Socks Rock

I've been knitting socks this summer all shapes and sizes and colours!  From the proven traditional sock knit from the cuff down and picking up stitches at the heel flap to socks knit toe up with the traditional heel flap Like these from Cat Bordhi called Pussy Willow stockings.

I love the moccasin toe Cast on using Judy's Magic cast on.  I had a bit of trouble adjusting to this cast on but I'm glad that I stuck with it because it really is quite easy and quick once you get the hang of it.  I knit this pair for myself and they are a nice fitting sock.  I particularly  liked knitting the traditional heel flap this way, Cat Bordhi did a great job with this one. With no pick up stitches leaving holes.
I also tried Cat's Sweet Tomato Heel.  Well done in my estimation.  This heel flap with it's "Thanks Ma's" was quite easy also.  although it did take me a few pairs before I finally realized how to do them without the holes.  You must remember to do the "Thanks Ma's" in the correct position and it does require some thought or at least paying attention.  But I would knit this sock again.

I have to add here that I also tried the afterthought heel. Although I like the idea of knitting the whole sock and then ripping out the stitches and picking up the stitches and then knitting the heel, it didn't work for me.  I didn't listen to the instructions properly and used a similar colored waste yarn also my eye glasses needed updating.  So that didn't go well and they got frogged.  I doubt that I will use this pattern again.  But I did get this far.

Next up is the free pattern on ravelry from Socks al la Carte.  I enjoyed knitting this sock with it's pick your own cuff, leg, heel flap, and toe.  I chose the free one which was quite easy but I probably won't knit this sock again.  The leg was quite bulky knit in this pattern but after blocking and drying on sock racks it looked a lot better.   I gifted these to a friend from church and am holding my breath hoping things will go back to this shape after she has to wash them.  But they did turn out relatively nice!

My niece living in Dubai had a little bab ygirl in August so I took a break from sock knitting and knit her this lovely dress and some booties.  The fleece was merino and silk and I spun it worsted so as to bring out the stitch definition. 

  

At present these socks from the knitty website called Proclastic from Marlowe Crawford are on the needles.  Very interesting construction.  Definitely not a pattern to knit while watching TV or in a group because you will need to concentrate at all times.  Also keep track of where you are in the pattern by writing down each round as you do them.  Quite easy though much like knitting a sweater where you are doing several instructions as the same time and in the same round.  Very nice pattern for a freebie!  If you are good at Multitasking you will have no trouble.  If you look closely at the pattern on the leg you will notice the lovely what looks to be cabled pattern, but it isn't cable it is just a 12 row easy lace pattern, I definitely will knit this pattern again.  Kudos on this one!  One thing to note here I'm knitting the smallest size, cast on 66 stitches which is my usual size.   I wear a size 10 shoe and these socks appear quite small so would suggest knitting the larger size.

 

I took some pictures of some of the socks together when I completed the first sock.  I got a lot of sock knitting yarn at KnitTraders this spring at the Tent sale and had a friend purchase and share her stash with me when she found out I was knitting socks for a friend at church!  Can't beat that!

 

Happy Knitting!



 

Sweet tomato heel

Cat Bordhi has a new sock heel called Sweet Tomato heel.  It is knitted with a series of wedges for the heel.  There are no pick up stitches and is knit very similar to the short rows in a regular knit heel.  Here is her tutorial video:  http://www.tinyurl.com/4x4mp2

I've knit one sock using this technique and the only problem that I've discovered is the thanks ma's don't completely disappear the way they should.  I have a feeling that I am doing something wrong.  I can look at the knit2togethers and find them everytime when looking at the finished sock.  I do love the technique and plan to continue using this heel but need to find out what I am doing wrong or differently.  I used three wedges for my heel but think in the next socks I'll try using 2 1/2 wedges because there is a tiny bit of bulk at the heel that I don't need.

 This sock yarn from Schoeller + stahl is amazing yarn and the 32 stitches per 4 inches makes a very nice sock that can be worn under one's shoe.  Purchased at Knick Knackers in Smith Falls Ontario.  I can't point you to the pattern for this sock because I improvised the pattern using the sweet tomato heel.  Because of the business of the yarn I thought it might be a waste of time doing lace which is what the pattern called for so I just knit up the leg rather than laced.  Over all I like the technique and with some more trial and error I may have just found the perfect heel.

Here is a tutorial on starting the toe of these socks: 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAgcVb-vsEI&feature=related

While I was outside taking pics of my new sock I noticed in one of my barrels this beautiful tiger lilly growing all by it's self.  One of God's beautiful treasures!!

It's The Berries Update

Glad to be able to add this project to my FO list at last.  This sweater is fantastic!   Even my 10 year old granddaughter says it's "really nice"  The pattern is well written and I enjoyed the knit.  I kept the shoulder stitches live and didn't have to pickup there when knitting the front band.  I love the V-neck because it's tight where it needs to be tight and is a close fitting V-neck.  I blocked the body before putting it together and then blocked again when completed.  One other thing that I did was knit with a smaller needle because the gauge was not correct for the yarn.  This gave me a tighter fitting sweater to wear under my winter jacket.  I wanted light but warm and that's exactly what I got.  Very nice pattern and easy peasy!!

 

Easy self striping socks

Took a little break from knitting my sweater to knit these socks.

  A friend and myself went on a little trip to knick knackers in Smith Falls, .  Wanted to try to knit self striping socks.  Wow the prices of sock yarn have really increased in the last few years.  I tried to knit afterthought heel socks but when I tried to pick up the stitches from the waste yarn I found I couldn't see well enough to pick up the right legs of the stitches below.  Of course using a scrap yarn that wasn't enough of a contrast color didn't help.  But it threw me off and I frogged the whole sock.  Started knitting a pattern that I had kicking around the house called Simple self striping socks from a book called Company's coming learn to knit socks.

Very nice easy peasy pattern!
This is the third pair of socks knit for Debbie at church, she loves hand knit socks and I love knitting them!

It's The Berries

By Carol Sunday!  Classic cardigan with a vintage attitude, modern fit and charming details including a cable and bobble berry border pretty cable decrease shaping and a tidy hemmed band.  found here:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/its-the-berries
I hope!

 

I needed a large amount of alpaca for this project, maybe about 2 pounds so I took all of the alpaca that I have purchased over the last few years from different alpaca farms in my area and threw them all together into one large bag and just started spinning whatever ends came out of the bag.  Fortunately they all are the same color.  I'm spinning it worsted and lace weight approx. 24 wpi.   So far I've got approx. 700 yards. 

  I knit the back with out any problems and then started the left front.  Got confused right away by the symbols.  Thought it was because it takes me awhile to get used to knitting from a chart.  As usual I jumped right in before reading the whole instruction sheet and didn't notice that it states in the legend that the cable symbols are shown, from top to bottom, in the order in which they are encountered.
This is exactly what I love about ravelry, you can  get in touch with the designer for any help that you might need.  Thank you Carol Sunday for your help!
Left front is coming along very nicely and fairly quickly. 

I'm finding that  safety lines are a must for me after unraveling the left front once or twice.  Put them in at row 18