... a finished pair ....


... and a pair that is barely in the making ....

jackie had a FANTASTIC idea tonight ... she says ... "why don't you wait until socktoberfest to knit your socken-mates ?!" she's right. i should wait until then. i can spend all of october uniting my orphans!

lolly, will you be sponsoring socktoberfest again ?

why save ...

the best for last ?!

this is so not mine ! it's corbett's. he's coming down to nc next week, and sent this yarn here as a treat for himself, as he didn't think it would reach his home before hitting the road. so, i get to foster, pet, love it for awhile before he takes custody.

what do i get for my inconvenience? i get this ! YAY !


both lovelies are from fearless fibers.

on the budget end of knitting ... i have been teaching sock classes at my LYS. i teach the class in three sessions, with homework in between. i finally settled on a good yarn for teaching/learning purposes ... it's plymouth's encore worsted.

i am using a size 6 dpn, and i can get a pair of socks from one ball of yarn! pretty good for such a quality economic yarn ... and, it's pretty!






these will make great christmas gifts ... if i stop knitting them to fit me !


this is the yarn mom picked out for her sockens. i needed a mindless sock project a few days ago, so i cast on for these ... they are as requested ... "no holes, no ridges" . i'm using the newish kp's size 2.25mm dpns.

tis the season ....

'tis the season where i start thinking about what i'd wish to find in my stocking this year. i can wish for more esoteric things like, more storage space, more time to do the things i want. or, i can be more realistic and list more tangible things like ....

1. a set of knitpick's options needles.

2. a gift certificate to amazon so i can buy books whenever i want =)

3. a gift certificate to the loopy ewe would be swell too !

4. perhaps some books from knitpicks such as the new cat bordhi sock book and amy singer's no sheep for you.

5. hmmm ... the harmony sock needle set from knitpicks!

let's get monkeybusiness out of the way first! last week, i was in a hurry to finish my first jitterbug monkey sock. i was eager and anxious to see if by omitting one repeat of the leg, and extending the toe a wee bit, and knitting a slip stitched heel flap, would yield enough yarn for a proper mate.


well, the above socken weighs in at a whopping 52gr! and the leftovers ... a generous 60gr. hmmm ... doesn't 52+60=112 ? what's up with that? what about the label that reads 100gr ? i'm not complaining. i just don't get it.

anyhoo ... i will have a lovely pair, someday ....

in the meantime, i, of course, have started another sock project. i saw these beauties on flickr the other day. and then, i saw these. and that was enough to make me want some of these too ! you can get your copy of the pattern here.


of course, i often run into problems when i change things ... i haven't hit any walls yet, but i am knitting these with the toe from the ann budd's toe up sock in summer IK. i also made my increases kf&b vs m1. i'm also going to attempt a reverse heelflappen as in knitty's widdershins.

i am using lorna's laces shepherd sock. it's holding up quite well to my rippin' & re-knittin'. and finally, finally, i am knitting a green sock !

speaking of green ... lookie what i got !!!




it's louet's kidlin. it came all the way from NYC as a gift from a fellow yarn-ho, the incredible jackie ! thank you! thank you! thank you!

and, because i sometimes like to brag and show off, i also got THIS !


OMG! KOIGU! i'm trying really hard to not ditch all my 10 other sockens on needles and wind this up and start some kind of socken this moment!

by the way, incase any of my friends are wondering, i have not done laundry yet ! how can i with all these lovely distractions ?

and lastly, on the yarn front, my mom also picked up some yarn for me when she was on vacation last week at myrtle beach (no worries, she's going somewhere much more exotic (mexico!) next month)(and i don't think there are any yarn shops on cozumel).


click on photo for notes
she was requested (possibly emphatically told) to not get any yarn that had those faux-fairisle blips. what does she get in return? a pair of socks, but "without ridges and holes". she wants hers to simply stripe, like the picture on the label. so, when i'm ready for my next mindless knitting socken, i will reach for the reds for mom.

socken-splosen !

i cannot tell if my head is exploding or if i'm suffering socken-constipation. though, i think, it's one and the same ....

there has been lots LOTS of socken knittin', but not much, if any, in the way of
socken-completion.

i'm like some crazy child that runs from one toy to the next, which ever offers the path of least resistance or most entertainment. i am a socken-ho.

so, let's travel down my rabbit hole ....


we saw this socken (the yellow one on the right) in a previous post. it's knitted with the new reynold's soft sea wool. well, like any sucker, i fell instantly inlove with this yarn ... and i am still enamored ... but, i have run into a couple of snags with the patterns from the book ....


this one is pink in the booklet, and is a shorter version of the spiral boot sock in the summer '07 issue of IK. my problem ... keeping in pattern as a stitch pattern spirals ... 'cause ... sometimes you must slip a stitch to keep in pattern, and i'm not the best judge of that occurrence. so, it taxes my brain more than i can handle when my apt. is a whopping 95*, ... so, i abandon ship !


this pretty pink socken cuffen? well ... i think there must be a typo in the instructions, 'cause my cuff looks twice as deep as the picture in the book, and ... it spirals too ! and my apt. is still a million degrees hot !

okay ... onto progress!


so, i felt a bit stuck, and needed a sure thing . thus ... socken monken #2. though, i said i was knitting orphans, sometimes you need a sure thing. and this socken monkey is flying off the needles, without pausing and recollection, just following in the footsteps of socken #1.


... not to be distracted by this amazing and lovely jitterbuggen-socken-monken ! i am so beyond-in-love ! kiss kiss ! i am knitting a socken-monken with jitterbug's slate colourway ... and i LOVE it! ... 'cause i am afeared of running out of yarn, because jitterbug has crappy yardage, i only worked 5 repeats in the leg of socken.

i must say, i love LOVE love the spring and boing of jitterbug!

not to mention its color ....


