sometimes ....

i go into a frenzy of casting on, and oversaturate myself with patterns and ideas. of course, this is how i end up with orphan sockens. i have been good so far this year with knitting mates though.


i kinda got into this cookie thing. i have her new book. i've knitted a couple of the designs. i knitted an orphan pomatomus a couple years ago ... not to mention all my monkey socks (i've knit that pattern 5 times now!). and my newest is marlene, from Knit1's fall/winter 2008 issue.

i'm enjoying marlene. like pomatomus, she's full of twisted 1x1 ribs. she's very stretchy. and the yarn is great too ... i bought this dream in color smooshy at SAFF in 2007. i had heard about smooshy via blogs and podcasts, but had never seen it in person. when i found it, there were only a few color choices, but this cocoa kiss is lovely. it's mostly gray with kisses of chocolate.

i got so carried away knitting her yesterday that i think i knitted one repeat too many on the foot. i will have to reevaluate tomorrow, in the light of day.

all done!

i finished these last night. i was eager to get them off the needles so i don't feel any guilt when i cast on for something new (which ... i already did).

and, i got some fresh socken yarn!


zauberball in grashalm


very very soft sockina cotton


and very very pretty malabrigo sock in 'archangel'

i'm thinking the sockina will get played with first as i don't have a mindless project right now. the zauberball might not even end up as socks, but perhaps a scarf or triangular shawl. and the malabrigo? ... it might end up as something from _sock innovation_.

i have been doing very good knitting from stash lately, and knitting up the new stuff quickly. but, if i were to be locked in my house for X years, i still wouldn't have to worry about running out of sock yarn. it's nice!

specs for socken above:

yarn: all things heather merino tencel
pattern: angee from _sock innovation_
needles: 2.25mm clover dpns
mods: none, except knitting a few plain rounds before toe decreases

angee

so, the love affair with _sock innovation_ is still on. i have just finished the first socken, and am partway through the first repeat of the leg chart of socken #2.


and this one is coming out lovely! i am most impressed with the yarn ... it's all things heather merino tencel sock in colorway flushed. personally, i'd call it watermelon.

the yarn has no "give". it's like knitting with cotton, silk, or bamboo. but, like any of those fibers, it has a great sheen or lustre. there's no wooly fuzz or halo to mention.

i had a gift certificate for the loopy ewe awhile back. it took me forever to decide what to get from their amazing stock. it took me so long that my gc expired. i contacted sheri at the loopy ewe and she extended my expiration date ... talk about great customer service !

anyhoo ... i wish i had more of this yarn in my stash. i'm especially fond of the semi-solids.

the pattern! i chose this pattern (next) because it seemed very simple. it is simple ... just knits & purls, k2tog's & ssk's, and some yo's. simple. i even checked out the errata before starting and made the one correction on my chart. but, there was another mistake that i had the misfortune of repeating all through my leg.

so, if you haven't started yet ... on rounds 2 and 24 of the leg chart, change your k2tog's to ssk's. (as of today, IK hasn't updated the errata)

i'm going to finish this sock soon (as in, this week). and i'll probably cast on something new (maybe from this book). and i still have a basket full of orphans. oh well ......

sock innovation

this seems to be my favorite book at the moment. each sock design is beautiful, and most are challenging.

i certainly was challenged with this one ...






it's kai-mei. often times when i pick up a book or magazine, i flip through from back to front. so, this was the first sock i saw. before i even saw the other designs, i knew i wanted to knit it.

what made it so appealing? ... having the "meat" of the project on the foot ... the place where i get kinda bored and slow down in my sock knitting (mind you, i primarily knit top down).

the challenge was understanding the instructions. i don't think the marker placement is correct for setting up the lace panel. but, i couldn't find any errata regarding that. so, i just did what i thought looked best. the instructions got kinda muddy towards the end as well (setting up for the toe decreases). again, i did what i thought was correct (i set up the decreases based on the beginning of round marker, centered on the bottom of the foot).

the yarn (cascade heritage) was very nice to knit with. i have another hank in stash (yay!). i haven't worn these yet because i'm not so sure what shoes would show them off best. perhaps i should had knitted tabi toes?

well, the honeymoon isn't over yet, as i've cast on another sock from the book, angee...


i'd say angee is one of the more simple socks in the book. the design looks like faux cables or braids, but it's just a combination of yo's, k2tog's and ssk's, otherwise ... it's all knits & purls. basic.

and a basic design like that calls for a nice smooth yarn ... all things heather merino tencel. the yarn itself doesn't have any "boing", but the overall ribbed pattern makes the fabric hug nicely.

both socks knitted with 2.25mm clover dpns

kai-mei

i got this book the other day. the first couple of days were spent reading and admiring all the beautiful patterns. then, i was ready to cast on!


i chose kai-mei from interweave's new sock innovation cookie a. book. what i've enjoyed about this sock is the mindless knitting of the leg portion, with all the "fun" in the foot.

but, the foot was not as much "fun" as i thought it would be. i found the directions a little confusing, and had a few false starts getting the pattern established. it's not the lace that's difficult, it's the instructions on marker placement primarily. it just didn't make complete sense to me, so i went with what looked right to me.


the pattern got confusing again towards the toe. i wasn't sure what the instructions meant by "when panel and left markers are separated by only 1 st" ... because the panel proper is flanked by two knit stitches, so it will never get to within 1 stitch of the left marker. again, i just went with what looked okay.

.
once deciding where the toe should be (i essentially centered it based on the center bottom of foot), i started the decreases. but now that it's finished, i think i need to rip back and knit about 1/2" of plain rounds before the toe shaping. i need a bit more wiggle room.

so, it's a very very pretty sock! the next challenge will be knitting the mate. as with all first printings, there's quite a bit of errata... so be sure to do your homework before starting any design from this book. i am eager to get this pair finished so i can try out another pattern.

ps. the yarn is cascade heritage in col. 5603 and the needles are clover bamboo 2.25mm dpns. i had kinda forgotten how much i enjoy knitting with bamboo ....

girl gansey socks

it's funny how i forget to post some things here. i think it's because i have already posted the pictures and information elsewhere (ie: flickr and ravelry) that i forget to share it here as well.


yay for finished socks! i wore these yesterday, and i finished them two days ago.
i'm calling them my girl gansey socks, but anne hanson (the designer) calls them the lighthouse gansey socks. the pattern is sized for a man. i am a tighter knitter than anne, so 64 sts on 2.25mm fits me quite well.

yesterday was dark and stormy, the perfect day for wearing these socks.

the yarn is regia's 4-ply color

public service announcement

chocolate and crochet do not mix. i picked up the latest issue of interweave crochet today. in the checkout line i also grabbed a lindor ball (the dark chocolate variety). the cashier put both into my bag.

i forgot the chocolate was in the bag ....


let's just say that when i got home, i had to wipe every page with a dishcloth. did you know that chocolate removes the ink from the pages? thank goodness it was just the one corner ... and i did not lose any instructions =)

though chocolate is an ink remover, i'm still gonna eat that lindor ball!

these are for me

my midnight sockens are done! they were actually finished the other day .... i'm glad i took pictures then, because it's been nothing by gray skies and rain the lace (boy! what a knitterly slip up!) last couple of days.

i think the pattern (blackrose) is quite beautiful, but i doubt i'll ever knit it again .... the gusset took forever and i never memorized the lace pattern.

the yarn ... so pretty! it's araucania's ranco (semi)solid in 120 midnight. the color is darker than pictured. i picked up this yarn in the winter when i visited a strand of purls in hickory, nc. I-40 pretty much runs through hickory ... so, if you're in the area, it's definitely worth a visit.