A fair trade

I don't have much in the handspun department today. I spun a little, but then I realized CRAP CHRISTMAS KNITTING!

So I stopped spinning and focused on finishing my mom's socks.

Mom wanted ankle socks. Plain Ankle Socks. See how that worked?

This yarn didn't want to be plain socks. So they are No So Plain Ankle Socks.

Started: ummm...I CO the toe a few weeks ago, but really didn't work on them until last Sunday

Finished: Sunday, December 16

Needles: Size 2 - magic loop

Yarn: Rio de la Plata

I will publish the pattern soon (Yeah, I know I keep saying that about my patterns, but I swear it is coming...)

Hmmm...I just realized there isn't a good pic of the toe... but here is another shot of the pretty cables. Which I am insanely proud of since I did them without a cable needle! The varigation of yarn doesn't always lend itself to cables, but this tonal yarn - even with the very different greens - looks fantastic!!!

Pretty in Pink

Sweet baby niece needs Christmas. And while I am bah humbugging my way through the season, she is only 2 and needs prezzies! So....

I knit her the Make Believe Crown from Interweave Knits. Its available for free from Knitting Daily now.

This is a super quick and easy knit. But it wasn't what I started on. Nope.

These are Twinkle Toes from Knitty. Little tiny ballet slippers complete with knitted ties!

The pattern is written in sizes from Toddler to adult, so you can knit your own ballet slippers if you would like. These took no time at all!

Patterns: Make Believe Crown from Interweave Knits and Twinkle Toes from Knitty.
Yarn: Patons Katrina in Blossom. Less than 1 ball. (Thank you to Jane Prater for gifting this yarn to me awhile back!)
Needles: Twinkle Toes: Knit Picks Options in size 5. Crown: Knit Picks Options 5s and Clover DPNs also in 5s.
Sizes made: Toddler and 15"
Started: December 8
Finished: December 9
Thanks to my special model. A doll made by my great-grandmother on my mom's side!

I think my niece will be adorable in these!

Boyfriend Socks: Lucky Bamboo

Tattoo Boyfriend doesn't like lacey socks and I find it difficult to find manly enough patterns for him. Granted, I haven't been looking all that hard, but that isn't the point. These are part of his Christmas prezzies so shhhhh....he doesn't read this blog. Eh, he knows he is getting socks anyway.

These were a REALLY fast knit and I had a lot of time to knit them, so that was helpful.

Yarn: Brownsheep Wildfoote - 2 skeins
Needles: Addi Turbos Size 1
Pattern: My own


I will make this pattern available in the near future. As soon as I manage to move the blog and all that so that I have hosting abilities and stuff. And figure out how to do all that. Woo hoo.

Red Dwarf Knee Highs!

Well, they are done. And they are PRETTY! I wore them to work and then knitting last night alone with one of my FAVORITE pairs of shoes (I own 3 pairs of mary janes and they are all great for showing off hand knit socks!)!!

Cristi's pattern is amazing and I am so glad I knit these!

The Random Ribbing portion is fun!!! As is the reverse ribbing at the cuff so that when you turn them down they match up to the leg ribbing!

And the front and back are different and both equally cool!

Pattern: Red Dwarf Socks - The Knee High Version (pattern is free on Cristi's site).
Yarn: Fiesta Yarns Baby Boom in Pansies - 2 skeins - purchased at The Loopy Ewe.
Needles: US Size 3 Addi Turbos - 32" - used magic loop style.
Started: Sunday, September 16th.
Finished: Saturday, September 22nd
Mods: I only needed 46 stitches instead of 50 called for - but that is the beauty of the toe up socks.

The colorway doesn't do the pattern justice since it is a bit busy, however the way that the pattern looks in the colorway when you really look at them is BEAUTIFUL and it socks are FANTASTIC. This is probably my favorite new yarn - the Baby Boom and the Boomerang (its big sister) are totally worth anything you knit in it! I could NOT be more pleased with these!!!

WIP Wednesday - The Project Bigamy Version

Project Monogamy is on and off again. I was very good for 2 and a half weeks of only working on one project at a time. When I picked up the Elizabeth Bennet Cabled Cardigan, I knew it was over. I did, in fairness, work on only this from last Wednesday night to Sunday afternoon. When last you saw this beauty she was just above the arms. Now I am down to the cables at the bottom of the body. WOOHOO! Still have the arms and button band after this, but I can SEE IT!

