What I Learned Today

Any guesses?

 

 

 

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All things knitting, of course

The other day I was given a wonderful surprise by my friend Mimi.

The shopping bag I had seen someone with earlier, was it Mimi?  And of course I coveted it.  Love the cards, who can resist googly-eyed sheep, they will be reserved for that special note to that special knitter. And the little pouch that Mimi sewed.   Thanks!

On the knitting front I am 2 months behind in my CookieA sock knitting.  Currently I am working on the Ernie socks from the February installment.  This is just sock #1, will be gifted to my favorite husband. I added the ribbing at the top, he would not like the faux cable sock pattern to just end at the cuff.  I have finally turned the heel, and hope to finish these this weekend.  Spinning seems to be taking an inordinate amount of my time lately, more on that tomorrow.

Then this lovely lavender from Dream in Color came the other day, the April club shipment, I think that these will be for me, love the color.

 

Flight socks

These socks were started in January and took over 2 months to finish.  The yarn color was very dark, and they were difficult to knit up at SnB or on a dreary day because of this.  While cashmere in socks is wonderful on your feet, I do find it to be more splity than other sock yarns. These were from the Cookie A sock club, and this was the December 2012 pattern, it was the simpler of the 2 patterns available.  Between the difficulty of knitting with this yarn, and the dark color I had to abandon the harder pattern for my sanity.  They were gifted to my Mom when I was up a couple of weeks ago visiting her.  She loved them.

 

 

Pattern: Flight Socks
Pattern Source: CookieA Sock Club December 2012
Yarn: Stricken Smitten Sinful Sock Yarn
Needles: US 1
Date Started: 1/?/13
Date Finished: 3/22/13
Finished Dimensions: Women’s large

 

Equinox

These socks were almost finished for the Equinox, they were a gift to Dan for Christmas, I had to give him one sock and finish the second on Christmas day.  The pattern is from the Janel Laidman Knitterati 2012 sock club.  The detail was moved from the front and back to the sides of the sock, I felt that it looked more manly that way.  They are a bit tight to pull over the heel, and I am not sure if that is a factor of switching the cable pattern to the side.  Otherwise they are a nice fit with ribbing on the top and bottom of the foot.  The cashmere in the yarn doesn’t hurt either.

Pattern: Equinox
Pattern Source: Janel Laidman sock club 2012
Yarn: String Theory hand dyed Caper sock yarn
Needles: US 1
Date Started: 12/?/12
Date Finished: 12/25/12
Finished Dimensions: Men’s large

A tale of 2 sock yarns

When I first started spinning I had dreams of making fine yarn for lace knitting, fair isle and socks.  My abilities were not as quick to develop as my ambitions.  After a few months of spinning, I was confident enough to take some fiber from Socks That Rock, and spin for sock yarn.  Then I tried to knit socks with it.  So, it has languished in my spinning punishment pile for quite some time.  I have recently started going back to those early yarns to use them up in quick to knit winter outerwear.  And these came to mind for some fingerless mitts for the cooler dog-walking days.

I have developed a new appreciation for some of the earlier, less than perfect spins.  The pattern is my own improvisation.

And I recently completed knitting these socks for Dan.  The fiber was spun by me, from Fiber Optic. It is a pencil roving, and a dream to spin with. It was spun with the intention of making socks for Dan, and then when I saw this pattern in the CookieA sock club, I knew that it was a perfect marriage.  My spinning is much finer a year later, and while not perfect, I am very proud of it.  They are incredibly soft socks, superwash merino and silk, so I added some reinforcing thread to the toes for wearability.

Pattern: Reykjavik
Pattern Source: Cookie A’s Sock Club 2012, June pattern
Yarn: handspun from Fiber Optic pencil roving, color: Black Coffee
Needles: US 1
Date Started: 9/?/12
Date Finished: 10/19/12
Finished Dimensions: Men’s size large

Danube

These socks are from the Janel Laidman Knitterati sock club, July shipment.  The yarn is Lillian from Dirty Water DyeWorks, and I just love it.  The sock pattern has a twisted rib foot bottom which much to my surprise is very soft and squishy with the added benefit of really snuggling up nicely to my foot. I love these socks!

 

Pattern: Dunabe
Pattern Source: Janel Laidman’s Knitterati Sock Club 2012, July pattern & yarn
Yarn: Dirty Water DyeWorks, Lillian
Needles: US 1
Date Started: 9/?/12
Date Finished: 10/19/12
Finished Dimensions: Women’s size medium

I Love Yarn Day!

Well, duh!  Anyone who knows me realizes that is the truth.  Apparently this was decided on as a theme day by The Craft Yarn Council.  The only problem with that is that the people who follow The Craft Yarn Council already love yarn, otherwise…  Like having an I love beer day for home brewers.  Couldn’t they think of something more creative.

