Monday, March 31, 2008

My last socks


Well, the last ones for Southern Summer of Socks, that is. They just made it in. I finished them about four hours ago.

These are my Dublin Bay socks from Mossy Cottage. I loved them. The little lace panel down each side is so delightful. Next time, I would make these longer, especially as I ended up with quite a bit of yarn left.

The yarn is Vesper, from Knitterly Things. I just love the colours and it knits up beautifully.

I made them on 2.5mm DPNs (well the first one), the second one I did magic loop and I proved a theory I'd been carrying around for a while - that my tension is different on magic loop and DPNs. It's tighter.

I'll get to my list of achievements and disappointments and my tally some time this week. How is everyone else's SSoS wrap up going?

Bells

Have enjoyed this immensely and thank you

Thank you Bells and RoseRed for such a fun summer.

My goal was to get over my fear of dpns and actually knit a sock, just one sock. I wasn't aiming high, just wanted to knit my first pair of socks. With much encouragement from Bells I knitted a little training sock, and then I was off and running.

I ended up knitting 6 (and a half but you haven't seen those, they're about to come off the needles) pairs. All on dpns.

And now I'm hooked, well and truly (I say this just after I've opened a package of 3 balls of sock wool that got delivered in the mail today, LOL).

I hope this blog stays up though, I think I'd like to keep coming back to it to view for inspiration over the winter. And please please please, lets do it all again next summer ...... unless there'll be a winter knitalong??????

Thank you once again.

It's So Sad .......

.... that this KAL has ended. I really enjoyed knitting along & managed to finish 11 pairs. I was hoping to cast off the 12th pair, so that I have a dozen but didn't make it. Anyway, here's an update of the goals that I set & what I have achieved ....


  • Fair Isle Socks - Snowflakes Socks (IK, Spring 07) - not done

  • One of the popular designs in Fav Socks - Embossed Leaves Socks - done

  • A new sock knitting technique - Back to Basic Socks (knitty.com Fall 07) - done

  • One of the designs from Cat Bordhi's new book - done

  • One of the designs from a Nancy Bush's book - not done

  • My favorite design & yarn from Pick Up Sticks Sock Club - Twin Braids - not done

  • Join the Firestarter KAL & knit the Firestarter - not done

  • One of Wendy's new designs (on sale at the Loopy Ewe) - done

  • My own design - done
.... I was only able to achieve half of my goals but I am still happy with what I have done & in fact much more as I digress from my original goals to other patterns like the Crazy Monkey, Roza's Socks & 2 pairs for Can Assist.
Thank you Rose Red & Bells for organising this great KAL - it will not be possible without the 2 of you !
My only wish now - can we carry on this KAL & maybe called it The Southern Winter of Socks ?

Ann http://www.1morerow.blogspot.com/



Finished

Well, it's all over tomorrow. It's been great fun knitting socks with all of you.

I don't know how the tallying and entries will work yet, but I've finished my final pair and I've posted a blog entry with all the pairs I've made this "summer" (winter for me in the U.S.)

Come on over to see my twenty pairs:

http://craftycarolyn.livejournal.com/

Before this contest/KAL I had only knit 1 pair, so I'm pleased with my all I learned.

A final update on my goals

Last time I checked in, I'd completed three of my four goals: I'd finished more than three matching pairs of socks, I'd tried knitting toe-up, and I'd knit some socks for other people.

The goal I had not yet started was to try a pattern more complicated than stockinette or ribbing. And since I didn't mention anything about completing a pair of more complicated socks, I'm going to consider this goal complete as well, even though I don't expect the socks to be finished tomorrow.

I did indeed try knitting Monkeys (with Knit Picks Sock Memories "Easter," which seemed appropriate for this time of year). I'm enjoying it, but because I'm taking six classes and it's the end-of-term crunch I've only just managed to start the second sock. I'm hoping to have a pair to reward myself with once exams are done - that gives me about three weeks to finish.

It's been fun seeing people's projects over the past few months.

Nicole

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Final Pair

I've just managed to get this final pair of socks done in time!

These are for my 19 year old son, who loves handmade socks!


The pattern is Globe Trotter found here and I used Heirloom Jigsaw yarn.

I have had lots of fun being involved with the Southern Summer of Socks club.

