Happy Birthday MJ! (Twin Socks)

I am very lucky to have a knitting buddy like MJ, even if she is just an "online person". A while back she started off "twin socks" by sending me two skeins of Shi Bui in a lovely turquoise that she also has and saying that we should make twin socks out of them. Then I sent her a skein of Socks That Rock, and then in the past couple of days the twin socks have been upped to four pairs by her sending me some Smooshy Sock in Wisterious and me sending her some Soft Sea Wool for her birthday. (Which is today and she released the most awesome hat pattern that I'm already knitting so look here for Claudia.)

Two of four future twin socks basking in the morning sunlight:



I think we've finally made a decision on the first pair of twin socks - Bayerische in the Smooshy Sock pictured above. Right MJ?

Knitting Excitement

Lots of exciting things happened in my knitting world today!

First off I noticed that Omly tagged/mentioned me as part of her "You Make My Day Award" post. I *am* going to do this too, but I need some time to think and I already have a full slate for today. So off we go:

I got my first SP package today for Knittyboard SP10. It has actually been sitting at the post office for a few days while I worked out a time to go pick it up when they were open.



I got a cool Day/Night journal which has pages going both ways (you have to flip the book over for day or night) which is a very neat idea. I also got some green tea, some Great Adirondack sock yarn, and some very cool stitch markers!



They're especially great because they're the ones you can clasp on a stitch to mark for things like cable rounds and such - I always need more of those. :) Thank you Starlight Fairy!!!

Tonight I went out to knit with some of my lovely knitting buddies and stopped by Magpie beforehand and couldn't resist this shirt:



I'll admit I also got some freakshow stationary. But no yarn! See, I'm being (kind of) good!

I worked on the BFF socks for Cathy and wanted her approval every time I did a cable twist round. I kept holding the socks towards her making little "eee" noises until she commented on their amazing beauty. I don't know why, but I'm really excited about these socks.

And when I picked up my SP package this morning I also got the first one from the Neighborhood Fiber Co. Sock Club!



I was really excited about this one because I've never tried the yarn and I'm in luck because the first package is blues - my favorite!

Listening to: Vicarious ~ Tool, You're All I Have ~ Snow Patrol

Olympia Socks

Please note! Below the knitting content there is a picture of the January Rockin' Sock Club shipment, if you don't want to be spoiled scroll slowly and stop after the sock recap!

Last night after posting I went out to a craft night with a new group. I had a blast, met a lot of neat new people, and got some good progress done on my Olympia socks. When I got home I was pretty tired but it is beyond my ability to leave socks when they're in the toe decreases so I had to stay up and finish them - not too late though.



Pattern: my own in-my-head stockinette sock
Yarn: Panda Cotton in Bleeberries - Grapes ~ no idea what a bleeberry is ;)
Needles: size 1 (2.25mm)
Started: 12/31/07
Finished: 1/25/08

I got this yarn on a trip to Canvas Works in Olympia, WA over the holidays. I was in dire need of a darning needle to finish my Central Air socks and made my friend drive me to the yarn store. He was surprisingly nice about it but did want to get out of there quickly. While I was there I saw the Panda Cotton which I haven't seen locally (ok, I saw it once and didn't like the colors) so I picked up a couple of balls.

This yarn is pretty splitty - the cast on ends had unravelled into little threads by the time I finished the socks and went to weave them in, and I did have a few sections of the yarn do the same while I was knitting. I really liked the yarn despite this, it's very soft and the finished socks are lovely. As I was putting them on this morning I was struck by how much less stretchy they are than wool socks. It's to be expected from a cotton and bamboo yarn, and the elastic does help. Personally I prefer wool, but this yarn would be GREAT for a vegan or wool-sensitive person. And I'm sure I'll be changing my mind in the summer when these socks will be on my feet while the wool ones hang out in the back of the drawer.

WARNING! Spoilers beyond this point!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I arrived home tonight to find the first package from the '08 Rockin' Sock Club! I must say that I agree with Tina's sentiments on red - it is one of my least favorite colors for some unknown reason. My mom likes it too but thankfully I did not grow up in an all red house. However, I like this yarn.