On Sunday, I decided I needed socks on the needles too, since EB is really too big to take anywhere. Incidently I took some pics of some beautiful knee highs for Cristi on Saturday. And I happened to have some yarn I thought would make a great pair of SUPER COMFY knee highs. .

Why yes, that is a finished knee high and a toe. Since Sunday night I have cranked out an entire knee high and a toe (the toe is pictured as I left it last night, but it is now DONE!) Since we are going to see the Yarn Harlot today, I expect to be quite a ways up the foot and leg of number 2 by tonight. We may have a FO by the end of the weekend.

I mentioned the yarn. Well, it is the Fiesta Yarns Baby Boom. Ummmm...I am in LOVE. I have a skein of the Boomerang and had been coveting the Baby Boom. Well, now I have it and I love it. It takes 2 skeins to make a pair of socks (each skein is 220 yards), but as you can see, 2 skeins can make a pair of knee highs. See those 2 little scraps? That is all I have left from skein one. No, I am not kidding. I used every single bit I could squeeze out.

FO Friday!!!

After a little mishap with heel number 2, Project Monogamy directed me to rip out the heel of the Boyfriend Cable Socks and finish them up.
Yes, these are Turtle Daddy Sock Blockers available at Cristi's Etsy shop. Also, a set of these are up for grabs in the Lupus Walk Donation Thank You Prizes.
The Details:

Yarn: Brown Sheep Wildfoot in Forget-Me-Not
Needle Size: US 1 (yeah, I am a glutton for punishment)
Size: Boyfriend Size - he is like a size 9 foot or something
Pattern: Basic toe up - short row heel. The cables are a 4 cable with 2 purl stitches on each side. The Left is cabled front and the right is cabled left and the cables are placed on the opposite sides so they face out when worn. The last cable moves out to have a purl 2 in the center then feeds up to the ribbing. I can throw the pattern together if you need me to.

Notes: Other than the mishap with the heel, this were fun to knit and fast. The heel was my own fault as I worked on it during a pedicure and then an oil change. should have been fine, but that day was the day before vacation and I was super busy and apparently lost the ability to w&t.

YIPEE!!!

Something special happened while I was on vacation. (no, Tattoo Boyfriend did NOT pop the question, sorry, that will be a long time coming as he told Peter Beagle).

The winners of the Hill Country Yarn Sock Pattern Contest (round 1) were announced. Congrats to Holly and Tyler who won first and second respectively!





And I won third!!! *dances about* this is the first pattern I have ever submitted anywhere. I have to say I am super pleased with these socks.

These are toe up with a short row heel (because that's how I roll). They have a main stitch panel with side panels of ribbing. This creates a pretty dense fabric, so it is a nice warm and cuddly sock, but it isn't so dense that you don't want to wear them under your favorite show-off-your-hand-knit-socks shoes. These will be part of the Hill Country Yarn Sock Club packages, but at some point they will probably release the pattern. I don't know. Anyway.

The details:

Yarn: Hill Country Yarn Instant Gratification in Hot Fuscia

Needles: Size 5 Addi Turbos (magic loop used)

Pattern: Available at Hill Country Yarns

How they came to be: I wanted something that reflected the yarn and the yarn company. I thought and thought and thought. And then I came across this stitch pattern. It didn't do it for me. Then another. Nope. then another. Not yet. Then this one. And as I knit it evolved into something altogether different then what I thought it would be in the beginning. I love them and I can't wait to wear my pair in sock weather!!!

Tequila Tuesday

Well, rum really! These are my Yarn Pirate Booty Club Rum Runner Socks. The colorway is Rum Runner and is exclusive to the Booty Club.

I love love love these socks. I am not a big fan of St st socks usually, but I cast these on toe up and they went FAST!!! Short row heel looks awesome in the stripes and I added 8 rows of 2x2 rib at the top (I am not going to tell you the big boo boo I JUST noticed on these and I finished them on Saturday...OOPS!).

The sock blockers came to me by way of Cristi. Look for more from her soon.

WIP Wednesday - both more and less than expected

With the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) on Friday, a second trip to the eye doctor for a "dislodged" contact lens AND about 4 million other things, I got both more and less knitting done than I planned.