Jo from Jo Knits & Stuff

My last pair for SSS

Just squeezing under the wire, here is my very last pair for SSS!


Nice simple stockinette, made from Garndstudio Fabel. More details yonder on t'blog.

This has been a blast of a socky summer! It's been great seeing everyone's socks, and I've been put onto a few good patterns and interesting pattern/yarn combinations. Thank you, organisers!

the final pair

i have not stopped making socks, i have another pair still on the needles and at least four more planned, but i think these will be my final finished object for the SSoS. its appropriate that it should be these, as i first started them a long time ago and had to put them away because they were too hard to concentrate on with a head full of other stuff. once that was cleared though, these were very easy, and i think they are my favourites so far this summer:

pattern: fancy silk sock for a child from knitting vintage socks
yarn: happy spider made-to-order in 'sugarmelon'
needles: 2.75mm harmony dpns (one size larger than the pattern)

no other modifications. the lace cuff is a little tight on the calf as it has no stretch in it, but i think they are delicious!

kms xx

Friday, March 28, 2008

My mix tape


Thursday, March 27, 2008

Have we started yet?

I have been a poor excuse for a participant in SSoS , Im afraid (although an expert lurker, and with you in spirit) but FINALLY, I have a finished pair of socks to blog!

Please, don't faint from surprise.


The photo is awful Im afraid, and the socks have already been gifted. Not that you can tell, but they are Embossed Leaves from 25 Favorite Socks.

All the details are on my blog here.

Think I may need a cuppa and a good lie down after that effort!

Monday, March 24, 2008

My final socks for SSS

It's been a while since my last post so I have a few pics to share. I now have 5 more pairs of socks than I had when I started and my personal challenge of knitting at least one pair of toe up socks has been met. My work here is done and SSS is nearly over in any event. It was great fun and I thank the organisers for their work.

The first pair are One Skein Sockettes. The yarn is Grignasco Big Prints. Not the nicest of yarns but very colourful. I used one 50g ball for these and had just a little left over. These were finished in the first week of February.


The second pair are River Rapids Socks. The yarn is 4-ply Merino Cashmere (Chocolate) from The Knittery. While the yarn was very soft and yummy to work with I didn't really enjoy knitting with it. My feet will enjoy them though.


The third pair were Fingering Weight Toe-Up Socks with Gusset Heel. I rather enjoyed the process of knitting from the bottom up but found it a little strange particularly at the gusset but they've turned out quite well. The yarn is Sullivans Sock Yarn. Again, not the best but for my first toe ups I thought it was a reasonable choice and I am quite pleased with them.


I shall continue to knit more socks throughout this year but for now I am done!

Pair Number 6

This is my sixth pair and I thought it was high time I attempted the famous monkeys. And I did it !!!! I'm so proud.

It's knitted in Berrybliss colour of The Knittery yarn. And after watching the video a zillion times (maybe slight exaggeration) I finally mastered the long tail cast on, I think that's what it's called. It's made the top way more giving and a lot more neater and actually where my needles joined worked really well too.


Question if I may

And a silly question at that. But I do believe my socks are nearly good enough to give as gifts now. When you give your socks as gifts, I'm just wondering what presentation ideas you use, if any? (see warned you it was a silly question!) Do you just wrap them as is? Or do you have a neat way to present them, maybe with a label or in a bag or what do you do?

I'm so proud of them (having never knitted socks ever before this knitalong came up, actually never mastering dpns either) and I almost feel they deserve a bit of a fanfare, ROFL (in my mind anyway!!) so I didn't just want to wrap them in gift paper. Hence my question.

My blog is Pins&Needles.

A month's worth of socks

I've been busy and haven't posted for a while, but I have quite a few FOs!

Rosy Toes: I'll be donating these to CanAssist, as the colours (while beautiful) have a little too much hot pink for me. They're made from Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome in 'Old Rose' and a simple garter rib.


Coconut Ice. These are made from Toftsies in 'Lightfoot' colourway, in Twin Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks.

Spotty Cactus; Austermann Step, plain stockinette on 2.25mm.



Indira: made from Schaefer Anne in the 'Indira Ghandi' colourway, plain stockinette on 2mm needles. I really love the way this yarn knits up, although it's too hot for summer!

