no orphans

no orphans should be my motto. i have been better about finishing pairs in the last year or so. but, this one is still unfinished (from october).


after i finished my blender socks, i decided i need to finish this pair. my motivation is not to finish the socks, but to "free" the needles. i need the needles for another pair.

confession time: so, i did get as far as this photo, then moved the sock to dpns, so i could start another toe up "spice man" sock.

anyways, this yarn was purchased at SAFF back in october. i did cast on that day ... and then a few days later, it was november. in november, i cast on another yarnissima pattern for ska ... firestarter.

and, both are still unfinished!

... and the beat goes ... ON

another pair?! why yes!


i have finished my socks for december ... finally =)

it's amazing how quickly they knitted up, compared to the wintermint socks.

the differences ... these are all stockinette, 64 sts. vs 72, and 2 yarns at a time, vs. 3.

i used leftovers with similar characteristics: wool/nylon, 4ply, commercial. they all knit at the same gauge and have the same wash instructions.

though, i did run out of the purple. a fellow raveler sent me her leftovers so i could finish mine! that's pretty awesome.

right now, these are my favorite socks. i love the bright colors, the "blending", and their uniqueness.

the pattern is called "blender socks" and the intructions for the blending can be found here ....

slacker ? ... not !

i actually finished these socks in record time! ... well, record time for someone that doesn't have much knitting time.


i am a bit addicted to knitting with kroy right now. and the sad thing is, i'm out of kroy !!!

and i'm heading out of town tomorrow, and don't have time to "re-supply" before leaving. whimper. and i don't think my destination will have any colorways i'm interested in.

in the meantime, i will likely go stash diving and find something else that yields colorful results with plain stockinette.

and, to make up for being a slacker .....

after i finished my wintermint biscotti socks, i cast on these. i loved my other kroy socks so much, and i wasn't ready to cast on anything that took more effort than basic stockinette socks (with only 1 yarn!).

i found this kroy jacquard at the local michael's craft store. it was on sale, which makes inexpensive even sweeter.

again, like my other kroy socks, it's basic ... 56 stitches on size 2 needles. i'm on the foot of sock #2.


again, i'm loving the stripes and bright colors. this colorway is called "fern rose jacquard". the funny thing being, there's only a blip of jacquard every 3.5" or so.

again, they are very satisfying to knit. i love inexpensive yarns that are also hard wearing. these are the kinds of socks i reach for over and over again, from the drawers.

yesterday, i worked some overtime ... and was out in the vicinity of a lys i don't often get to visit (well, it's about a 40+ minute drive away from home, the lys).
but, because i had to work on my day off (overtime, time plus time & 1/2 !!!), i felt a bit "rich" and decided to treat myself to some yarn i totally did not need.


i got a hank of this beautiful Unplanned Peacock Studio sock yarn. i was trying to link it on ravelry to my stash, but could not find the correct yarn. i emailed the dyer, and she responded swiftly stating that i do indeed have the 'peacock sock' yarn, but my hank is the old put up, and does have 500 yards (as opposed to the current 462 yards). so, yay! "bonus" as she puts it =)

anyways, the colorway is called 'purple martin', but of course, i messed that up, and told her i had purple martian. yes. MARTIAN. hmmm ....

also in the photo is my new sock knitting bag, in PINK. i thought i had one already. i could swear i had one. and i can also say it's been missing. though, that can't be if i never had one.

i checked my flickr pages with tags such as bag, bags, knowknits, noknits, pouch, etc. no hits with the color pink.

so, now i have one in pink. and, i also bought (not pictured) some kollage yarns square dpns. i just want to try them out. and again, i felt "rich".

and i finished knitting them!

i was talking with a friend this morning, and she kindly reminded me i hadn't updated my blog since the 10th. whoops!


