Sleeping socks for saying goodbye

At last, a completed pair of these socks--one of the sleeping socks patterns from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage socks. I actually started these last summer and got just a few inches into them before putting them down for some reason. I found this UFO (one of too many, alas) when I was "cleaning up" my yarn room (my husband says I should put a sign out on the street and try to sell some). The yarn is just gorgeous--a Cherry Tree Hill "potluck" that I got from Simply Sock Yarn oh so many months ago. I love the way they turned out and sent them off to school with our oldest daughter--she's going where it's cold (a great knitting gift opportunity). Our youngest is back at school too, and now we hope things will calm down, at least a little bit! I also started a pair of socks with this cool new Crystal Palace "Maizy" yarn made from corn. I'm adapting the pattern and will post more on that one soon. Happy knitting, all.

Sock Pal Socks Arrived!

We are home from vacation--the pink "baby thujas" are the only finished knitting I have to show for it, but I hope to have a shawl to post soon (more on that then). The big news is that my Sockapalooza IV socks were waiting for me when I got home--they are so beautiful, and it was so exciting to put a hand-knit pair of socks on my feet that I didn't knit--and they fit! I drew a real expert as my sock pal, and I am very, very happy with these socks-- a much more complicated pattern than I would attempt. So thank you, Knit One, Purr Too, and thank you to Alison of The Blue Blog for coordinating all this again!

The last socks of summer?

I hope not, actually (last socks, that is). It is finally vacation time around our house, and we are heading out to the beach (yes, it's 103 in the shade, but at least we'll be close to water!) I finished this pair, what I am calling my "Lemonade Socks" just in the nick of time to post before we go. This pattern is actually based on a pattern I found on Knitting Daily, the "Ambrosia Socks" by Ann Budd. I adapted the pattern a lot, actually; it was written for toe up with short row heel and I changed it to cuff down with a flap (square heel). I really like the "Butterfly stitch" pattern, but I'm not entirely sure how they'll wear--they are knit on size 3's (3.25 mm) because of the stitch pattern pulling in so much, but the sole of the foot seems much too loose to me. But they did go a lot faster than when I knit on my usual 0's and 1's! In any case, they were a fun knit, and I am happy to have tried both a new stitch pattern and what is for me a totally radical adaptation of a knitting pattern (I am finally getting brave enough!). I now head off with a car full of bathing suits, sand toys, and of course, yarn and needles enough for a month--you never know! For all of you heading back to school this week, good luck!

Done!

Yeah, here they are! I didn't trust myself to wait until for better weather for the "phot shoot"-- the color is so much deeper and truer in person)! I know I haven't posted lately, but I really have been knitting! These Sockapaloooza IV socks--well, I thought they might be the end of me! They have been variously known as "the socks that wouldn't end," the "why didn't I just make Thuja's," the "see what you get when you try to impress people you don't know," to, well, almost affectionately, "the brown bombers." This summer has taught me several things....when one is in the middle of a giant job stress, a baby is born in the family (a niece for me), and your cat of 14 years dies, one will quickly turn to knitting to comfort oneself. This is a good thing. In my case, though, it basically meant knitting everything except my Sockpal socks--so I made a couple pair of baby socks, a really cute baby hat, a pair of socks for no one in particular (a three-pointed modification of Jaywalkers), and a very lengthy, curiously non-essential silk and cotton scarf. Then I woke one morning about two weeks ago, dreaming about the giant balls of this gorgeous yarn sitting in my knitting basket with a cuff of the first sock and about 2 inches of a 10" cuff done, and well--I was having bad dreams about it! This gave me a chance to prove, one again, alas, that I work best under pressure, and that sore fingers are just the consequences of being me at the end of a knit a long! So the socks are done (phew) and washed and blocked, and drying. I will pack them up with some koigu and send them off to their guy in waiting, on time. I just knew finishing early during Sockapaloooza III was a fluke! But now that these are done, I like them and am glad I chose the pattern, which involved my first ever shaping on a cuff, and the most yarn I've ever used up on a pair of socks (525 yds+)!

Sockapalooza update: It's not too late....

I have the yarn, I have a pattern selected, I have a sockpal's preferences firmly in mind, and I think I am (finally) ready to go. I know it seems like it took a while for me to get started, but there seemed like there were sooooo many decisions this time. I love Sockapalooza, really, but I always feel so much more pressure when knitting for someone I don't know. I want everything to be perfect! Well, I think I did find perfect yarn; this absolutely gorgeous yarn called "Thoroughbred" from an Etsy Shop called Fearless Fibers. It's the most beautiful, subtle mix of browns and other subtle colors; a technique called "rainbow dyeing"; I can't wait to knit with it! And I have a pattern selected "Gentlemen's Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern" from Knitting Vintage Socks (thanks to all who pointed me in this direction for men's patterns in my last lamenting post). Even though this skein of yarn has a whopping 550 yards; I am a little worried about having enough (see recent experiences) I plan to increase the number of stitches used for the sock; the last few pairs of socks I've made have come out too narrow; I think I must be knitting more tightly these days (can't imagine why!). I might shorten them a bit; not sure (have to have something to wonder about as I go, right) I will cast on for these this week and knit away--nothing like a deadline to get my needles smokin'!

Casting away

Here they are, a cute little pair of Crusoe anklets, knit for my youngest out of the beautiful fleece artist that I so unceremoniously unravelled after its last mis-adventure. I altered the pattern a little bit--did an eye of partridge heel, since it had looked so good last time! I like the way they turned out, and how this pattern really doesn highlight the yarn beautifully. I have to admit that I had originally intended these for myself; but then when I noticed they looked small, for our older daughter, and then, when I finished one, for the one who really wanted them all along--my youngest! I have knitted this pattern before, and I remembered that they were not really stretchy because of the stranded pattern, but have actually worn other pairs I knitted! It's that cursed gauge thing, no doubt! On other fronts, I have picked a pattern and ordered yarn for the man socks I am going to make for Sockapalooza--more on that soon.

I feel lucky...

Oh so lucky! My new yarn came in after my recent shortage experience, and it was the same dyelot and everything! (Thank you ebay!) So I have been knitting like mad and finished my neopolitan socks tonight! The stripes don't match, but I really don't mind it. And I have to give a plug for this "Belle Maman" sock pattern--it was a really easy one to memorize it (believe me, if I can memorize it, anyone can) and it looks so cool. I even had the courage to do the picot edge and knit the hem as I went--a new thing for me. So now, on to the next socks, more pattern searching for Sockapalooza 4, and jumping back in with my Fleece Artist from my last sock debacle--I'm thinking about trying the Crusoe pattern from Knitty, which I made a while back; I think it would show off that pretty yarn.