I've also made the decision to try to keep up with the club this year. (I know, what a novel idea!) I think I probably had that idea way back in '06 which was quickly derailed by my hatred of the very first sock club yarn - Rainforest Jasper - when I saw it in the skein. However, once I finally got around to finishing those socks (in August '06 at the Gorge right before seeing Tool!) I loved them. They are probably my favorite Rockin' Sock Club socks that I've knit to date.

The problem being that I decided I would continue knitting the socks in order. After my pitiful performance on the Cedar Creek socks, I proceeded almost immediately to Rock and Weave and completed them in a reasonable amount of time. Then came my 14,000 pattern modifications on Hippy Crunchy which I believe took me all the way into 2007. I finally finished Central Air in December after starting them in May. I'm way behind, about to start Marble Arches from the '06 club. But hey, only two more pairs and I'm done with '06!

See the pretty yarn all wound up:



In any case, maybe I'll try to finish a pair of RSC socks a month this year - that way I can catch up on some of the older patterns while still staying current.

Listening to: Passenger ~ Deftones, In Motion Part II ~ The Gathering, Lomo ~ Klimt 1918

Monkee, you trickster you!

So I got home today to find two packages.

The first was the "Blink" yarn from Inspinknity which Rachel sent me for test knitting - it's beautiful and further proof that I have succumbed to the pink.



And the second package was this:



Yep, the amazing heart shawl that Monkee was working on when she came here to visit. See, she sent me a package a while back which I thought was this, but instead it was some pretty blue Arucania sock yarn. So I get another package today and here's this shawl.



It's so big it won't fit on any photographable flat surface in my apartment. Well, except the floor and I wasn't about to do that.

Monkee... just let me know if you need any more handknit socks. ;)

A bit of self control

Tonight I caught myself just before I pulled a set of size 0 needles out of the Mystic Sea socks to cast on a new pair of socks. What would inspire this craziness? Well, Noro... Kureyon Sock, to be exact. Although now that I see what color the ball starts on I might just cut off that first ugly orangey-brown...



See, I have these knitting goals for 2008. Goals like reducing the stash (no, for REAL this time!), getting all of my 2007 and earlier WIPs done or frogged by the end of the year, knitting a sweater...

Well lately I've been in one of my antsy moods. The way that I end up with tons of WIPs that I never work on is that I get into one of these moods and decide to cast on a bunch of random stuff. This week I've been wanting to make stockinette socks, hence the Noro. (We'll ignore for this moment that I already have two three pairs of plain-ol' stockinette socks on the needles.) But really, pulling needles out of an old WIP that I have pledged to finish and starting a new pair of socks?



Well, looking at the Mystic Sea pattern I noticed that it calls for size 1 needles, not size 0. Did I cannibalize the needles earlier? Did I make a conscious decision to knit it on 0s? The world may never know. (And yes, the progress is pitiful. I started those last April and haven't touched them since getting back from sock camp.)



Also I've been doing a bit of spinning for a currently secret project. I've been spinning my fleece!



The singles are roughly a fingering weight, which is actually a little bit thicker than I usually spin. That's good because I was going for a worsted weight two-ply, which is about what I got!



More on that later. :)

Another free sock pattern!

But this time it's not mine.

My friend Rachel just opened up a new store with yarn that she dyes called inspinknity. She actually sells a lot more than just hand-dyed yarn, she also sells Louet stuff like spinning supplies and such.

In any case, she asked me if I had time to do a quick test knit of the free pattern she put up on Ravelry to celebrate the opening of her store, and of course I'm always glad to help a friend out for free yarn. (I decided on Blink.)

Here are the socks:



Pattern: Fern Clog Socks
Yarn: inspinknity Superwash Merino Sock in Blood, Sweat, and Tears
Started: 1/3/08
Finished: 1/10/08

I really enjoyed working with the yarn - the base is the Louet fingering which is very soft and sproingy. And even though the yarn for the test socks isn't my favorite colors, I loved how the subtle differences in color panned out in the socks - there was pooling, but it wasn't really noticeable because the pinks and purples blended well together.