... new socken yarn! also jitterbuggen. i fell inlove with the colourways ... on the left, velvet damson, and on the right, toscano. gasp!
i think, the rightsided jitterbuggen socken yarnen will become some toe up sockens from ann budd's article in the summer '07 IK issue. and the lovely blue?! oooh ... i don't know yet!

... we're not done yet ....

... so, as i said, i think my head has been exploding! why? ... possibly because of all the sockens ?! (not to mention the heat and lack of air conditioning !!! )

... so, due to the drawbacks, there had to be some enhancement, aside from the above jitterbuggen socken yarnen. what else might a knitter need? hmmm ... accoutrements !


i went out & about today, with coupons in hand, and purchased some cheapie knitting needles i've come to appreciate ... some susan bates dpns.


and, on a more upscale adventure, i acquired some new socken patterns ... from the amazing cookia a.

we interrupt for this special bulletin

i am a bit behind on things ... and did a bit of catching up on my bloglines this afternoon ... and i found this absolutely hilarious! i was following suite of anne of knitspot ...

You Are the Middle Finger

A bit fragile and dependent on your friends, you're not nearly as hostile as you seem. You are balanced, easy to get along with, and quite serious. However, you can get angry and fed up with those around you. And you aren't afraid to show it! You get along well with: The Index Finger Stay away from: The Pinky

What Finger Are You?

i thought it was especially funny because anne is an index finger and my favorite knitty-girlfriend is pinky!

anyhoo ... i'll get down to knitty-business later today, and post pictures of all my sockens!

new (orphan) sockens!

in my very recently declared emancipation of sock pairs ... i present (yet another) mismatched pair.

i finished said monkey-socken (on the left) a couple of nights ago. i was testing out the fit of my toe when i got a phone call ... from mom.

"hello (i'm @ knitting !) ?"

"hi! i saw the sock. i want them !

"OKAY!"

of course, i'd love them for myself, when they really are a pair. but mom doesn't usually ask for knittys. and these have HOLES in them ! and she recently informed me that she doesn't like HOLES in her socks (aka LACE) !. and though these are not obvious lace socks, they still have holes in them!


socken #2 ... it's from this new book via reynolds. it features a new yarn by reynolds, soft sea wool. now, why it has that name, i don't know ! i mean, are they sea-side sheep? do they eat sea oats? because, the yarn IS 100% wool.

but ... i like it. it's classified as a dk wt. wool (on a #4 needle). the socks (in the book) are knitted at a fingering gauge of 7 sts/inch on a #2 needle. and, a ladies socken only takes one hank ! at $5.95/hank, that's an affordable socken, though hand-waschen.

monkey see ...

... monkey do ....


for awhile now, i've read how knitting cookie's monkey socks is quite satisfying. this pattern is the next best thing to a totally mindless stockinette st. sock. with little effort, the results seem quite complex.


this yarn has marinated in the stash for a number of years ... it's brown sheep's wildfoote handpainted in brown sugar (and susan bates 1 dpns) .

so, in short, i am in process of making yet another orphan. and you know what? i don't care! for some reason, i create rules for myself. and then i let them stress me. why do i torture myself ?!

so, here's the new rule ... knit as many (different) socks as i like. it's practically summer, and i won't be wearing socks again until october or november. take good notes regarding which needles were used (that's what the blog and flickr are for). knit the mates when i feel like it. by then, it will have been so long that it will be like knitting it for the first time. right?

red socken

i've created yet another orphan. i could be good and cast on for the mate tonight, but i'm kinda itching to knit something different. something else nancy bush. maybe.


i only had one modification to the pattern, ... i changed the toe to a round toe. the round toe has been my latest love. oh, and i did knit this via the single circular method.

all about the sockens ....

during the long holiday weekend, last weekend ..., i got a fair amount of knitting done. first up, a sock that was started months ago! just about every sock i knit has a stall point. sometimes it's just deciding on a pattern, or gauge, but most often ... it's the toe.

"have i knitted enough? will it be too long, too short? what if ...."
i have a lot of toe anxiety. but, with this sock, there aren't too many choices ... only two choices, as to when to begin the toe. that wasn't really the problem ('cause i'm on a tangent). the problem was, i made a mistake somewhere. so i had to rip. did i rip immediately? gosh no ! i think i waited months. but, once i did rip, i finished in a jiffy.

oh, this is the embossed leaves sock knitted with black liisu sock yarn, a fingering wool & mohair blend. the yarn did color my hands. also, the mohair blooms upon knitting. the photo does not give the pattern justice though ... here' s a detail shot.


also, last weekend ... i visited a couple of yarn stores in charlotte. mom picked me up at the train station friday morning, and we sat for awhile in the parking lot, keying in the gps locations of charlotte yarn and baskets of yarn. the yarn above, trekking 05, was purchased at the first stop, charlotte yarn. i got another colorway of trekking there as well. i love trekking ! i was also fortunate to find some size zero dpns there, as my other set is misplaced. so, i have one sock knitted thus far, and plan on starting the mate within the next month.

i must add, i give thanks to cristi for giving me the inside scoop on charlotte LYS's. thanks cristi!!!


yay ! finished socks !!!


yay ! fresh socks !

of course, i started some fresh sockens (disclaimer: i am NOT the most monogamous sock knitter in the world). this yarn was purchased at the second venue of the day. i'm always on the hunt for some good solids. this is sockotta, a cotton/wool/nylon blend. i am knitting the child's first socks from nancy bush's _knitting vintage socks_ book. i charted the pattern as i'm not a big fan of reading line by line instructions. i am ready for the heel. yay!