More socks

OFF MY NEEDLES:

Candy Shoppe socks  #OperationSockDrawer. February 14 - March 14.  This pair is for me.  I used Knit Picks Felici in the Candy Shoppe colorway, and they were knit on US 1 - 2.25mm needles.  The first sock was knit cuff-down with a German Shortrow Heel. I’m not a matchy-matchy person normally, but for some reason I wanted matching socks. I think it had something to do with the colors.  However when I started the second skein for the second sock, the colorway was running in reverse. So the second sock was knit toe-up.  That was actually kind of fun, and I might do that again (cuff-down & toe-up).  

Northern Lights and Northern Lights Redux are two pair of ankle socks which were a gift for a friend.  I used Knit Picks Stroll Handpainted in the Northern Lights colorway for both. The Redux pair also used Knit Picks Hawthorne kettle dyed in the Goddess colorway.  The start/finish dates were January 6-22 and February 22 - March 5, respectively.  They were both knit cuff-down with heel flap & gusset on US 1 - 2:25mm needles.

TYoSK 2018

2018 is The Year of Selfish Knitting for me.  Almost all the socks I previously made for myself have either given up the ghost entirely, or taken up seemingly  permanent residence in the darning box.   Replacements must be made.  WIPs must be finished. 

OFF MY NEEDLES: 

Goth Kitty socks

These were started on November 23, 2017 and finished December 26th. They are cuff-down (tubular cast on) with a German short row heel and knit in Knit Picks Felici in the Goth Kitty colorway.  

Punch Bug socks

Started Dec 25, finished Jan 30th.  The yarn is Knit Picks Felici in the Punch Bug colorway. They were knit toe-up with a German short row heel; one sock has a tubular bindoff, the other Icelandic.  I prefer the Icelandic - it's much easier to do, and I like the way it looks.  Icelandic will probably be my go-to bindoff for toe-up socks. 

Owl socks

Started November 2012, finished February 2018, and knit in Zen Yarn Garden's Harmony Semi-solid in the Tumeric colorway, these socks are based on a modified Owlie Socks pattern by Julie Elswick Suchomel.   I used Miyuki-6 MY-1427 Silver Lined Violet beads for the eyes.  

FO Parade

OFF MY NEEDLES:

Top Left: Whimsical Socks finished 17 Feb 2016. The Simple SKYP Socks pattern knit in Miss Bab's Cosmic base in Whimsical colorway. I used 2.25mm (US1) needles as I do for all my socks done in fingering weight yarn.

Top Right: Confetti socks finished 28 Jan 2016 are vanilla socks (my pattern) in Knit Picks Hawthorne in Confetti Speckle colorway. 

Bottom Left: Coffee Shop socks finished 2 Jan 2016 are my vanilla socks with a basic K3 P1 rib, and were knit in Knit Picks Stroll in the Coffee Shop colorway.

Bottom Right:  Glacier colorway from Knit Picks Felici self-striping yarn line was used for these vanilla socks finished on 20 Dec 2015.

I also knit fingerless mitts for myself in the Winding Way Mitts pattern by Cheryl Beckerich out of my Mother of Dragons colorway Handspun (Merino, cashmere, silk). I finished on 14 Jan 2016.

And I finished another block (#13) for the Log Cabin blanket.  This one was an experiment in using up small amounts of yarn leftovers from previous blocks. I call it the 4-in-1 block. It needs a little tweaking but overall I'm pleased. 

March knitting

OFF MY NEEDLES 

The  Rainbow socks are finished. These are my basic cuff down sock with a Strong Heel knit in Knit Picks' Felici yarn in the Rainbow colorway. 

I also finished these cuff down vanilla socks in Knit Picks Hawthorne yarn in Ladd's Addition colorway  my first time knitting with this yarn and I liked it. It will be interesting to see how well they hold up in use. 

And last but not least are two more pair of baby socks, one in Kroy Socks blue-brown marl, and the other Monster socks from yarn scraps I had with me. 