They're clog socks with a plain front and a fern lace pattern up the back and on the back of the heel, though they'd be easy to modify to include lace on both sides and/or have a "normal" heel flap. They were a quick and easy knit, too!

For those of you who aren't on Ravelry yet, you can also get the pattern from Rachel via her blog - check out the info here. There are more pictures there as well.

Diamondy Socks (a little present for you)

A while back (February 2007, to be exact) I designed a pattern and knit a pair of socks for a friend. It was something that I had been looking for, but I couldn't really find anything like it. I decided to just do it myself.

Once I finished the pattern, however, I didn't know what to do with it. I contemplated submitting it to Magknits or Knitty but I never did because, honestly, I fear rejection. Maybe it's not complicated enough! So I just held onto it and kept it a big secret - all written up with pictures and everything.

Well tonight I was talking to MJ and I decided to just take the plunge! She's been ever so nice to host the PDF for me so I can release the pattern to all of you. I hope someone makes them!

So without further ado I present...

Diamondy



The pattern is written for a light fingering weight yarn, but because of the construction it should be fairly easy to modify for other sizes or yarn weights. Let me know if you need any help. :)

The pattern is available as a PDF download via Ravelry: download now

Socks in all stages

I woke up this morning and looked out the window to see this:



Ok, so that's not exactly true. I knew we were expecting lots of snow so I woke up when my alarm went off, called the weather emergency line, learned that work was closed, went back to sleep for an hour, woke up again and *then* looked out the window.

Now for the knitting:



I finished these socks last night.

Pattern: Ripples - the November pattern from Sockamania
Yarn: Yarn Pirate in Plum Gorgeous
Started: 11/23/07
Finished: 1/13/08

I've also decided that in 2008 I want to end the year without any of my 2007 (and earlier!) WIPs still on the needles. The one possible exception being the "fun blanket" since that's just something I work on when I feel like it, and it's intended to be a really long-term project. So that leaves the following (oldest to newest):

Hush Hush
Cabled Scarf
Mystic Sea Socks
California Socks
Baby Norgi
Stocking
November Mystery Socks

So on that note:

Out with the old...



Bye Canal du Midi socks. I know I said I would knit you for Rachel, but you have been haunting me for so long now it really isn't funny. What, 18 months or so? I just hate knitting you so much! Besides, I have a feeling you would be too small anyway. Instead I will pick another less crazy-inducing pattern and finally knit her the promised socks.

...and in with the new!



Hello BFF socks! I told Cathy I would knit her some socks with her cursed Koigu a while back, and you seem like a good choice. In fact, yesterday was her birthday so I took the opportunity to start you then!

Listening to: Ænima ~ Tool, Third Eye ~ Tool

Bunny Thumpers

There's some knitting at the end if you're patient.

There's a contest over at KitKatKnit to measure your cat's "bunny thumper" - the back leg from backwards knee to longest toe. Since my cats are pretty tolerant I figured it wouldn't be such a difficult task, and after a bit of bribery it wasn't!



Java measures about 5.25"



A more in focus Pan measures at just over 5.5". He shifted a bit before the picture was taken so the ruler wasn't quite lined up.

Afterwards they enjoyed the fruits of their labor:



And now for the first knitted FO of the year.... I figured since I had the camera out and the bed was freshly haired up... ;)



It's a sock! Well, sort of. It's a mini sock with Alpaca Sox. I really enjoyed working the yarn, it's pretty soft.

Stay tuned for some *actual* sock knitting in the next few days.

The first FO of 2008

It isn't a sock! Although it is sock-related, it isn't even knitting.



It's a sock bag! It all started when I saw Cathy's sock bag on our trip to WEBS. It was a totally different design, but the outside was the rose fabric and the lining was the stripes. And of course I loved it. And that is so not a "me" type of fabric that she thought I was making fun of it at first!

But I have apparently come down with some sort of pink-liking illness. In any case, she said maybe she would make me a bag like hers but it turned out that she did something even better - on Friday I went to her house and she helped me sew my own!

There were some in progress pics on her camera that I will share later, and perhaps the source of the pattern because I don't know what it is, I just remember that she bought it in Northampton.