These were all done toe-up with a heel flap. Bigger pics on my blog: Vanessarama

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

happy sock yarn dance

i took this picture:

and because you liked it, i got this:

knittery merino cashmere in 'moses fire'. what a great name. what a gorgeous yarn. i am sooo lucky!

me and my peeps say thank you to the knittery for the lovely donation and to bells and rosered for organising and to you all for voting!

kms xxx

My 11th Pair!

Pattern : Roza's Socks, IK Spring 2007
Yarn : Zen Garden, merino/seacell in the Wisteria colorway
Needles : 2.5mm Harmony dpns

The socks feel so comfortable on my feet that I didn't want to take them off despite today's temperature of 33C. Anyway, these socks are for CanAssist patients & now that I have finished the 2 pairs of socks, I can send them off !

Read more on my blog....



Monday, March 17, 2008

More socks

I haven't posted in a while. I've been quite busy doing other things (like knitting my Easter Show project) and my computer access at work has been limited.

However, I have almost kept most of my goals for SSS.

- Knit my first pair of socks - Done!
- Knit one pair of socks a month (between October and March) - so far so good (kinda)
- Knit one pair of Earl Grey socks - Done (see below - two pairs)
- Knit one sock for my keyring sockblocker.

November socks

Clem's chocolate socks

I knit these socks for fiance, Clem, for Christmas. They're Earl Grey socks, made from Merino Cashmere 4ply in the Chocolate colourway from The Knittery.

December socks

Dad's Earl Grey socks

These were my dad's Christmas socks. They're also using the Earl Grey pattern (again) and knit in Ranco. Unfortunately, I ran short of yarn by a couple of metres and so had to use some of the leftover chocolate yarn to fill in the toes (which will luckily be hidden inside shoes).

January socks

Chocolate raspberry tart leftover socks

These are my chocolate raspberry tart leftover socks, using up some of the left over yarn from my October and November socks. I could have made them longer or used only one colour though, as I had more yarn than I thought. Still they were quick to knit, and my first attempt at short row heals, and finally worked out how to pick up wrapped stitches =)

February socks

Bec's socks

These are socks for my friend, Bec. They're just plain 3x1 rib socks in Ranco. Techinically they were mainly knit in March, but if I managed to finish another pair by the end of March, then I think it still counts.

I can't believe I only knit my first pair of socks in October. Thanks for all your encouragement, inspiration and support. It's been wonderful.

Anna (Knit1 Purl1)

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Challenge? What Challenge?

Way back at the start of summer, I posted my own personal challenge. I hang my head in shame and refuse to link back to that original challenge. However, I note that Bells and RoseRed have extended summer (perhaps in honour of this unseasonally hot weather?) and I therefore proffer my fairly paltry efforts.

One pair of Waving Lace Socks in Koigu (started before summer began, so not strictly within the rules.)One pair of plain old stocking stitch in glorious Tofutsies that the lovely rhonrhon brought back all the way from the States for me (started and finished during summer).
And the Yarn Harlot's Earl Greys in Lorna's Laces pinstripe colourway, which would show up the tiny cables down the side, if only I hadn't used self-striping yarn (just finished this week).

On second thoughts, for someone who's not all that good at FOs, I think this is an OK effort.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Bed Socks for Lynn

Bed Socks
These were a very quick project I started a few weeks ago for my friend Amy's Mom Lynn, who's in the hospital right now. I thought they might be nice to keep her toes warm! The pattern is called "Bed Socks in Lemon Pattern Fancy Knit Stripe" from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks. The yarn is Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn, and I actually had quite a bit left over. I knitted them two-at-a-time on two 2.75mm circular needles. The pattern is well-written, and my only complaint is all the bloody k3togs. I hope Lynn likes them! (The quick nature of these means I'm actually ahead of my one-pair-per-month schedule.)

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Snowflake Socks

My very first attempt at fair-isle/stranded work:

Pattern: Snowflake Socks by Chrissy Gardiner from Interweave Knits Fall 2007
Yarn: Cleckheaton Machinewash 5-ply in blue and white.
Verdict: Lots of fun to knit, and much easier then it looks!

Monday, March 10, 2008

after a bit of a lapse...

here's my latest contribution:


Gift socks, using generously gifted yarn.

