, and ended up in the middle of the gusset with half of my sock yarn for the WHOLE PAIR gone. Sadly, this was frogged. Half a sock.

Next, I decided on Earl Grey. I have knit this pattern twice, and I figured this would use far less yarn than that yarn-eater Paul Atwell. I was right, but not right enough. Halfway through the toe decreases, I weighed what yarn I had left. Just over half of the hank had gone. ^%@)$!!! I had knit all but the last few rows of a men's size 10 1/2 sock IN ONE DAY (please be impressed), and I now had to rip back past the foot, and heel, and gusset, frog half of a repeat of the cable on the cuff, and continue on. One and a half socks.

After that, I wound the yarn (without bothering to steam it this time), and knit knit knit until I finished the gusset on the third attempt. Another half of a sock. That makes two finished socks . Wanna look at that picture again?

I believe I have a pair.

 

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Many More Socks

Since coming to college, I have knit socks, socks, socks. Some are for Christmas, so recipients will not be mentioned!

Hermione's Socks, in Knit Picks Stroll, Sparkle Heather. I think these are some of the most beautiful socks that I have ever made! The stitch looks like beading, and this color is to die for.

Bow Ties Are Cool, in Stroll Scarlet, I think. Not my favorite. I was bored halfway through knitting them, and the arch is too high. I should have known better and knit it shorter, but now I know to follow my instincts next time.

More Upside-Down Leyburns. I'm so glad that I revamped this pattern for top-down. The fit is ten times better (though they are big on me, because they aren't for me),and I love a standard top-down heel flap and toe. I used Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome in Cabin Fever. This color and yarn were great, complex without being too much, and very soft. I think it ought to hold up well.

Paul Atwell Socks, in Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Fuchsia. I think Peppermint would be a better color name, but I have no complaints about this yarn. It's harder and rounder than the Sockittome, but the semi-solid colors are gorgeously blended. The red is a deeply saturated cherry, and the pink is almost as pale as I think it could be, while still be being considered pink. This pattern is a major yarn-eater, but I love the effect of the slipped stitches. It's similar to the Edwardian Boating Socks. Next time though, I want to stick to my usual toe with decreases every other row. The faster decreases suggested do make a nice rounded toe, but my feet just don't fit in it as we'll.

A crappy picture, but these are men's socks in Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome in Tropical Storm. I didn't notice the purple bits until I started knitting, but I think the man in question can live with it. I like the random thin striping on these socks, and I still had plenty of yarn left over.

Currently I'm using some Trekking XXL. I don't love the colors, but the yarn was majorly on sale, and they will still be warm when they are concealed under my boots this winter. Pictures later!

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Christmas in July

Well, in August. I have officially begun my Christmas knitting early, knowing full well that this need to churn out presents won't last, and I had better take advantage of it while it lasts. Here is what I have so far...

3 1/2 pairs of socks. Not too bad, especially considering one pair is a men's 14. I plan on either socks or a hat for each family member, since socks for each would be ambitious on both the knitting and financial front. Here I present to you, Leyburns! In something Knitpicks, ball band lost.

(Recipients will remain anonymous...for now). Rogers! In Knitpicks Multi, Lucky Multi (I think).

(Both modeled by my lovely assistant, Isabelle). Thermal Waffle-y Socks! In Knit Picks Stroll, Fedora.

And finally, reverse-engineered-upside-down-Leyburns! Well, one of a pair. Knitpicks Stroll Multi in Sunset Multi.

In the midst of all of this gift knitting, I managed to pick up some gifts for myself online (not that it was that difficult). Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn!

Supersock in Winterberry, which I think is the coolest yarn name ever.

Super sock in Fuchsia, although I think it is reminiscent of peppermint.

Stockittome in Wild Cherry,

and Stockittome in Tropical Storm. I'm not sure about this one, but it has more purple in person, so the black and blue contrast isn't as strong as the picture shows.

On top of this, I still have more Knitpicks sock yarn in my knitting basket. The sad part? I don't know how long into the school year this will last me! I suppose I will just have to make a trip to Knit One in Pittsburgh once I get there...

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I Am So Sick of Brown!

My boyfriend has huge feet. They are a size 14. As a result, his socks take an abnormally long time to knit, this time, I decided to knit a shorter cuff so he could hide the "unmanly" stripes under his boots. You would think this would make them easier to finish, but no. I am already horribly sick of brown! Solution?