Start with a bang

OFF MY NEEDLES:

I finally decided what to knit with the Handspun yarn I made with all those Phat Fiber samples.  I cast on the Spectrum Scarf on December 24th using size 9 needles (5.5mm) and just knit until it was wide enough.  I finished on January 20th and used about 290 yards.  I still have one skein and a little bit left.  Final measurements: 58 inches long and 8 inches wide.

Lissie chose a skein of  Biscotte & Cie Felix base in the Conte de Fee A colorway for her birthday socks.  It's a self-striping yarn so I suggested the Fruit Stripe Gum socks pattern by Leah Oakley,  I started them on January 22nd and finished on February 1st.   It was a very easy pattern and I look forward to using it again.

The Mona Lisa socks I started on October for #OperationSockDrawer are finally finished (February 5th).  This is self-striping yarn from Desert Vista Dyeworks in their Viso base, Mona Lisa colorway.  I used a Strong Heel, but otherwise they are my standard plain vanilla socks.  Very nice yarn to work with. 

In February, I also made a little pair of socks for Matthew to wear over his regular socks. It's out of Kroy Socks FX in their clover colors colorway.  They are big enough to fit him next winter too.

ON MY NEEDLES:

I started my poll winning January Challenge socks - Water for the Elephants by Rose Hiver - on Jan 24th in Knit Picks Stroll in Gypsy Tonal (red) and natural colorways.   This is about halfway through the first leg:

Jan's birthday socks were started on Feb 1st (a wee bit late there, but oh well) out of Knit Picks Hawthorne in the Ladd's Addition colorway.  The first sock is done and I'm on the heel flap of the second:

My February Challenge socks - made out of the brightest yarn in my stash - were started on Feb 19th.  I chose Knit Picks Felici in the Rainbow colorway.  These will be second pair for Lissie.  First sock leg:

Also in the queue to be started are the March Challenge socks from the oldest yarn in my stash, which I believe is Lisa Souza Sock!; olive drab socks for Socks For Soldiers group; five pair of socks as gifts for others; and Dither by General Hogbuffer for me in KP Chroma's Buttermint & Black colorways.  Guess this is the year of the sock for me!

Tis The Season...

...for frantic finishing of knitting and spinning WIPs.

OFF MY NEEDLES:

The blue socks I started on Aug 9th out of Schachenmayr Regia Racing Color were finished on Dec 2nd.  They are a men's size 9 with nine inch legs, and are my eighth pair of socks this year.

ON MY NEEDLES:

On my needles are the usual assortment of socks in progress and holiday gifts.   Also, have a few gauge swatches going for the three or four sweaters I have planned to knit for Project Sweater Chest.   I'll be casting on for the BFL Delight and Pagoda sweaters when I get back home in a few weeks.   

ON MY WHEELS/SPINDLES:

Back in August I revisited my Promise spinning which I first started in summer of 2012.  I'm spinning this from the fold and will chain ply.  Promise is a 50/50 blend of SoySilk and Wool from Tempted.  My August/September spinning on this was done on my Barebones spindle.  However, the bulk of spinning was done the end of November on my wheel, but it hasn't been plied yet. 

OFF MY WHEELS/SPINDLES:

I spun approximately half of a four ounce braid of superwash BFL in the Maple colorway for the Howarts at Ravelry Deputy Headmistress Interhouse Unity challenge back in August.   The fiber is from Sweet Georgia and I used my Barebones spindle.   

 I spun and plied the second half on my Sidekick wheel Oct 28-Nov 4th.  I finished with about 306 yards of 2ply yarn that looks like this:

The BFL Delight yarn I started spinning during Spinzilla in October I finished in November.  Total yardage of 2ply yarn is 2,537, which I'm hoping will be enough for a sweater.  All the fiber for this yarn is  Bluefaced Leister from either Crown Mountain Farms (white plus the Novalis and Bacchus colorways) or Miss Babs (Dark Secrets colorway). 

 

Finish Line Crossers

Which is another way of saying I've got some Finished Objects here.


OFF MY NEEDLES:


Genell's socks were started on July 31 and finished on Oct 8th. I used the pattern from Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder (which I've used before) for the legs/instep on my own basic cuff down pattern. The yarn is Zitron Trekking, and I used about 312 yds.  This is pair six for this year.

