Monkey Magic

Another F.O.

Monkey by Cookie A. - 2.5mm needles and Koigu yarn which was a present in my first ever swap. It has been a while coming but finally I did knit it up ( I did just check the date of the swap and it was only last year so I don't feel so bad now).

I have taken a photo of both sides of the sock to show the pink and the green pooling at the foot - just after the heel pretty neat. It was fun to go back to the traditional sock top down, normal heel with no special stitch, and the classic decreased toe. No matter how many times I Kitchener stitch I still have to refer back to the book for the instructions.

do these count?

I suddenly decided I was going to make tiny Christmas stockings. Some of these are destined for son, DIL and her mother and one fro me. I think they will hang on out door knobs late on Christmas Eve after Santa has called. There is definitely a Santa, as he handed in my lost mobile before I even realised I had bumped it out of my pocket at Hornsby shops as I re-arranged two shopping bags of heavy books. So I'm sure he'll call here, particularly after my effusive thanks to him outside KMart as I retrieved my phone the next day! LOL. Some will go to grandchildren and I'm thinking of putting Lindt balls in another for my mum. She's now in a nursing home and feeling the transition badly, along with missing her former relative degree of independence. She needs nothing, but we all need good chocolate. Right?

I still have a couple more to make, but they are very quick. It takes almost as long to sew the back seam as to knit the sock. There are only twenty or so rows in teh whole thing. The pattern can be found on Jean Greengowe's site under free patterns. There's a snowman there too and some other small bits and pieces.

I was in Turramurra Drapery the other day and saw the dark green wool. Unfortunately, the colour is just too dark to show well in the photo. It's deep bottle green from NZ and some proceeds of the sale go to research to children's cancer. The red is a Cleckheaton Easycare 8 ply. The white is some scraps from a long ago knit. I used 4 mm needles, bigger than pattern suggested. My thanks to the lady who served me as she pointed out their stock and made pleasant helpful suggestions without being pushy. I am turned off by pushy salespeople and will often not buy anything if I am pushed. She was lovely.

pass the slipped stitch over

Three socks down, several more to go

At last I have some progress to share. I've finished my first pair and the first of a pair and also have the starts to two other pairs.

The first pair is a pair of Patonyle socks which I've called Plain Rib because the pattern consists of a couple of rows of knit and a couple of rows of rib. Very simple and easy to remember.


The next sock is knitted with Wollmeise and is a free pattern available at The Loopy Ewe.


Now that the first pair is done, I am allowing myself another start which should be when I get to try Magic Loop as part of my challenge.

Read and see more at my blog.

Finally finished my first pair

Unfortunately (or fortunately) however you look at it, my scrapbooking has overtaken my sock knitting at the current time.


I love this pair though which I have just not long finished. The pattern is Spring Forward from Knitty, knitted on 2.75 needles. The pattern, although it looks complex, is really easy and I think has surpassed monkeys as my newest favourite pattern. The yarn is The Knittery Chubby in Merlot, given to me by a friend of mine with the express instruction that whatever socks I make with it, they must be for me. So they are dear Tanya, and I love them!





Now I'm working on a pair with Jitterbug yarn, OMG it's knitting up so fast. Expect another post soon enough! LOL


My blog is pins & needles.

Won't lose these socks

I don't think I actually signed onto the SSoS for this year, but I have finished a pair of socks. This is my first proper pair, I had tried another pair in the past using the magic loop baby sock pattern from the book. With this pair, I managed not to have ladders, and they even look pretty good. I need to practice my kitchener stitch though, I am not happy with it, but other people (not knitters) can't see the problem with it.
Pattern: North Country Cotton Socks
Yarn: Wendy Classics Courtelle Double Knitting
Needles: Knitpicks Options 3.75mm
Method: magic loop, cuff down
For: I don't know yet, but I think with all the pink they need to be for a girl. I made these to match the hat from the same yarn.
I am now working on the class sock from Sensational Knitted Socks, and will try one of the other patterns. I am hoping to do a pair top down, and a pair made from the toe up. Maybe. I won't say it is a goal, cos I won't manage to do it. But I will try to do it.
Seeya
Trudi
http://thecatrules.blogspot.com/

My second socks and new technique!

My first every pair of knitted socks are still sitting in a plastic box under my bed from nearly a year ago. I realised half way through the second sock that I suck at using double pins (or maybe my crappy bamboo ones just don't cut it). The UFO didn't stop me from starting my second pair! I have recently bought myself a Knitpicks Harmony set, a Knitpicks options set and a whole heap of small gauge circulars. They have totally made my knitting obsession worse.
One of my Southern Summer of Socks goals was to learn have to make 2 socks at once on circular needles, I have the book knitting circles around socks by Antje Gillingham. So I grabbed my book, my stash of needles and my new waratah fibers sock yarn and started.
I am really enjoying this technique, I find it much easier than the double pins and the socks are looking pretty neat with no ladders at the joins!

