another pair of socks

Oh hey, look at these socks. What can I say about them?

I bought the yarn back in March to possibly make some socks for my mom, but she had other yarn for me to work with.

I started them on a train somewhere in upstate NY and finished them in a hotel room in Toronto.

They were pretty much the only thing I knit on this summer. I’ve been doing other crafty stuff like quilting, embroidery and rearranging my studio space. It’s still in a state of chaos at the moment, but it’s coming together. I have all my fabric and yarn organized and I even have things set up enough to do some sewing (like those bicycle blocks I made the other day).

Devon

Back at the end of April my friends and I went on a weekend trip to NYC. Now that I’ve said that I hope you’re not expecting some sort of travel photo essay here cause that’s not really my thing. I’m just going to tell you about the knitting I brought along.

I threw a mistake skein of Cherry Tree Hill and a copy of the Devon pattern into a knitting bag. On the train ride down my friends and I noticed that the yarn was doing a kind of revolting pooling thing, but I just kept knitting and several days later, I had socks.

True story.

They’re super colorful.

That’s nine down on the Sock Innovation front and six to go.

 

Sunshine

So, it’s about time I caught up with telling you about some past projects. Ravelry says these socks were made back in April and I’m going to have to go with that. I don’t remember much about making them, but I do seem to remember starting the first one and having to rip it out at least once, maybe twice?

What I can tell you is that these socks are the eighth I’ve made from Sock Innovation, with yarn that was purchased with the book in mind and probably this pattern too, since the name and color seemed to fit so well.

They’re also one of those projects that was finished on the off season, so I don’t expect to have these on my feet again until the fall.

Coming soon: more socks, lace, and a project that is staining my needles blue…

kai-mei

Whenever I look at knitwear I have hanging around my house I’m always brought right back to what I was doing when it was made. Knitting has progressed beyond a sort of hobby and into a way of marking time.

In the case of these socks, I was getting back on the Sock Innovation wagon after a bit of a hiatus. Lindsay was the last one I knit, all the way back in August. I cast these on in mid-March while my friends and I were having a Ghostbusters marathon crafterday.

The yarn is an extra skein I was sent as part of the International Sock Swap. You know, it’s how I got those green socks I put the afterthought heels in a while back.

I think this is the most popular pattern from Sock Innovation. It certainly was as easy one. This is now the first pair in a pile of socks I’m storing up for the fall.

Don’t worry though, I’m in no rush for the seasons to pass. Expect to see a fair amount of socks parading through here this summer. They always do.

sock update

My Rick Socks were featured in the Tanis Fiber Arts Blog earlier this week.

I bought the yarn about a year ago at the Purple Purl in Toronto. They had some sample socks made from the same colorway in the store and it reminded me of some purple laceweight that I had passed on buying several years before. Purple was my grandmother’s favorite color, and I often find myself drawn to craft supplies that remind me of her. It tends to be the case with fabric more than yarn, but this was an exception.

The Rick socks were the fifth pattern I knit from Sock Innovation. I’ve knit five more since then, and I still have five to go. I recently bought Cookie A’s second book, Knit. Sock. Love. and plan on working my way through that after SI is done, which might be as soon as this fall, depending on how much sock knitting gets done this summer.

afterthought

Back in June I participated in the International Sock Swap. The idea was to knit a pair of tube socks for a partner. Meanwhile, someone else was knitting a pair for you. Once your socks arrived it was time to make an afterthought heel. I thought this was a pretty good idea since I’d never done an afterthought heel before, and tube socks were pretty much the ideal summer knit.

I received my socks in September, but only got around to putting in the heels this week. I was looking for something to do and cutting open a sock seemed like the right idea.

My partner made the socks on US 2.5 needles, and I tried the heel with that size first, but I should have known that it would be too loose. I always have to go down at least one needle size to get gauge. I knit an entire heel in the 2.5 just to figure out how it worked before ripping it out though. The final heels were knit with US2 needles, though I really should have gone down another size to get the gauge my partner did. Now I understand why so many people use 2-2.5 needles on their socks and freak out when I mention sometimes using size US0 needles. My knitting is, shall we say, relaxed.

Overall, the heel placement is okay, but it could be better. Not bad for a first try. I don’t really see myself making afterthought heels again though, especially since socks fit better if you make the heels as you go. I did something new though, and that was fun.

snow day socks

So, waaaaay back when I was in Boston (in mid-January) there was a big snowstorm in the forecast and as a result the world was going to end for a day. Since we had advance notice and I had only brought a nearly finished hat as my knitting, I stopped at Windsor Button (I always end up going there twice when I’m in Boston) on my way back from walking all over the place.

Eleven days later these socks were finished.

They’re a very simple 2×2 rib and would not have taken so long, I’m sure, If I didn’t go to NYC (NJ and then back to Montreal) and get all caught up in reading books in the middle of making them.

I’ve been told the colors are very “me”, whatever that means.

international sock swap goods

The one “big” knitting project I worked on this summer was my International Sock Swap Socks. I started them in late June and finished them a few weeks before the deadline at the end of August.

The point was to make a pair of socks with no heel and send them off to someone else. In turn, you would receive a similar package. I’ve never received handknit socks before, though I’ve made tons of pairs for myself. The fun part is adding the afterthought heels, which I’ve never done before. I sent my package to Indiana, and last week I got a package from Nebraska.

This is the only photo I have of the socks I sent. Hopefully, my partner will take some once she’s added her heels. I used the Charade pattern, but staggered the slip stitches every other row to break up the natural striping a bit. The yarn is Yarn Pirate Rebel.

My socks arrived last week. I don’t have any photos of them (I plan on doing a proper photo shoot once I’ve added the heels). But they came with a lovely bag of chocolates and a skein of pretty sock yarn in a very bright shade of coral. Just my style. Thanks swap partner!

Lindsay

It was my mom’s birthday today and so I sent her these socks. It took about a week to make them. It happened to be the week I was visiting her, but I didn’t finish them while I was there.

The pattern is Lindsay, the sixth pair I’ve made from Sock Innovation. (I have my seventh on the needles now.) The yarn is a tweedy Trekking, bought back in April on a trip to Toronto. The garter short-row heel and toe were pretty fun to make. It was nice doing something with socks I never had before.

summer

Fringe is done and it’s already June 25th, so that means summer is in full swing. I have been keeping busy with the following things…

• SpinJam II, 80s movie edition (I plan on making a full post about this in the coming week)
• dealing with my first CSA basket of the year (and making mega salads)
• discovering the wonders of melon liqueur
• knitting on my International Sock Swap socks
• planning wild and crazy trips with new friends
• listening to music with a sort of crazed intensity
• running and dreaming and drinking and pining
• not taking nearly enough photos