I started a pair of Monster Socks on Oct 3rd for the Sock Knitters Group Monster Sock KAL, and finished them on Oct 31st (appropriate I thought). They are toeup with a reverse Strong heel using an assortment of leftover sock yarns, handspun Itty Bitty Bits samples and Phat Fiber yarn samples. No plan or pattern followed except I used the same color for the heels, toes and cuffs.  I really had a lot of fun making these and can't wait to start another pair. These are pair #7 for this year.

OFF MY SPINDLES/WHEEL:


 I fractal spun four ounces of Wensleydale fiber in the Spunky Eclectic Jello Shots colorway on Sadie, my Sidekick wheel, and plied it on Jack, my Hansen for approximately 340 yds of 2ply (112 grams).   This Wensleydale fiber was a little more coarse than others I've spun, and because I tend to spin all my singles with a high twist, my singles were a little wirey.  So I loosely plied in hopes it would soften them up. I think it helped.

Spinzilla Spinning:
I went into Spinzilla this year as a Rogue Spinner.  I had a wonderful time last year on The Knit Girllls team, but had no idea how much I'd get done this year and didn't want to let a team down, so I went Rogue.

I went through my stash and pulled out 36 ounces of BFL top in both white and handdyed.  I wanted to see if I could spin a sweater's worth of 2ply yarn.  I didn't. I only got three skeins done, but I had fun trying.   I pulled:
 1lb white BFL top from Crown Mountain Farms spun semi-woolen on wheels from the fold from fauxlags
Crown Mtn Farms dyed BFL in Bacchus and Novalis colorways, 8oz each. Spun on wheels semi-woolen from the fold from drum carded batts
Miss Babs dyed BFL in Dark Secrets colorway 4oz spun semi-woolen from the fold on spindle and wheel

 One strand of white plied with one of Novalis or Dark Secrets gave me 3 skeins totaling 231 grams, 1,827 yds plus 296 yds white BFL. Total Spinzilla yardage: 2,123.

This yarn, plus the rest of this spinning I've dubbed BFL Delight, will be finished shortly, and I'll be using it to make a pullover for myself for #ProjectSweaterChest.  I hope to cast on by the beginning of December.


...to be continued....


BROUGHT TO ME BY: 
Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:
Audiobooks: To The Grave and In The Blood both by Steve Robinson;
DVDs:   Murder She Wrote; The Big Bang Theory; Rizzoli & Isles; Bones; Moonlight; Harry Potter: Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets; Hawaii 5-0; Blue Bloods;
Pod/VideoCasts: The Knit Girllls; Two Tangled Skeins;








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Tour de Fleece 2014

The first week of the Tour de Fleece I finished spinning the remainder of my Phat Batts, this:

And spun it into four skeins of worsted weight, thick and thin, chain ply yarn totaling about   426 yards.

My second project, spinning sock yarn from some lovely gray Finn/Lincoln cross fleece I hand combed is a traditional worsted spun 3ply with two singles strands spun clockwise and one counterclockwise, and plied counterclockwise. I've never spun this kind of yarn before so I was eager to see what happens.  I ended up with about 299 yds of 3ply which isn't enough for a full pair of socks but would work if I use a different yarn for the legs.

It probably should have more plying twist to be a good sock yarn. I may add that later on.

My third project was to finish plying the 2x2 cabled yarn I was making from the Rambouillet/Montedale cross fleece. I thought I'd finished it several months ago but found some extra bobbins tucked in a corner.  The end result is about 61 yds worth of worsted weight yarn.

Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:  
  Audiobooks:. Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas; The Vampire King by Heather Killough-Walden; Curtains For Three by Rex Stout;           
  DVDs etc:   Murder She Wrote; The Big Bang Theory; Witches of East End; Moonlight;              
  Pod/VideoCasts:  The Knit Girllls; Two Tangled Skeins; Twinset Designs; Yarnspinners Tales; Knitmore Girls;                                    

Dashing Through the FOs

  The finished May Day project - socks knit in Miss Bab's Cosmic yarn in Vlad colorway - was started March 20th and finished May 5th.  The stitch pattern is from Simple SKYP Socks by Adrienne Ku and the heel is from Basic Strong Heel Socks by Gerdine Crawford-Strong.  

