Finished: Mud River Socks

Look! I finished something! This feels like a real accomplishment, and a step in the right direction, since I have started approximately 3,000 projects recently but finished nothing.

I call these socks "Mud River" since the pattern is designed after the Kalajoki river in Finland, but I choose a brownish red yarn instead of something more reminiscent of water.

The pattern for the Kalajoki socks can be found as a free pdf on Ravelry.

Since I knew I would have plenty of yarn, I did one more chart repeat on the leg then written. It makes these the tallest socks I've ever knit. After trying them on, I got such an urge to knit knee socks or even thigh high stockings. They sound so comfy for wintertime but also like so. much. knitting. Maybe if I find some DK weight yarn?



(It's hard to capture how tall they are when photographing your own feet.)

Finished: Anastasia Socks

I have a love/hate relationship with this sock yarn, Misti International Hand Paint Sock Yarn. I love the colors and soft, smooth feel. For whatever reason I had a beast of a time keeping consistent tension with it while knitting. Almost as if it was so smooth as to be slippery. It was so frustrating, and cramping up in my left pinky, that I put them aside for almost six months.

I found them about two weeks ago in the bottom of my knitting bag and just wanted them done. Apparently that was enough motivation; I finished them last Friday. My tension must have been a little more relaxed with the second sock since the colors didn't pool the same way. Oh well, the fit is the same.

As for the pattern itself, I love that the spirals travel in opposite directions. I substituted an afterthought heel for the one written in the pattern. No reason, other than I wanted to keep working on the spiral instead of knitting a heel when I got to it on the first sock.


Pattern: Anastasia Socks by Minty Fresh (on Ravelry)
Yarn: Misti International Hand Paint Sock Yarn
Needles: Addi Turbo 0US, 2 circs
Started/Finished: February 9, 2009 - August 14, 2009

Finished: Winter Break Socks

These were fun socks to knit. I started them Christmas Eve and finished the first week in January. Really fast for me; usually I need at least a month to finish a pair of socks. Ah, the joys of working in education and having time off over the holidays! This was my first time doing a "bubble drop stitch" type pattern, and I have to admit that I didn't even know how it was accomplished until I tried this pattern.

The yarn is Lion Brand Sock-Ease, which I bought at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon and falling in love with the colors as I was walking past. I was pleased with the quality of this yarn, especially when compared to Lion Brand's old sock yarn Magic Stripes. The yarn is very similar to Regia and the colors are very nice and didn't bleed at all when washed.

(I believe this sock yarn holds the record of "least time spend in my stash before knitting". I bought this sock yarn maybe two and a half months ago? Most of my sock yarn stash is years old, and I usually go for the oldest stuff first.)





Pattern: Zombie Socks by Sheryl Giles (only available on Ravelry)
Yarn: Lion Brand Sock-Ease in "Rock Candy"
Needles: two 24" 0US Addi Turbos
Started/Finished: December 24, 2009 - January 9, 2009

Finished: Cottage Socks

I have wanted a pair of thick, tall socks to wear to bed for a few years now. I had this yarn (Wool-Ease Thick and Quick) with a pattern from Lion Brand on the label and decided it was time to whip up a pair.






I made the ribbing extra long, since I am tall and wanted them to come up over my knees. They are so warm and comfy - even more than I expected.

But yeah, knitting with super bulky yarn on size 11 dpns? Not fun. Quick, but not really fun. Especially trying to turn the heel!

Pattern: Cottage Slipper Socks from Lion Brand (on Ravelry)
(You can find the pattern free on Lion Brand's website - but you need to register an account to see it.)
Yarn: Wool-Ease Thick and Quick Charcoal (less than two balls) and Natural (less than a half a ball)
Needles: Skacel size 11 US plastic dpns

Finished: Dublin Bay Socks

These are my mom’s new Dublin Bay socks (free pattern here; or on Ravelry), out of Trekking XXL #66. She picked out the yarn at Stitches Midwest ’07 and I finally got around to making the socks for her!