Yay for learning new things :)

P.S These are Monkeys

one lonely scroll sock

I usually save sock knitting for doing on the train. However, since college closed two weeks ago, I've done almost no sock knitting at all. This left my scroll sock from More Sensational Knitted Socks languishing on its needles in a far corner of my desk. However I had an hour in the train yesterday to go babysitting Master Three, the youngest grandchild. I worked quickly and flew down the foot to the toe which I did this morning. Darned in the ends and voilà, a finished sock at last.

The original pattern has the scrolls continued down the foot. I often do continue the pattern over the instep, but this one felt a bit bumpy and I wondered if it would be comfortable. Stocking stitch certainly made the foot quicker to knit than the pattern would have been. Now for the second one.

The colours don't really show too well. It's a very dark mornng up here. We had rain earlier and I can see that more is moving over from the west. No sun, or even the hint of any. Actually, I like this this week, it feels restful. Last week was busy, stressful and at time chaotic, both personally and for my immediate family and for the household. Hopefully with one member moved away to his real home in NZ taking another container of his goods, things will now quieten down somewhat.

The wool is from Katie at Live2Knit. The colour is called Iris and the wool's lovely and soft to knit. I think these will be a gift, but am not sure yet who will get them.

Two F.O. and one on holiday

Monkey's on holiday - just started them last week in some koigu I recieved in my first ever swap!



Bex's Luminare which I had so much fun knitting - great pattern really well written and heaps of fun - it flew off the needles



and finally I present Twisted Flower - I did knit two but this was the photo at the half way point. I took two weeks to knit the first one and 4 days the second - I really knew the charts by then. I loved knitting these!

oh no

eek - I just bought two sock knitting books on the internet. so much for tightening my belt with the economic downturn.

sensational scroll sock

I've been trying to ration my knitting time equally around my three current projects. It doesn't always work and I seem to have a bad case of startitis which I am resisting. However, I've just turned the heel on a pair of scroll socks from More Sensational Knitted Socks. I'm using some of Katie's lovely wool in iris colourway which really suits the pattern. Unfortunately a week ago one of my Knitpicks harmony dpns snapped in two places. This was quite unexpected and there hadn't been any hint of a problem. Fortunately I had another pack in same size so still have plenty.

Picture when I get to end of this sock.

I'm enjoying seeing all the socks, different yarns, colours and patterns. Always good for some inspiration.

I'm a bit late to the party, I know...

...but I was waiting to finalise a layby, because I wanted full disclosure.

I present, for your edification and entertainment, my Sock Stash.

The top pic is all headed for the dyepot, the bottom is ready to go.

Kiss My Frog

Next on the Christmas List...

...is my Dad.

I dyed the yarn myself, and the pattern is Gentleman's Half-Hose in Ringwood Pattern (Rav-link) by Nancy Bush.

All the details are on my blog: Kiss My Frog

Crocheted socks #2

Same yarn and same pattern as last time. At least the colour is slightly different!



You can see more photos and read all the details on my blog.

Globe Trotters!

Tim's socks are finished - unfortunately the foot is too tight (humm - my tension square for the rib compared to the stocking stitch is completely out. So, they will be keeping my feet warm next winter, not my first choice in colour, but in all reality who is going to see them under long pants and inside boots anyway?

Pattern: Globe Trotter Socks by Jodie Danenberg
Yarn: Zwerger Garn Opal Musica

Needles: 2.25mm
Finished: October 25th 2008

Oh, I best introduce myself.

My name is Kylie (mumsbusycrafting on Rav) and I blog here. These are my first pair of adult socks - the first were a pair of Yarn mag Baby Socks. I would like to learn more about sock knitting and learn lots of skills - I am planning on having a pair on the go in a little bag that can be picked up and taken with me for spare moment occasions.

baby socks v.1.5

Project teeny baby socks is going great guns so far - here are the three little sockies I've knit up during bus rides in the past two weeks =)

(free pattern from here)

It took a whole week

That's right it took me a whole week from cast on to cast off to complete my challenge for the summer. ROFL. That means I'm on easy street now yes?

So here they are: "The city and surf socks" so called because of the locations in which they were knit! Knit from Colinette Jitterbug in Lagoon colourway on 2.5mm needles with knitting Kitchener stitch cast off from TECHknitting
We spent 4 days at the beach with the in-laws and I had heaps of time to knit while the baby napped and the kids were down at the beach with their dad. A good inch or two were knit when I was down the beach sitting on the sand watching the kids roll around in the water and digging for shells.