I am really really happy with it. I've only completed a small number of sewing projects and this one was by far the most complicated - it's lined and has a zipper, and there's topstitching. But I did it! And it's already on active duty carrying my latest secret socks-in-progress.

Listening to: Silent Waters ~ Amorphis, Creation Lake ~ Silversun Pickups

The Yarns I've Had and What I Think of Them!

I had a request-by-comment to add stars or something to indicate my favorite sock yarns that I've worked with. I'll do that but I thought I'd do a little post now about the yarns I've used thus far and what I thought of them, and then start doing updates when I use a new yarn. :)

I've linked the name of the yarn to the finished socks wherever possible.

4-ply Soft (Rowan)

I liked this yarn a lot, although it is not machine washable. It's soft and shows lace especially well.

Alpafina

This yarn (a 50% wool 50% alpaca blend) was a little scratchy and hairy and not machine washable. Not what I would personally choose for socks, but I didn't pick it. I also didn't like the color. ;)

Handpaints by Artsygal

I really enjoyed working with this yarn. The base is 50% Tussah Silk and 50% Merino. The colors were gorgeous and the yarn has a lovely sheen. It's a bit on the fuzzy side (to be expected from the silk) and a little splitty, but really not any worse than many of the other sock yarns I've tried.

Austermann Step

I was intrigued by this yarn because it contains aloe and jojoba. The yarn is similar to Regia or Opal, while the color reminds me of Opal since it is not evenly applied to the strand. It knits up nicely and feels a little odd while knitting - like you just put lotion on your hands.

Artyarns Supermerino (last picture)

I started knitting these socks for a gift and contemplated stealing them a few times! The yarn is very soft and "sproingy" and the colors are beautiful! A word of caution - I bought three skeins at the same time and one was very different in color so be very careful to compare skeins and make sure they're all similar in color. However, that was really my fault and I still LOVE this yarn! Since I gifted the socks I'll have to check with the recipient on how they wear, but I do have a couple skeins to knit socks for myself sometime soon.

Black Bunny Fibers

I really liked working with this yarn. It has a nice tight twist and "sproingy-ness" similar to Koigu. The colors are beautiful as well, although mine pooled somewhat strangely.

BMFA Sock Candy

I received this yarn as a gift and I love it! The colors were gorgeous - and very vibrant on the cotton yarn. It's slightly stretchy, but nowhere near as stretch as Fixation. The ends of the yarn unravelled quite a bit into very thin threads, but I didn't find it too splitty while knitting. It's very soft!

Brown Sheep Naturespun Sport

This yarn made beautiful finished socks. It is also not machine washable. I liked that I could knit it up on slightly larger needles (3s) so it went quickly.

Chinese Mystery sock yarn

I generally prefer washable sock yarn, but I have to admit that this yarn did give an amazing finished product. Unfortunately it was a RAK and the label was entirely in Chinese and I have no idea where I would ever find it again.

Crystal Palace Maizy

I bought this yarn at Rosie's Yarn Cellar during the Philly Knitty Fest because it sounded interesting. It was, although it's very splitty, that's not really a problem for me so I didn't mind. I first started a pair of socks in stockinette, but it was pooling in a really ugly way so I decided to break it up by using another stitch pattern. Overall the yarn is nice, very stretchy, and one of the few vegan options out there for sock yarn. The colors it comes in aren't really my taste, but I'm sure there will be more colors available if they keep the yarn, and how cool is it to have socks made mostly of corn?

Dorchester Farms Sock Yarn

It's a little heavier than the yarns I usually use - more suited to a size 2 or 3 needle. The base yarn itself is a fairly standard superwash wool/nylon blend. I guess what make this yarn different, other than the slightly heavier weight, is the fact that it's hand-dyed. It seems like most hand-dyed yarns are a superwash merino base instead of this wool/nylon one.

Fabel

The yarn itself was not really all that different from other yarns I've worked with, although I was surprised by the striping since from looking at the ball I thought it would be variegated. Overall a nice and durable yarn that makes comfortable and hard-wearing socks.

Fearless Fibers

Gorgeous colors, and very soft. The yardage is amazing - I had 75g left after knitting a pair of socks. Unfortunately the socks didn't hold up too well to washing. After one wear-and-wash they were about as fuzzy as the pair made with Patons Kroy that are a year old.