Blue, green and yellow Leyburns. Actually, altogether I think these might make some sort of brown, but the stranded color changes thrill me to no end. These will be going to my Grandma Helen, but if this pattern is as enjoyable as it has been so far, I may end up with a pair for myself as well.

At the Lake

I am sitting in my aunt's house on Conesus Lake, and the Starlock Socks have been cast off and gifted.

I was halfway though the toe to the second sock when Linnea inquired if these were hers. I replied that if they fit, they were hers, and since they did, they are! She will be a faithful air-dryer! and is a grateful hand knit recipient. Yes Linnea, you can expect more knitted stuff in the future! Plus...isn't she a fantastic sock model?

My sister, who chose the sock-picture location with much expertise, then took a few more pictures of the Pi Shawl.

I promise I have a shirt on in these pictures. It is just skin colored. I absolutely adore this shawl. It is lightweight but still incredibly warm, and the pattern looks so intricate now that it's blocked.

Next up are Patrick's socks, Ellie's socks, Andrea's socks, Grandma Helen's socks...oh, and I just ordered 10 skeins of lace weight from Knit Picks. It was on sale, and shawls are fantastic travel knitting. As long as my needles aren't ripped from my hands when I board the plane to France, I shall happily knit as I cross the Atlantic in July.

Buried in Socks

I am the first to admit that technology is not my strong point. Hopefully my new blogging app will not have too steep of a learning curve! I love my iPad, so maybe this new excuse to use it will whip my blogging butt back into shape!

School is out, but while it was in session I managed to churn out sock after sock after sock. Here is a sampling...

Dumbledore's Christmas Stockings and some Stroll sock yarn. This pattern knit up quickly, and the knit/purl texture means these stretch in all directions. Very comfortable; I would knit these again.

Clandestine socks by Cookie A., also knit in Stroll (I think). They came out nicely. I did misunderstand the pattern a few times, and there was a lot of tinking and frogging involved, but I always seem to do that with Cookie's patterns.

Nutkin was up next, so I could test my KnitCompanion app. It was knit in some kind of Cascade sock yarn, I just can't remember the exact kind. The yarn itself lacked softness when I was working with it, but it seems to be holding up far better than the Stroll yarn in terms of pilling, so i guess it was a good trade-off. I used a slip-stitch heel flap, and my usual toe. I employed half of a purl round to imitate the three-needle bind-off. I love the hemmed cuff! No matter how many times I turn a hem for a picot edge or whatever, I feel like it's magic.

A plain pair, the Yarn Harlot's sock recipe in Patons Kroy. They make me think of raspberries.

Another plain pair in some kind of Knit Picks yarn. I think the color way was Cartoons? Appropriately playful.

Another Cookie design, Cusp. The name allowed me to justify knitting in my Calc II class. Yes, my teacher did go along with it. And yes, as is always the case with Cookie's patterns, I frogged. A lot.

And the grand finale! Edwardian Boating Socks, a free Ravelry pattern. The yarn is Knit Picks Fairy Tales, and the colorway is something about a mirror. These socks are perfect! The slipped stitch pattern shows off the graduated colors beautifully, and if I didn't have to hand wash these I would wear them every day without worrying that people would question my hygiene. Unfortunately, the picture displays none of these fantastic qualities.

I love them anyway. You can take my word for it.

And for the record, this Blogsy app is surprisingly easy to work! Famous last words, I know. Hopefully this continues to be the case. For now, I have to edge a shawl...

Back Again

Wow, so much for having time to post this summer! I won't bother to go into depth about ALL of my WIP's. but real quick here's one FO that I've been hugely proud of!

Not the best pictures, but it's my second sweater ever! And the first to require seams! Ahhh that feels good...The pattern is Inishturk from Lion Brand Yarn, and the yarn is the recommended Fisherman's Wool. I chose Natural, though, instead of Oatmeal, since I had already used that for my first sweater. For being so cheap by weight, this wool is awesome. I love the texture, stitch definition, everything.

The pattern's gauge was kinda funky, though. I would have needed size 11 US needles, and the swatch was like a loose net. I went down to size 8 US, and just made it two sizes larger with the original lengths for the size small. It came out a tad wider than I expected after blocking, but I knew it was going to be huge anyway. The smallest chest measurement would have given me 4-5 inches of ease. But according to the new Teen Vouge, oversize knit sweaters are totally in. Sweet. And this kind of traditional garment is classic and timeless, so I'm not super concerned.