Have a small ball of yarn as leftovers so maybe the baby will score a pair of socks as well! Have been hooked by the bug and have bought some yarn for a pair of socks for my Nana for Christmas. Will have to see how many other pairs creep onto the needles before the end of the SSoS!

Wanted: mates for single socks

Hi everyone!

My personal challenge this time is to finish my current sock WIPs by the end of SSoS. Here's the state at the moment:


Some info (cross posted from my blog):

1. Gentleman's Shooting Stockings from Knitting Vintage Socks.
2. A Pair of Hearts socks, by Donna of Random Knits. This one is for my mum.
3. Plain toe-up socks. This was my practice sock when I was learning magic loop, as I thought I'd better learn with a simple pattern. Well it worked, and now I'm totally a magic loop convert. Would still be nice to have a pair finished, though.
4. Firestarter. I loved this pattern, I still do. I hope I can pick it up again, I remember it being quite complicated at the time.
5. Roza socks. I'm not sure about this one. The pattern is pretty, and the yarn is lovely, but I'm just not feeling it anymore somehow. I'll see.
6. Paraphernalia socks for my dad. I've already started on the second sock for this one, so this one might be the first one to be 'liberated'!

I'm also going to try a new technique, or perhaps I should say a new way of constructing a sock, with the Houdini socks (free pattern on Twist Collective) by Cat Bordhi. From the pattern's description: "Houdini socks begin with a sock footprint -- a foot-shaped tube closed on both ends -- with no apparent way in, and no leg." Curious! I just have to see how that works out into a sock.

Doable, right? Right?

Eeek!

I don't know where I have been but I had no idea we had started again! 2paw mentioned SSoS on Saturday, so I had to drop by and see what was going on!

At present I am knitting three different pairs of socks - one for me, one for a secret present and one for my husband. Now, a goal for the summer . . . how about I have three pairs on the go at any one time? That means I can mix it up and should be able to finish a few pairs as I go.

My stash is pathetic and not worth sharing. Perhaps I could work on that too!

Flashin' the Stash

I had a day off work today so I decided I'd do a sock stash roundup. While most people in Australia were watching the Melbourne Cup, I was trying to work out how to organise the yarn into a colour wheel...is that sacrilege? Am I unAustralian??!!

I was pleasantly surprised at being able to (pretty much) make a whole wheel, I didn't think I'd have yarn in all (well, most of) the required shades. I did have to consult the lovely yarn wheel that Purl uses in their ads (I'm sure readers of Interweave Knits will know what I mean).

And if you are numerically inclined, there's enough sock yarn there for 69 pairs of socks. Oh dear. Even if I did a pair a month (which I don't) that's enough sock yarn for nearly 6 years. Which is clearly not enough to keep me going until retirement, is it!!

back to the drawing board

One of my goals for this season's Southern Summer of Socks was to do some of my own designs. So far this has worked out well. The footies in the sea cell and Charlie's Sock, both shown below a few post, worked out well and I was pleased. ihave lots of ideas crowding around in my head but I thought I would try something different.
One of colours in washable merino was called Spring. Subtly varying shades of greens.

I wound it yesterday and thought that the colour looked like Granny smith apples. Never mind that apples are autumn fruits and the wool was called Spring! LOL. I sketched, then charted out an apple. I'm not at all capable at drawing, never have been, but an apple can't be all that difficult. I made a lovely picot hem with one of the neatest hems I have ever done and set about the apple. One on each of four needles, done in purl against the stocking stitch background.

Hmmm, not quite what I was expecting. I turned the sock inside out and it looked a bit better in stocking stitch against a purl background. Perhaps it would look better in moss stitch, that may stand out. Perhaps a lager apple like clocks up the side of the sock. Anyway, I was not happy and have frogged the sock.

I'll let some ideas run around in my head and try again. I know I could have done a swatch. That would have been about as much effort as working on the sock. If it had worked out, I would have been ahead.

Off to console myself by drooling over some of the socks on Ravelry now, as if I didn't have enough stitch books of my own and ideas too, as well as numerous sock books.

My 1st Post

I really enjoyed participating last summer & glad to be back again - last year, I tried new techniques in sock knitting & did not achieve all my goals as I think I was too ambitious. So this year, there's only 1 goal for me - to design my own socks !

This is my 1st design for this KAL - my Snakes & Ladders Socks ......

I love these socks & you can read more about them on my blog.
Ann