But, since I do love yarn, I have this luscious new yarn that just came as part of the Knitterati sock club by Janel Laidman.  I have made one other pair of socks with the Caper Sock yarn from Sting Theory, and loved them.  The color is very close to the colors that I posted the other day which I received from the CookieA sock club, so I guess I will be getting in touch with my earthy fall color side this next month.  This package also came with a note card, some stitch markers, and a clear plastic bag from Janel’s new magazine, The Sock Report.

And, I am thinking of spinning up this fiber from Ashland Bay to coordinate with the recently completed Woolgatherings spin.  The beauty of this plan is that I can always get more of this colorway if needed, and I think that it is an interesting match.

First Sock Syndrome

 

Second Sock Syndrome is a complaint of many sock knitters.  They seem to be anxious to try out a new pattern, and knit the first sock up, only to have the second appear less interesting to knit, and it languishes.  That was never a problem for me, as I was either anxious to finish a quick knit, or had conquered the complexities of a more difficult pattern and the second sock seemed easy by comparison.  Lately I have a new problem however, I seem to be starting and not finishing any first socks.  There is a good reason for all, but bothersome none-the-less.

 

The beautiful blue socks are from the Knitteratus Scok Club by Janel Laidman, I love the pattern, the twisted rib on the bottom of the foot is so squishy and comfortable.  Almost done with sock #1 of theses.  The green pair is from the same club, a February installment.  I could not travel with these socks and follow the pattern, so they remained at home and got abandoned when I needed the needles for a pair of traveling knitting socks (ie, a less complicated pattern), and they sit dangerously off needles, and without any stitch holders to hold them in place.  The lime green pair is from the CookieA sock club, and while the pattern is interesting and different from anything I had tried, it broke one of my precious Lantern Moon needles, and I switched to metal.  I am now waiting on some Signature needles to finish these up.

I have never had this many started socks before.  And lastly, there is the pair of CookieA socks, using some handspun yarn.  These will be for my husband, but I could not finish them while away, as I needed to get reinforcing thread for the toes.  Hope to finish these up soon.

 

Catch-Up

I have gotten a bit behind in my sock club knitting the past couple of months.  I hope to rectify that shortly, but first let me show you what arrived in mid-July, a beautiful blue yarn by Dirty Water DyeWorks, color : Fathom, along with another project bag, and a Sock Report clear bag.  Dirty Water  also carries the cutest project bags from Three Bags Full, I think that they may be ones that I spotted with CookieA when I was in her classes.  Definitely have to put those on my wish list!

Instead of casting this on for socks first, I opted to go with the mystery KAL scarf project.  I am using some of my own handspun, Blackberry Jamble pencil roving from Fiber Optic:

It is knitting up so incredibly nice.  I love spinning this pencil roving, this was my third hank of it, and the first thing that I spun on my new Jensen wheel, I got 496 yards, so I am hoping it is enough-otherwise the edging will be bound off with another fiber.  My spinning is not as even as I am able to get just a couple of months later, but beautiful non-the-less.  I would highly recommend this fiber for beginning knitters, as it is easy to draft out.  I have almost finished with Clue #2 of 3, having had a very bad false start where I knit garter stitch instead of stockinette well into the second clue.

And finally from the CookieA 2012 sock club, this gorgeous green sock yarn from Enchanted Knoll Farm (color: Genmaicha), and looking at her webpage I see lots of luscious fiber.  This is the good/bad thing about these sock clubs, I am introduced to fibers and vendors that I would not otherwise find, the bad news is that I am introduced to new sources of wool and yarn.  My difficulty with this month will be which of the 2 sock patterns to knit with, they are both so cute.  One however is a different type of sock knit, so I will most likely attempt that one.

Provence

I finally finished these mystery socks from the Knitterati Sock club.  The given name was Provence, which I love, having lived a year in Aix-en-Provence during college.  Very pretty and soft, it was a fun knit.

This was a mystery knit where the clues were doled out one week at a time.  The sock was knit from the toe-up and called for the EZ sewn bind-off at the end, my only change was to do my favorite tubular bind-off instead, I think that it is stretchier and has a better finished look.  The yarn was enjoyable to knit with and I would definitely add this to my approved yarn list.  I know that we had a pair of socks from the CookieA sock club last year, also from this vendor.

Pattern: Provence
Pattern Source: Janel Laidman’s Knitterati Scok Club 2012, May pattern & yarn
Yarn: Little Red Bicycle Boneshaker BFL Sock
Needles: US 1
Date Started: 5/31/12
Date Finished: 7/15/12
Finished Dimensions: Women’s size medium