First, I got less done on the Mystery Stole then I planned. This is the end of Clue 2 which I finished up on Friday afternoon. Then I headed over to Cristi's and worked to about halfway through Clue 3. The lower pink lifeline is the end of Clue 2 - so I made some progress, just not as much as I would have liked. Especially since I haven't touched it since.

I headed to the Harry Potter release over at Borders and took my Elizabeth Bennett Cabled Cardigan with me. It has grown quite a bit in the last week...it was barely more than a collar last week and now it is almost ready to have the sleeves become their own little projects. I think I will be altering this pattern and knitting the sleeves in the round. Sadly, though, the Cardigan got too heavy to carry in my purse and I struggled with it at Harry Potter when I was standing in line. While I was sitting in the comfy chair, it was no big deal, but in line it was a pain. Never fear, my Yarn Pirate Yarn in Rum Runner (month one of the Yarn Pirate Booty Club) had arrived and it was talking to me. So, it was Cast On Saturday and I took it with me to Charlotte Yarn (more on why tomorrow). Sock one is done, sock 2 is on it's way. I apparently have the honor of having the first completed Rum Runner sock according to the Ravelry and Flickr groups (if there is another - I would LOVE to see it!!!) This yarn absolutely spoke to me and made me knit it. No really, it did. It talked to me all day Friday and I had to work with it. Look at how pretty that short row heel is!!! *squees*

A Knitter's Nightmare

Several nights ago I was asleep (it could have been an afternoon nap, who can remember at this point, really?) and had the following dream. No, it was a nightmare.

Cristi and I were hanging out - as we often do - knitting and talking about life in general and knitting, but I am not sure where we were. The space was smallish, but comfortable. Not at all cramped. A nice place to knit, but it was not my place or her's. Not Panera. I was wearing my Embossed Leaves socks from IK (hell if I remember what issue at the moment - they are in Favorite Socks). These socks are done in a pink self striping Trekking and I love the color. Of course, I love pink, so what is not to love about these socks.

So, we are talking about knitting and the subject of socks came up. We were discussing toe up vs. cuff down and extolling the virtues of the toe up sock. I am currently in love with toe up and short row heels (the short row heel fits my stupidly shaped foot better IMO!). The embossed leaves are neither toe up or short row heeled. But the Embossed Leaves sock is currently Cristi's favorite sock to knit and I think she has 3 pairs done. So discussing them is not something we don't do. In fact it is something we discussed AFTER I had this dream - though I didn't tell her about it at the time.

As we discuss the sock, I take my foot out of my shoe to show the full sock. Now, I love shoes. Socks are a necessity for 1) shoe comfort and 2) foot warmth. I knit them because I love to knit but I would be happy with store bought socks really. I mentioned that stupidly shapped foot? Well, gusset heels are baggy on my foot and no matter what I do, they remain so. I have shortened them and everything, but I just love to knit. So I knit myself pretty socks. Before I started knitting socks, I must say that I did have a giant love of "different" socks anyway. Every pair of "work socks" I own are weird. I have argyle knee highs and pinstripped and all sorts of different socks. I haven't had much occassion for wearing my hand knit socks to work as I tend to knit bright pink socks - but whatever.

Out my foot comes from my shoe - which shoe I can't remember even though I have the PERFECT pair of show off your hand knit socks shoes - I am pretty sure it wasn't those shoes. To my absolute horror there is a hole in the toe of my sock. A HOLE! and not because I have worn it out, but because the entire kitchener stitch graft has come apart. THE WHOLE THING!

Well, let me tell you that my dream-self gasped. Looked horrified that my toes wer hanging out for a moment and not freshly pedicured. Then realized that these were MY HAND KNIT SOCKS! and the toe has FAILED! The look of horror turned to shame. Shame that I was such a poor knitter that my grafted toe didn't stay grafted. In my dream, Cristi and other knitter's who are a blur (because we were not alone) mocked my inability to kitchener stitch properly. I think I vowed to never ever ever knit anything other than toe up again.

I woke up in a cold sweat. I got up immediately and checked my socks to make sure there were no holes in the toes (they don't).

And that is why my Embossed Leaves socks are now sitting in my living room under the coffee table and not in the sock drawer. They are being watched carefully for signs of failure.

So I am almost done with monkey sock #2. unfortunately I forgot that I only did 4 pattern repeats on the leg of #1 and I did the called for 6 on number 2. I am SO NOT ripping these out. They will just have to live this way. If I didn't tell you, you would never know.