And here is my current WIP. It's become a little all-consuming, not gonna lie...

It's the Bayerische sock from See Eunny Knit!. Belgian cables with twisted stitches. Gorgeous. I used size 0 US dpn's, and Lion Brand Sock-Ease in Grape Soda. Not exactly high-end, but it's cheap and hard-wearing. Love the pattern, love the first sock.

 The only pattern error I saw was in the toe shaping. At the very end, It says to knit Row 2 6 times to decrease from 40 stitches to 16, but that would mean knitting even for six rounds. It's supposed to be knit row 1 six times.

That's all for today, but maybe I'll actually post occasionally for a little while? Yes?

Oh Yeah...I Have a Blog...

Alright...finished stuff...

Luna's Scarf!

Came out too wide and too short. Next time, I'll use thinner yarn and chain twice as long. Oh, and use wool, so it can be blocked. Because, really, acrylic won't, and the lace keeps spiralling.

I finished two pairs of plain socks, one navy, and another brown striped set seen below:

The pattern is so plain I've been getting away with knitting in school during ceratin classes, since its not even neccessary to look at the plain parts. It also produces the most comfortable socks :)  I have three pairs!

I made three washcloths, so I'll have something to swap at the April knitter's lunch thing. I think only one is really worthy of swap, though. I'll have to knit another one that actually looks right before the swap.

The garter stitch colorway is my favorite, but the decreases didn't end up matching the increases. :(

Ooo, cat blanket!

For the animal shelter around here. It could probably actually fit a small dog, but everyone ended uo just knitting cat blankets to keep the projects on the small side. I used some leftover Super Saver multi, and a light brown whose origins are unknown. It's probably an acrylic too, though.

I'm just about to graft the first of the second Slippery socks shut!

This colorway photographs horribly, but it's gorgeous in real life. Saki Rio Fantasy. Saki yarn can never seem to be unravelled correctly, though. I don't know if I'll buy it again. I blew $60 on two different colorways, and both skeins seemed like they were wound twisted and inside out. Took three hours apiece to untangle.

Lastly, these lacey socks were given to me as a gift. The organist at church belongs to a sock of the month club, and was a little behind. So, rather than try and keep up, she gave me a kit for my birthday during the winter :)  I had it started forever, but now I'm starting to cruise a little more.

Anyway, time for karate. Saturday conditioning class.

A Pair of Socks...

...for every day of the week!

Yessir, Sunday Swing is my offical seventh pair for ME to wear all winter long!

I think they came out alright, although they're a tad too large on me, so the pattern doesn't show as well as it could, and tends to bunch on the leg. Should have made the size small instead of the medium.

Later last night I had to babysit my cousins, and by the time the evening was over I had another quick project finished as well.

A helmet liner! One of the women at my church saw me knitting my socks, and handed me the free pattern along with some Paton Classic Wool in Deep Olive, supplied by Micheals. They get sent to troops serving overseas, which is why they need to be knit in 100% wool (acrylic is flammable) and in an appropriate color to match their uniforms. (Deep Olive was specified by the instructions). I think it came out alright, and I may look into whipping up a few more. I don't like war, but that's no reason not to support the troops.

Now off to an early Thanksgiving dinner with my mom's side...

It's Hailing Again!

But thankfully I'm inside. So. Moving on...
So last night I decided to skip karate in favor of the local knitting circle, which I had yet to attend. I had shoved my scarf in the nearest purse, quickly cast on my second mitten and completed the hem, and was foolishly considering trying to cast on something flashy that I have yet to attempt (like socks knit one inside the other) for shock value. However when i showed up, eagerly brandishing a pattern one of the women had been curious about and carrying a tote full of projects, I was told that there had been a cancellation. Awww. So, I skulked home and knit another large strip into my Harry Potter scarf, and later (after my right arm was numb from my position on the couch), I cast on another pair of socks!

I truly so apologize for how horrendous the picture is. My camera has been taking more pixle-y pictures every day, and any picture sized larger than the one at left is nearly unrecognizeable.

The pattern is Sunday Swing from Knitty, knit in Heart and Sole by Red Heart, colorway Faded Jeans. The design is a super predictable combination of yarnovers and knit two togethers, with at least one plain knit row between each patterned one. So it's beyond cinchy and mindless, with lots of visual "bang" for you knitting-technique-"buck", yet not so mindless as to bore you. Once I finish these, I'll officially have a pair of handknit socks for every day of the week :) Sweeeet!