More over at my blog.

now working on the CanAssist pair...

Spiral Boot Socks

My new year's resolution at the beginning of this year was to knit one sock per month until the end of October - the end result being a pair of socks for each member of my family for Christmas. So far, I've been doing pretty well at this. Here I present my socks for January and February:

The pattern is Spiral Boot Socks from Interweave Summer 2007, and the yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock Solid (try saying that after three beers!) in grape. At Christmas they will be gifted to my sister. There are more detailed adventures of the creation process on my blog.

Shadowlee.

My first socks too!

I too am only just now getting around to posting my first pair. Slack, I know. These are a pair I cast-on right back when sign-ups started, especially for the KAL too. I had hoped that by joining I would be able to avoid most of the effects of the dreaded second sock syndrome (ha, I hear chuckles in the audience already). It was also in order to beat 2ndSS that I decided to disallow myself from posting here until AFTER I had finished my first pair. Oh yeah! Big mistake. The 1st pair fairly flew off the needles and I was diligent in beginning the 2nd. I thought all was going well, and it was for a while. But yes of course I hit that slump, as we sometimes do, though not until I was over half way done with sock number 2. Odd right? I mean surely I could see the light at the end of the tunnel by then? I was on the home stretch. Oh well, I think that I had just finally become bored with the yarn and pattern chosen. Actually, I should have known better. I've taken note of that and plan on making my next pair in either cables or lace in a very yummy yarn that won't be put down. After I finish up a quicky pair of bed socks in DK to get my mojo back, that is.

Yup, that is them up there. Pretty plain I know, but as they are only the second pair I have ever made for myself, I decided to keep it simple. I tried out a new toe and heel on these, the other reason I kept it simple. They were knit up from a rectangular toe, with a forethought-afterthought heel. Big thanks to SpinWeaveKnit for that suggestion, it will be a versatile addition to my repertoire. The yarn is Four Seasons Hotsocks I had overdyed with pink, it needed livening up, a lot.

Next for me, is the aforementioned bed socks in dk, so far they have been knitted to just before the heel. But this time I am working 2 at a time on one circular, though I did start with a rectangular toe again. These will likely have a short-row heel, as they will not need to stand up to much punishment. After I finish those, I will be back on to some experimental sock-ette thingys I have been dabbling with. They are something I need to wear with heels, a little something to pad under the ball of my foot some and to protect the part of the foot just above the tops of my toes. I tell you all this, because I hope it will mean I actually have to do it :-) Clearly keeping myself from posting until I was done, was a bad tactic, so now I am employing another.

*edited to add blog linky* Opps! I seem to remember reading waaay back that we ought to link to our blog at the end of a post. Makes sense, if you went looking for mine on the right, you likely would not have found it. It is Stitches Anomalous, so there you go.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

First First Sock

I lost my sock knitting mojo soon after I joined Southern Summer of Socks so this is my first post!

This is the first Child's First Sock from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks. Cuff down with a shell lace pattern, padded heel and kitchener toe.

Child's First Sock in Bowl

Yarn is Dale Garn's Baby Ull which I got for 100kr (about AUD$2) a ball in Oslo. Knitted on 2.5mm bamboo DPNs. More pics here.

Sweet.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Oops, I Almost Forgot

I finished these socks about two weeks ago and nearly forgot to post about them!


The pattern was found while net-surfing, it is available here. The yarn I used is Lorna's Laces in Rainbow.

These socks were a real drama.... they had been reknit three separate times into three different patterns. The whole saga is here on my blog.... if anyone is interested!

Jo

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Socks on Holiday Winners!

Congratulations to our tied winners, KMS and Rosie!

We had some fabulous entries and were delighted to see such creativity for the Socks on Holiday contest.

Both our winners will win a skein of merino sock yarn from The Knittery, kindly donated by Daphne.

Winners, please email us with your postal address.

Stay tuned for the next contest that RoseRed and I have planned.

It's also worth noting that there's only the remainder of March left fo SSoS! How it's flown by! Get ready to tally up at the end of the month and see who has made the most socks.

Also, the Can Assist project continues. Leave a comment to let us know if you think you will have some socks ready in the next month or so.

Bells
& Rose Red.