(i still haven't woven in some of the ends) i had to break and rejoin the yarn before and after the heel construction. plus, i haven't woven in the end up at the cuff from my cast on, i just tucked it inside to take pictures =)

these socks are for january's challenge on SKA (ravelry link). lots of members are knitting this cranberry biscotti pattern right now ... it's such a great pattern for using up leftovers or if you have random single skeins of yarn.

and it doesn't take much ... i used 42 grams of the gray, 22 grams of green, and 22 grams of white, AND, i knitted the leg an extra repeat of 30 rows.

i'd like to say i'd knit this pattern again, and maybe i will someday. it's certainly inspiring to see all the different color combinations on ravelry ....




this picture i'm including because some members had asked about the color changes and weaving in ends. well, you don't have to break the yarn when changing colors ... you just carry it up when it's needed. another member would also catch these floats periodically so the loops weren't so big. i didn't. hey, the loops are only about 5/8" long, and they're vertical, and they will probably felt in a bit anyways.

the only thing i did not like about knitting these socks was having 3 balls of yarn attached while knitting. i would get a bit tangled sometimes. i did devised a way to not get overly tangled. the knitting was slow. but, the results are very nice.

i look forward to wearing them and seeing how well they hold up.

what i am knitting now

for january's challenge on SKA, one of the options is to use the technique of slip stitches or mosaic knitting. i chose the slip stitches, as i've been admiring this pattern "cranberry biscotti" for awhile. though my colors are not very bright, i am liking the combination very much.


i'm using some stash yarns, some as far back as 2005. when knitpicks first introduced the palette line, they offered to sell ALL the colors in a box as a sampler. back then, that was all 30 colors.

i did get the box, and i used it here and there for little projects, like bugs.


and i liked the yarn very much. over the years, they have expanded the yarn, and it now comes in 100 colors, including heathered shades.

the white and green here are from my original purchase in 2005, and the gray is one of the heathered shades introduced later. i had purchased a few balls of the gray to knit a shawl for a friend.



(that's a close up of swallowtail with beading)

and i do have enough colors that maybe this will be the year to knit a vest in fairisle?

but, back to the socks.


the technique allows to only knit with one color at a time, but it's a bit slower on this pattern because when you're slipping the stitch, you're slipping it with the yarn infront (so, for me, it's about as slow as knitting 1x1 ribbing).

i'm thinking this pair will also be my "test" to see if i want to ever knit socks in this yarn again. it's 100% wool, a simple 2 ply, and doesn't have a very tight twist. i know they will be handwash, but i'll be curious to see how well they hold up in general. i'll try to keep a "sock diary" in my project page over on ravelry, each time i wear them once finished.

bright and cheerful!

today is a rather bleak day, much like the day i bought this yarn to knit a pair of mindless socks.

i'm a big fan of Kroy sock yarn. i like that i can find it in most craft stores, i can usually purchase it with a coupon if it's not already discounted, it's bit thicker than other fingering weight yarns, so i don't have to cast on as many stitches, and it's very hard wearing. and, it comes in this fabulous striping sequence called "sailor stripes"!

for mindless socks, i just do a 2x2 ribbing, stockinette sock with a heelflap, very a la nancy bush from _folk socks_. because the yarn is thicker, i knitted 56 stitches on a 2.75mm needle (magic loop).

and, because the yarn IS thicker, the yardage is shorter ... so i ended up using 84% of my yarn. the leftovers go into a ziplock with other sock leftovers. and i do have quite a bit of leftovers from kroy, as i've probably knitted 7 pairs of socks with kroy by now.

ps. if you notice the striping sequence is different, one sock was knitted with the yarn pulled from the outside, and the mate knitted with the yarn pulled from the center.

happy new year!

i haven't even started thinking about my knitting resolutions for the new year. i'd like to say i could go a whole year without buying yarn. but, i cannot. i have enough yarn that i don't need to buy more, but, that's not the point.

instead, i'm doing pretty good at using my leftovers .....


this sock is part of the december challenge of SKA on ravelry. there was an option to knit socks using the technique of the month, and the technique is to use leftovers (which, does not mean, use up little bits of fresh balls of yarn).

my leftovers include bits of regia, brown sheep wildfoote, opal, and the lionbrand sock yarn.


(and looking at the picture now, there are some yarns not pictured, as i made some changes along the way).

but, you get the idea. i finished the first sock last night, and cast on the second. for the second, i'm going to do something different. instead of using the blender pattern, i'm going for the stashbuster spirals 'technique'. i want to see what happens with the colors as they layer in a spiral. it's fun. and, i get to use up leftovers (which i have a ton of). and, putting these yarns together is the closest transition i'll get w/o making my own handspun.