(Are you tired of that story yet? I feel like I have been repeating it for a while now. Oh well, it’s staying in!)

Also, my new cat-face sock blockers! Aren’t they cute? I was tired of trying to figure out the best way to photograph my socks and bought them for myself last month.

These were made quite differently than the pattern. I worked them toe up, at the same time from both ends of the ball. I used two separate sets of circular needles, since I just get a huge mess when I try to do two socks on one set. I did a star toe (increases evenly spaces around) and a short row heel.

After the heel, I worked a few rounds plain and then followed the lace pattern from Dublin Bay. I think it looks great, even though it is technically upside down since I was working from the bottom up instead of the top down as the pattern calls for.

I love how these turned out and might make a pair for myself some day.

Dublin Bay Socks

I am almost finish with Mom's Stitches Midwest 2007 Socks, Pair 2. (Yes, 2007 - that's not a typo.)





This is the second sock, shown here a few days ago hanging out with Capt. Ben Sisko. The yarn is Trekking XXL and I love the subtle color changes with the dark base color. It doesn't seem to be making wide stripes like some of the lighter Trekking merging-color yarns do, but it is still very pretty.

Finished: Broadripple Socks #2

Ah, the infamous Stitches Midwest ‘07 sock yarn. This is one of two balls mom picked out for me to make her socks. I started the first sock almost immediately, and then put it down for other things. I picked it up again around October, finished the first sock, cast on the second sock, and put it down again to work on Christmas gifts. A few months ago I decided enough was enough and I HAD to finish at least one pair of her socks before Stitches 2008.

The pattern is a fingering weight version of the Broadripple Socks from Knitty. I can’t seem to find the pattern online anymore at Threadbear, but I suppose it wouldn’t be that hard to improvise from the original pattern. This is my second time making these socks and I still love the pattern. It's got enough to do that you don't get bored but easy enough to memorize and it looks great with striping yarns. I carried the leg pattern down the heel flap for this pair, and really love how it turned out:





Hmm, I should take a photo with the sock on, I think you will be able to see the heel more clearly.

I finished these with about two weeks to spare, and gave them to her at Stitches ‘08. The second pair from the second ball of yarn is halfway done now too. (I was smart enough not to ask her to pick out any new sock yarn this year.)

Finished: Trekking waffle socks

I don't think you have seen these yet; they were my car socks. (As in, kept in the... for lunchtime and other time-killing knitting.)



Trekking XXL color number 802; purchased around 2003


These were actually started way back in April, when I picked the yarn out of my stash because it made me think of Easter. You can tell I don't get much lunchtime knitting in!

I made the cuffs short for springtime wear, and carried the waffle pattern down the heel flap.





Now to choose yarn for the next pair of car socks!

More sock, and tax woes

I am (finally) close to finishing my Daisy Socks. Has anyone noticed that this "side project" of mine has become the only thing I have been working on? Oops. I really need to focus and finish some things over here!





Maybe I can finish these before the end of this weekend. That is, if I manage to knit more than the few rows a night I have been averaging!

My husband and I haven't filed our income taxes yet for 2006, mostly due to our incredible ability to procrastinate. (We both are bad enough individually but get us together on something and productivity just screeches to a halt.) After reading much information on how to file part-year residency in two states (IA and IL), I am amazed by how complicated the whole process is. I mean, we are two intelligent people with college degrees. Some of the wording on these tax "informational" documents is so circular and overly complex that I am truly afraid of doing something wrong. Seems like my only choices are 1) miss something and give the government too much of my hard earned money or 2) miss something and have an angry IRS person knocking down my door to get their money.

Daisies

Last night I turned the heel on the second daisy sock. (It looks just like the first sock so you'll just have to trust me that it is #2!)





It is currently being modeled by a new find: Caramel Creme Diet Pepsi. I haven't tried it yet, but am always on the lookout for a zero calorie way of curing my monster sweet tooth. I'll let you know how it is.