  STASH DASH - PART 1:

Stash Dash, sponsored by The Knit Girllls, began on May 23rd and runs through August 7th.  This year our goal is 5k of yarn (5,468 yards).  

Over these first few weeks I finished: 

1) The second bump of Annunaki at Tiaman colorway from Crown Mountain Farms. I started spinning this fiber January 1st-ish and finished May 24th.  All singles were spindle spun and chain plied on either spindle or wheel (depending on whether I was home or on vacation). Some of this fiber was used to teach spindle spinning, which is why my 394 yards weighs only 3.7 ounces. Total singles yardage is 1,182, and the average wpi is 16.  

2) The white Oxford/Border Leicester cross fleece (10.1 oz raw, 8.5 washed) was hand combed then run through my drum carder, and spindle spun semi-woolen for a traditional 3ply yarn that was plied on either spindle or wheel from plying balls.  I got 306 yards (164 grams) of 3ply DK weight from 918 yards of singles.

3) Another leisure hat for the Socks For Soldiers group (168  yds) from leftover sock yarn. Started May 8th, finished June .

4) Spun Cloudlover's merino/cashmere/silk blend in the Mother of Dragons colorway.  This four ounce bump gave me approximately 350 yards (underestimated - twist hasn't been set yet - probably higher) of yarn with an average wpi of 15. It was wheel spun semi-worsted and chain plied. Start/Finish June 6-19. 

5) a small, 17 yd woven rectangle made on a mini loom I got to make washcloths with some old yarn that I don't like knitting or crocheting with.  Not too bad for a first try but I definitely need practice.





Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:    
  Audiobooks: Skinwalker by Faith Hunter; The Tale of Briar Bank by Susan Wittig Albert; These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer; The Black Echo by Michael Connelly;          
  DVDs etc:   Murder She Wrote; Veronica Mars Movie; The Big Bang Theory;                  
  Pod/VideoCasts:  The Knit Girllls; Two Tangled Skeins; The Knit Wits; Twinset Designs;                                  
 

Fly-By Month

Wow! I can't believe how quickly April went. Seems like it just started last week and already it's May.

OFF MY NEEDLES:

I finished adding the feet to a pair of OD (Olive Drab) socks for Socks For Soldiers. The fourteen inch legs were knit on a Circular Sock Machine by Marolyn. Team knitting the socks this way saves hand knitters like me a good deal of time and effort (and seriously - fourteen inches of ribbing is mind numbingly tedious so I really appreciate the CSM knit legs).

I also finished my second tan regulation beanie for Socks For Soldiers. Both hats, two pair of regulation socks and two pair of leisure socks were sent out to Kim early in the month.

For my next box of hats and socks for Kim I've completed a leisure hat and started a regulation hat and a pair of leisure men's socks. Here's the finished leisure hat:





I expect I'll have Bob's Socks and the May Day project finished within the first week of May, and then I'm hoping to have the Charlotte Bronte Shawl, the Owlie Socks and some more SFS hats and socks done by the end of May. I'm participating in this year's 5k Stash Dash this Summer so I'll be waiting until Stash Dash started to finish a bunch of knitting and spinning WIPs. Yay for stash busting!

March Finishers

I've done a fair bit of fiber prep and spinning during March and also some knitting. Enough knitting that I did manage to finish a couple of projects.

OFF MY NEEDLES:

The Fleegleized Panda socks I started on Jan 3rd are finished.

They are toe-up using the stitch pattern from Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder and Fleegle's No Flap heel. The yarn is Panda Cotton, a bamboo/cotton/nylon blend which I found to be very splitty. It was annoying enough that I don't think I'd use this yarn again. Also, I'm not into ankle socks so I had to use every scrap of yarn to get a decent size sock leg. I did like the heel pattern and would use it again.

I finished my first regulation cap of the year for the Socks For Soldiers group. It was started on February 28th and finished on March 22nd, using tan Regia 4ply yarn (color is off in the picture).

