FF: Okey dokey

That birthday post was kind of hanging over my head, but now that it's out of the way, I can get back to the actual knitting/spinning content.

These are my new socks, and are appropriate for a Fiber Friday post because a) I spun the yarn and b) um, I spun the yarn. The yarn was my first "real" fingering weight, discussed in some detail here, and the socks are the first pattern for Sock Madness IV. I'm not participating in Sock Madness, which is a truly diabolical knit-along/caffeine-fueled knitting group hallucination in which the first knitters to finish the newly released pattern advance to the next round and ultimately the winners get some fabulous prizes. However, I did have a sock I designed accepted for the competition, and as a bonus, I get copies of all the patterns.

OK, the details...

Pattern: Simple Side to Side socks by Deborah Swift
Yarn: Fingering weight handspun Corriedale, colorway "Lantern Moon", dyed by the fabulous Adrian.
Needles: US 1.5/2.5 mm circulars (I seem to be doing everything magic loop these days. What's up with that?)
Gauge: ~8 stitches/11 rows per inch)
Start/finish: 17 March - 25 March 2010 (hooray for fast sock patterns!)
Comments/mods: I found the construction of this sock interesting. The top of the foot/front of the leg are knit first as a single panel, and then you split the stitches as needed (depending on size of your foot) and knit two separate sections for the sole and the back of the leg. After finishing these, the sock is grafted together along the length and you pick up stiches for toe, heel and cuffs from the appropriate places.

Hooray for stripey heels! There was much discussion on the Ravelry Forum about the fit of these socks, with those gifted with high arches having some serious trouble actually getting them on their feet. The designer has plans to release the pattern to the general public and will probably incorporate some modifications to make them fit better. Since I've got lovely flat feet, I can get them on (although it's a tight squeeze over the heel!). They're perfectly comfortable once they're on, so the pattern works for me.

As always, it was a thrill to knit with yarn I'd made myself. I used up maybe two thirds of the skein, so I've got plenty left for a girl pair or part of the Sock Yarn Blanket. I'm hoping they will wear okay too - my biggest concern with handspun socks is the possibility of it wearing out instantaneously.

I've started the second sock of Sock Madness, which pays homage to The Nectar of the Gods*. And I'm thinking that it would be fun to actually compete next year.

Using only handspun. Tee hee!

* For the uninitiated, that would be coffee.

FO: Crazy pink double knit socks

I've posted about the process of knitting these socks already here, but I'm happy to say I've finally finished them.

The poor things were going back and forth from London Bridge on a daily basis with no toes for several weeks before the Olympics started, and when I finally accepted defeat, I whipped out a couple of toes in time to finish them for February's sock of the month. Here's the specs:

Pattern: plain stockinette socks with 1x1 ribbing at the cuff, both knit at the same time one inside the other, as directed by Kory Stamper.
Yarn: Random bits and pieces from the Sock Yarn Blanket
Needles: US 1/2.25 mm circular
Start/finish: 28/12/09-26/2/10 - almost two months. For a pair of kid's socks. Yee gawds...must have been more then several weeks delay there.
Gauge: ~8 sts/inch.
Comments: I knit the cuffs individually before loading them all on one needle with alternating stitches. Devil had picked out four wee pink balls of yarn she wanted to use, so I split each one in half by weight, and used two for the leg and two for the foot. Details of knitting the heels are in my previous post, and by the time I got to the toes, I was ready to be done.

Getting the socks apart was a bit like watching a snake molt. First I got all the stitches separated onto two needles.

Then they were pulled apart.

Almost there,

Ta da!

Then the toes and weaving in of ends. New socks for Devil!

PS - Tomorrow is Steek Day!

The thing about Boo socks

Is that she likes them and they don't take very long to make. Thankfully.

Pattern: Riverside architecture by Cat Bordhi
Yarn: Regia Jacquard that I found at Oxfam for 99 p
Needles: US 1/2.00 mm
Gauge: 8 sts/12 rows per inch
Start/finish: 8 Nov - 24 Nov 2009
Comments: This was my first working of this particular architecture from New Pathways, and it was pretty straightforward. I did a whirlpool toe, eye of partridge heel, and garter rib for the leg. Wove in the ends last night and she asked to put them on with her purple fleece jammies.

Unfortunately she then went to stand on the highly patterned rug we have in the living room, but so be it. You can get the idea.

Feels a bit like a cheat using these for the Sock a Month, but you gotta do what you gotta do. It's been a busy one!

FO: Eunice

Pattern: Eunice, by Cookie A, from Sock Innovation
Yarn: Spindlefrog Sock yarn, 75% superwash merino/25% nylon, 425 meters/100 gr, colorway "Bronte"
Needles: US 1/2.25 mm, magic looped (!)
Gauge: Hunh? Close enough...the pattern is written for women's medium, but with the lace it stretches enough to fit my 9.5" circumference, size 41 feet.
Start/finish: 12 Oct - 31 Oct 2009 (just in time for SAM!)
Comments/mods: Once again, a screamingly fast pattern from Cookie A. The yarn was some I picked up in September at Stash - their Yarn of the Month selection - and I love how the colorway works with the pattern. Since the colors are mostly quite similar (dark green, black, grey) the lighter bits make a nice accent instead of muddying the pattern.

There is a bit of pooling on the soles, but it's not noticeable on the top of the foot, so big deal. The yarn was lovely to work with - a bit on the thinner side of fingering/sock weight (similar to Trekking XXL), but nice and soft, and the dyeing is lovely. I hope it holds up well!

I did change the toe, yet again, since I don't like the steady decrease rate that Cookie uses. Instead I decreased 4 stitches every third round 4 times, every second round 4 times and then every round 4 times. Same number of decreases called for in the pattern, just distributed slightly differently. Other then that, I didn't make any modifications but if I knit these socks again, I will do more repeats on the leg to make them a bit longer. I have a ton of yarn left, even after knitting them long enough for my feet, and while I don't typically like long socks, these are a bit short even for me. I must also mention that I'm now two for two on patterns with errata from this book. I hope that's not true for the whole thing, but I will be sure to double check before I start Installment #3. Which is looking like it will be in December, since this month is not conducive to an entire pair of adult socks.

Status update

Well, the good news is that I seem to have broken my standard Halloween pattern, in so much as it is October 29th, and I have two small, un-frillified princess dresses sitting on my dining room table. I have also discovered that I seem to have retained some of the sewing instruction passed down from my mother since I was able to completely wing a "pattern", and cut out these things on the fly.

So, tonight is for putting on ribbons and flowers and other crap. Boo has been invited to wear her costume to school tomorrow, so I need to find a pale blue headband for her to lose as soon as possible.

Unfortunately my other deadline project is still 60+ rows from completion. Lovely yarn, lovely pattern, and they actually fit me, but it may be a rough haul to the finish line.

And just a warning: next month's blogging will be intermittent at best. Not only do I have lots of unbloggable sooper secret Christmas knitting, but I've also taken complete leave of my senses and signed up for this again. Last participated in 2004 before Devil was born, and for some reason, this seemed like the year to start back up again.

Stop looking at me like that!