I don't think I posted the colorway of Lorna's Laces I am using - it's called Sherbert. The color is more true to life in the photo from a few days ago.

I am going to be visiting my parents this weekend, and will hopefully have some relaxing knitting time at night while watching DVD's with them. (Usually Hogan's Heros, Andy Griffith, or some other classic. Much better than most anything on now if you ask me!)

Having to use my brain.

I'm back home after a week of hotel living, not having to sit in traffic drive to work and being able to expense-report a steak dinner. Now I've got piles of laundry, a car that needs gas, and an empty fridge. A big thumbs down to reality!

I did start on the daisy sock I posted about last week and let me warn you - the pattern will not work as written. It's not completely wrong, but you do need more sitches in between pattern repeats and some things are not written out very clearly. Once I figured out what was supposed to happen in the first pattern repeat, it has been easy to continue.





This is my first time using Lorna's Laces sock yarn and I love it so far. Very soft with a little bit of a sheen in the knitted fabric. I have seen around the internets how this yarn has pooled massively on some socks. I don't automatically dislike pooling, I think it can look interesting in some situtations, but was really hoping the yarn wouldn't pool on this sock. I was happy to see that it wasn't - but it does look to be making a sort of stripey pattern. I spent a few minutes wishing it wasn't doing this either but then I realized I wasn't sure what another alternative could be. I didn't want pooling, I didn't want striping; what was left? I think to get the sorf of suble color changes I was expecting, I would need to use two balls of the same yarn and alternate each row, so they colors wouldn't stack on top of one another. Way to much work for a sock if you ask me!

A good excuse.

I know I promised that I wouldn't start any new projects until I made a dent in my list of current projects. But I am planning on starting a daisy sock tonight.





My good excuse is that I am "out of town*" on business this week and none of my current projects travel well. Right? That's a good excuse? So - new socks!

I am using Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock yarn for the first time. My Aunt picked this yarn out for my as a Christmas gift and it is so totally perfect for this pattern.


*the reason I am "out of town" in quotes is because I am attending a conference at McCormick Place in Chicago and staying at a hotel on Michigan Ave, even though I could technically drive in from home each day. It's much more fun this way. Especially with the exceptionally crappy weather we are having.

First FO of 2007

I finished these socks Sunday night, washed them Monday, and wore them to work today. (I think most super-wash sock yarn becomes softer after it is washed.) So even though it is 20°F outside right now, my feet are toasty warm.



Opal Southwest (color #3702 )

This is the first pair of socks I have knit with shorter cuffs. Not sure what took me so long, as I usually only wear shorter-cuffed purchased socks. I think I am going to make more like this in the future – I haven’t felt the need to push the tops down my legs further all day!

Now I get to choose which unfinished project to finish next. It is probably going to be a sweater that has been knit and ripped apart once already. Since we finally are having cold weather and snow here in Chicago (not that I like it) I feel compelled to knit more winter things.

Sock and a Half

I am going to promise myself not to start any more socks until I finish at least one of the large projects I have going right now. (Could barely even describe one of those to you - it's been so long since they've seen the light of day!) The only problem is I'm afraid I will give in and start another pair of socks anyways since they are the (my) perfect project: small, easy, with zero to little thought necessary, and a rainbow of colors in my sock yarn stash.

I also promise not to start any other new large projects until I finish one already underway. Does anyone else have that problem? It's like I get a high from picking a new pattern - especially on that is unusual in any way - and starting with a fresh ball of yarn, but once I know the stitch pattern and understand how the whole thing comes together I lose interest and begin daydreaming about what could be next.

Here is the only project I am actively working on, originally started as lunch-time knitting before it was too cold to go out and "picnic" in my car at a park by work. (Hey - it wasn't that long ago, we've had a warm winter!)





Unfortunately, I am not to be capable of leaving them in my car/at work as planned. I keep thinking "I should be working on those socks." I am so determined to finish them this weekend. Because then I can move on to the stack of other unfinished projects...