Another Pair :)

Socks done!

Sorry the picture is so terrible-I'm becoming more and more convinced that I need a new camera for Christmas.

It's just 2x2 rib, eye of partridge heel. Instead of the gusset decreases occurring one stitch into the needle, I put the decreases right on the end of needle one and the very first two stitches of needle three. I also put the toe decreases immediately next to each other instead of having a stitch or two in between, so they wouldn't show up as prominently looking down. (Not quite sure why that was so important, but either way it looks decent so I'm not complaining). Was going to give them as Christmas gifts, but...I really like them :)

Quick Break

Oh my gosh. Portfolio week for IB, and I am BEAT. Since I last posted, I have accomplished the following...

Patrick's birthday hat is finished, with ample time between now and the big day. (Which is one day after mine except, ya know, a year earlier. So we're the same age for one day a year. So my dad can't complain that he's too old for me :D ). I won't post a picture in case my some accident I forget it's on here and he looks, but I'll just have you know. It's pretty sweet. Nuf said.

Secondly, following that hat victory I decided to take a swing at kinda sort half designing my own hat (as modeled by one of my teddy bears :) ).
The shape is an only slightly altered version of another pattern I found (can't remember the source just now...) and the designs are either borrowed from other hat patterns, or taken off of the street or from my own noggin. Overall it's a little big, but that means it won't flatten my hair, so it's all good. I wore it to the sectionals game the other weekend, and though I was freezing, it wasn't because my head was chilly.

I also began a quick pair of ribbed socks, and finished the first one and have started the second.

The ribbing goes from cuff to toes, and I used an Eye of Partridge heel just to see how it would look. Super simple, with a pretty colorway for machine dyed sock yarn. Whether they're for me or for use as a Christmas gift, the ribbing is sure to accommodate at least a few different sizes.

Yeah. That's about it.

Pomatomus FO!

Finally, these socks are conquered, over, and done with! I was working on the gusset and foot of the second sock at Shannon's birthday, and despite the snapping of a bamboo dpn (the second snapped stick from what was a set of five) I scrounged a metal size 2US from my bag (huzzah!) and finished the pair in time to wear to bed.

Of course it got rather humid all of a sudden and I had to take them off, but it was enjoyable while it lasted.

Most of the girls had at some point during the night inquired after the sock-in-progress, and by the time the last end was sewn in I had an audience to witness their maiden voyage. The birthday girl's mom knits, though only garter stitch scarves, so when she showed interest in the repeated pattern, the chart, and where to procure instructions for other projects, I directed her to Knitty. There are more awesome patterns to be had there. The only downside to this happily worn pair of socks was that I was left with just that-a pair of socks...and nothing else to knit the whooooooole night long :(

If at First You Don't Succeed...

Pomatomus may have kicked my butt once...

...but not this time!

I have since grafted the first sock shown, and started the cuff for the second one twice. For the record, it was not my own incompetence that caused the need for a do-over. There was a funnel cloud (good chance for a tornado) spotted touching ground near my village in Upstate New York (well, there is a first time for everything), and I attempted to work on the cuff while taking refuge in the basement. In the dark. Without a chart. Genius.

Regardless, I knit the foot a bit too long and thus shortened the toe, ending with 28 stitches to graft rather than 12. The stitch pattern is comfortably stretchy without falling down, interesting to work, and of course, resembles fish scales. How cool is that? This is the first project in a long time I haven't minded ripping back at all, it's so entertaining to whip up. I can't wait til I can wear the pair...

Coincidence

On a troubling note, my grandma took a fall down the steps leading from the road to the waterfront at my aunt's lakeside cottage. We think a broken ankle, EMS got her to the best hospital in the area quickly and safely. I wasn't allowed to go, and in the midst of my disappointment I looked down and realized my second sock was almost ready to graft the toe. It's a berryish striping pattern-pinks, brown, and navy, the pattern a blend of the YH's Generic Sock Recipe and a lightweight Thuja.

My mom dropped me and my sister off at the house, and before she ran out the door to meet the rest of the family already at the hospital, I slipped the finished pair into her bag for her to find later.

If I can't be there, I suppose my knitting is close enough.

One Down...

Here's at least one photo I managed to take...

My first Coupling sock (please excuse the fan in the background...) I seem to have the hang of the toe-up style, and really like how the reverse heel flap still allows slip stitch reinforcing. I'm zooming along on the second one-three or four more lace repeats and some twisted rib and I'll have a pair!