Cascade Fixation

This is a yarn that many knitters hate. Personally I like it a lot and have made a few pairs of socks - anklets with one ball and taller socks. It's another that can be knit on larger needles (3-4) and is great for warmer weather. It holds up quite well through the wash and even the dryer, although I wouldn't recommend machine-drying the socks as they do shrink a bit.

Gloss

This yarn was easy to work with and I really liked the final result. It was a bit thicker than some of the fingering weight yarns I'm used to, and very soft.

handspun

Knitting socks with handspun (this was a single ply) was an interesting experience because it's more uneven than commercial sock yarn. This particular handspun was a little rough and not machine washable, but I'm sure the socks will be comfy after washing and especially warm.

Jarbo Raggi (2nd picture)

I knit a sample sock out of this so it hasn't been worn. The yarn is a wool nylon blend and washable, and since it's worsted weight it knits up very quickly. It's nice and soft and would be great for thick socks.

Jknits

The yarn was a little splity, but overall I enjoyed working with it. The colors blend beautifully and the yarn is very soft.

Koigu (a better picture of the yarn at the end of this post)

I love the colors of Koigu and it's definitely an enjoyable yarn to work with!

Kona Superwash

This is the sport/DK weight that I dyed myself. It's a nice soft yarn - very fluffy and makes cushy socks because it's a bit thicker. It was a little splitty while knitting, but the finished socks turned out well.

KP Essential

This is the old version of Essential, I've heard that they're now using a different base yarn which is softer. This reminded me of Paton's Kroy - rough while you're working with it but it softens after washing.

KP Merino
The KP Merino (this was the Sock Garden, now discontinued) is quite soft. Not machine washable, though, and I didn't like the way the colors came out very well. It's very comfortable to wear, though - as expected with non-superwash yarn - there is a bit of felting in the heel and on the bottom of the foot.

KP Palette

This yarn is a little rough to work with but softens after washing. Also not machine washable, and the color bled a lot on the first washing. However I love these socks - the yarn is definitely beautiful.

Limbo

The yarn is a sportweight (so it knits up quickly) and very nice to work with, and the color kind of reminds me of Trekking. The two balls I had in the same dyelot were quite different - one striping and the other more mottled - so if you're not a fan of fraternal socks it would be better to alternate balls.

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock

This is one of my favorites. I love the colors that this yarn comes in (not especially the Bee Stripe, but these were not for me) and it's a joy to work with. Definitely one of my favorites.

Macek Designs Superwash Merino

I had this yarn custom dyed and was very happy with the customer service as well as the yarn itself. It is a similar base yarn to other indie sock yarns out there - a 2-ply superwash merino. It is very soft, fluffs up nicely, and the dyeing was great.

Magic Stripes

This is the first pair of socks I knit. This yarn is a little thicker than Shepherd Sock or many of the other fingering weight sock yarns, and knits up well on 2s or 3s for quicker socks. It's not the softest yarn, but it wears like iron! I've had these socks for nearly 2 years now and I wear them often, put them through the washer and dryer, and they're holding up really well.

Microspun

These were a test knit so I have no idea how they wear. The socks were very soft and had a nice feeling on the feet, though.

Nature's Palette

I picked this yarn up in Portland since I had never seen it before. I really enjoyed working with it except for the fact that the dye came of on my hands - a lot. However when I washed them to block not much dye came out. The yarn reminds me a bit of Koigu, although it is handwash only. The finished socks looked great, and the slight variation in color depth gave a nice almost solid effect.

Opal

I'm personally not a huge fan of Opal because of the colors. They're applied sort of unevenly with white showing through, which just isn't what I like. However the Opal socks I have wear very well and are quite comfortable. The yarn is a little rough when knitting.

Paton's Kroy

This yarn is one of the best for solid colors in my opinion. It's a slightly heavier weight than the Opal or Lorna's Laces. It's quite rough while knitting, but washes up fairly soft and wears very well through machine washings and even the dryer.