Balancing Act

Until this past week, I hadn't touched my spinning in ages - at least since early January. Mostly, I'm just knitting. A lot. But last weekend my hands finally said enough, no more knitting straight for hours at a time. So I'm back to alternating - knit for a bit, spin for a while, knit for a while, comb/card fleece for a bit, etc.

ON MY NEEDLES:
The first of the Fleeglized Panda socks is done and the second sock started.


The Charlotte Bronte Shawl has seen some more progress, finally. I finished the first lace border with the beads. The second lace border is about three quarters done. I'm knitting it separately (so I don't have to lug the whole shawl around) and will sew it on the shawl. I chose not to put beads on the second lace border.

I'm up to the heel gusset on the second of Bob's socks. The toe shaping's a bit tricky, but otherwise they're coming along nicely.

The OD (Olive Drab) socks are also progressing nicely, as is the tan regulation cap. Both are for the a socks For Soldiers group.

And if that's not enough WIPs to work on, I cast on stranded colorwork socks and a sweater.


ON MY SPINDLES/WHEEL:

There are a number of open spinning projects on my Spindles and Wheel, but the three main projects are:

(1) During the Fall and into early December I worked on the Rambouillet/Montedale cross pre-washed fleece I purchased several years ago.  I hand combed the fleece then wheel spun it in a smoothed, attenuated long draw. This will be a 4ply cabled yarn (spun z, 2ply s, cabled z).

The spinning is finished. And I am more than halfway through plying the 2ply yarn.  In fact in early December I took the first bobbin of 2ply yarn and plied it back on itself for my first skein of cabled yarn. 

Unfortunately, I was distracted and in a hurry and made a total hash of it. To say it is overplied is a major understatement.  I gave it a nice hot bath and thwacked the ever-loving shit out of it but it's still a mess.  See:



This is a really nice yarn, very soft, so there's no way I'm chucking it.  I will have to untangle it (I messed up the skein ties too) and run it through again to take out some of the excess twist. I haven't done this before, so I think I will use my Navajo Spindle instead of my wheel - better control.

(2) I recently started spindle spinning (longdraw) some Oxford/Border Leicester crossbreed fleece that I prepped in November.  This fleece was hand combed then run through my drum carder. It turned into rather nice batts and spins easily.

(3) Also started spinning the second Annunaki at Tieman colorway bump I bought last year from Crown Mountain Farms in their going out of business sales. It is four ounces of BFL top which I am spindle spinning (worsted) and will chain ply.  

Fleece prep-wise, I'm sampling (combing, carding 2&3plying) a multicolored Perendale fleece, some black & white Jacob fleece, and some llama fleece.


Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:
  Audiobooks: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon;                      
  DVDs etc:   Rizzoli & Isles; Murder She Wrote; Veronica Mars;              
  Pod/VideoCasts:  The Knit Girllls; Round the Twist;  The Knitmore Girls; Two Tangled Skeins;                        
 

Casting Off

OFF MY NEEDLES:

I finished my first pair of socks this year, and had my first Ooops! moment at the same time. These socks were Cast On on January first for The Great Hufflepuff Sock Fest. I finished knitting them on January eighteenth, wove in my ends, tried them on, and this is what I got:



That was a first for me - never had a heel come out with that much excess fabric before. So I ripped back both heels about an inch and did decreases as if it was a hat crown. For one sock I kitchenered the remaining stitches closed. For the other sock I drew the yarn through the remaining stitches and cinched it closed. I prefer the look of the latter closure (top sock in the picture).

Here are the finished and fixed socks, knit on 2.25mm needles in the Monsieur X colorway of Biscotti & Cie's Felix base sock yarn.








Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:    
  Audiobooks: Soulless by Gail Carriger;                      
  DVDs etc:   Rizzoli & Isles; Inspector Alleyn Mysteries; Endeavor; Moonlight;            
Pod/VideoCasts:  The Knit Girllls; Round the Twist;  The Knitmore Girls (almost caught up);                    
 

And We're Off....

To a good start for the new year. New projects were started, old ones finished, and decisions made for direction a new year of crafting will go.