Peru DK (1st picture)

This yarn was soft and the finished socks looked great! The label had no washing instructions, but I'm assuming it's handwash as it's merino, alpaca, and silk. I can't say how it wears, but even if it doesn't hold up longterm the socks sure would be comfy while they lived.

Peruvian Quechua

This yarn was quite fuzzy, a bit splitty, and I'd be concerned with how well it would wear as socks. However, the pair I knitted was a gift (the recipient picked the yarn) and the socks were intended to be bed socks.

Regia Bamboo

I'd heard mixed reviews about this yarn. Some people said that it didn't hold shape well and didn't have enough stretch - there were complaints that the ribbing was floppy. I didn't have this problem, in fact I love how the sock came out! I knit it on 2.5mm needles and the ribbing is fine. Even the stockinette has quite a bit of stretch.

Regia Cotton I didn't especially like knitting with this yarn because it was not stretchy at all. I'd definitely recommend a ribbed or cabled pattern to give the socks the necessary spring. The finished socks did come out nice, but they weren't for me so I can't speak to how they performed.

Regia Strato

This yarn belonged to a friend. I enjoyed knitting with it and the colors remind me of Trekking. The socks were comfy when I tried them on, but I haven't actually worn them. Jessica says they're doing great through quite a few wear and wash cycles. :)

Ruby Sapphire

My Sockapalooza pal MJ knit me a pair of socks in this yarn, then sent along the extra so I could have the experience of knitting with it too. I love the socks she made - they're very comfortable and have held up well so far. The yarn was a little splitty while I knit with it, but the end result is worth it.

Socka Color (Fortissima Colori)

This yarn isn't particularly soft and there were a few knots in the ball I had. It's also fairly splity. Not too bad to work with, but not a favorite either. It seems very similar to Opal or Regia in fiber content/feel so I think the socks will wear well.

Sockotta

I have a pair of Sockotta socks that I received in a swap, but the linked pair is the first time I've knitted with it. From my swap socks I know that it washes very well (even holds up through the dryer) and is comfy and good for warmer weather, as one would expect from the cotton content. Knitting with it was a pretty good experience as well. The fabric is not quite as stretchy as a 100% wool or wool-nylon blend, but the socks are soft.

Socks That Rock

I have to say that this is my favorite of the yarns I've tried. It is so soft and cushy, it's amazing to knit with and the finished socks feel great too. And this yarn has the amazing ability to make me like, and even buy, colors that I usually hate. (I bought red. Really!) I've worn and washed my socks a few times and even after walking around in them a lot they look very good.

Star (Classic Elite)

I probably wouldn't knit socks with this yarn again. It's pretty similar to Cascade Fixation, but a heavier weight and much more thick and thin, which totally obscures any stitch pattern. The socks pictured are a rib pattern, and when on you can barely tell that the socks are ribbed, let alone that it's something more than a simple 3x3. Since they were the prescribed pattern for Socks Wars I had to knit them that way.

Sunshine Yarns

This yarn has become another one of my favorites. It has my top two qualities (soft and superwash) and the colors are gorgeous. I loved working with it!

Supersock - Cherry Tree Hill


I really enjoyed working with this yarn, which stood up well to the frogging it encountered in the first incarnation. The colors on the sock look even more lovely than in the skein or ball, and it has a surprising amount of stretch (great for Jaywalkers like these!)

Trekking

I'm in love with the colors of Trekking - especially the blues. It's an overall nice sock yarn I think. I didn't find it too rough while knitting, and I've heard it wears well although I have no personal experience with that.

Wick

This yarn is not actually sock weight, it's more of a worsted. However, my Summer Sock Party pal used a sock pattern that calls for this yarn and so I got the chance to knit with it (the 2nd sock, that is). It's an interesting blend of soy and polypropylene - very different but I really like it!

Wildfoote

I love this yarn! I don't know what it is exactly - probably the colors. I had a lovely time knitting with it. The socks have only been worn once or twice because of the weather changes, but they seem to be holding up well.

Wool Ease

I don't have a picture of these socks, which I knit for my mom. I wasn't a big fan of the Wool Ease for socks, although the sport weight might work better - I used worsted.

Whew! If you got through all of that congrats!