ON MY NEEDLES:

January first was the start of a month long sock knit-along in Hufflepuff House in the Hogwarts at Ravelry group (yes, I'm a Hufflepuff and proud of it!). There are no prizes for participating in The Great Hufflepuff Sock Fest, just Badges and a feeling of accomplishment, both of which I love.

I cast on two pair of socks. The first pair is a cuff down afterthought/forethought heel sock in Biscotti & Cie's self striping Felix base yarn in the Monsieur X colorway. I've the first sock (minus the heel) done and am almost halfway through the leg of the second sock since this picture was taken.



The second pair was cast on, frogged and re-cast on. It will be toe-up socks with Fleegle's no flap heel (a first time for me) pattern, and will incorporate the Hermione sock stitch pattern on leg and instep. The yarn is Panda Cotton, a holiday gift from a friend.




2014 GOALS:

This year I will be concentrating on charity knitting and finishing UFOs/WIPs, and also pattern writing. I will also try not to buy anymore yarn until the fourth quarter (and then only as gifts for others). Ideally, I'd like to go an entire year without any stash enhancement, yarn or fiber. For spinning, I will try to spin through as much of my fleece and fiber stash as possible, with an eye towards selling some of it (either handspun yarn or hand processed fiber). An adventure for sure.

I have lots of UFOs/WIPs on my needles that don't seem to be getting anywhere. So the plan is to concentrate on one a month (more than one if they're small like hats or socks). So far, January is a hat and a pair of socks; February will be the Hexipuff Baby Blanket; March, the Charlotte Bronte shawl. The schedule will be reevaluated every quarter as projects get added to or removed from the UFO/WIP list.

The two charities I will concentrate on are first Socks For Soldiers and then Bundles of Joy. Both have been sorely neglected over the last couple of years.


OFF MY NEEDLES:

My first Finished Object of the year is the other Holiday Stocking. I guess technically it's a Re-Finished Object since I frogged the original finished stocking back to the heel beginning and redid the heel and toe. I'm still not entirely satisfied with the toe but it looks a lot better than it did, and frankly, I'm sick of it.

Socks & Hats & Mittens, Oh My

Off My Needles/Hooks:

Remember I said way back in January that I had the urge to do stranded knitting again. Well, I finally did cast on. The first pair of mittens are complete. This is the "La Joie du Printemps" mitten pattern by Heather Desserud, and the yarn is Knit Picks Palette (fingering weight) in Hollyberry and White. I started them on Sept 30th using US1 (2.25mm) needles, and finished them on Oct 29th. I made them a little bigger than the pattern called for to accommodate my wider hands and a lining if they needed it (and they do). Now I have to decide between a knit lining from reclaimed cashmere yarn or a fleece (fabric) lining. Decisions, decisions.



Also working on hats for Cancer Care of Maine in honor of Holly's husband, Mike. I've completed three hats with more planned.







On My Needles/Hooks:
What's on my needles? Socks, socks and more socks! Socks for me, socks for charity, and socks for friends. Like these teasers for three of them:



  


I've almost finished the first mitten of another pair of mittens. These are a semi-surprise gift so no picture until after they've been received.

I cast on Susan Pandorf's "Rivendell Smoke Ring", a lace cowl, in September using my Rise of the Phoenix handspun yarn. I got about three inches done then set it aside to work on other stuff. It was not in a project bag and received unmentionable abuse and neglect resulting in a visit to the frog pond last weekend. It's been restarted and I'm almost back to where I left off. And yes, it's residing in it's own little project bag. Lesson learned.

A variation on the sock theme is Christmas or Holiday Stockings. I've collected the patterns and just need to pick the yarns. I need to make two, one done by Dec 15th, the other by Dec 24th. At least that's the plan.

Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:  
  Audiobooks: First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones; Succubus Dreams by Richelle Mead;                    
  DVDs etc:   NCIS; Bones; Moonlight; Big Bang Theory; Castle; Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries; Angel;                            
  Pod/VideoCasts:  The Knit Girllls; Round the Twist;  Two Tangled Skeins; Out of the Blue/Geek Nation; The Knitmore Girls; TwinSet Designs;