Socks, Socks, and More Socks

In January, I started the Certified Public Manager Program through KU's Public Management Center.  Knowing that I would have less time for knitting between working full time and having homework, I decided at most of my knitting was going to have to be fairly mindless this year.  Fortunately for me, basic stockinette socks are pretty mindless for me.  I have to concentrate a little when working on the heel and toe, but other than that, I can pretty much go on autopilot.

Since finishing the socks I made for Christmas gifts, I have completed another five pairs of socks.  The last three pairs I have done in the last three weeks.  Yes, I managed to make three pairs of socks that fit me in less than three weeks.  There have been a lot of changes at work, and while some have resulted in less stress, others have resulted in more stress.  At least sock knitting is a good way for me to deal with it.

I started the Kiwi Socks on January 8, 2011 using some Steinbach Wolle Strapaz Norweger Ringel in a green colorway that I purchased at The Studio Knitting & Needlepoint in Kansas City, Missouri.  After starting them, I noticed that they did not match.  To deal with it, I decided to call them Another Pair of Dobby Socks.  I like my socks to match, and when they do not, it bothers me.  Calling them Dobby Socks makes it a bit easier to handle.  However, after finishing them, two different friends remarked that they made them think of Kiwis (the fruit), so I renamed them.  Because I also worked on some other projects during this time, I did not finish them until February 17, 2011.

I started the Bryce Canyon Socks on February 18, 2011 and finished them on March 8, 2011.  I made these for a friend of mine, using Universal Yarns Ditto in the Bryce Canyon Black colorway.  When I was initially looking for a suitable yarn for his socks, I saw the colorway and knew it was perfect, because he has actually been to Bryce Canyon.  As I continued working on this pair of socks, it became readily apparent they did not match.  The stripes lined up just fine, but they looked like they were made from different dye lots.   When I bought the skeins of yarn, I made sure they all had the same dye lot, and if you held the yarns up together, they look the same, but as you can see, they look rather different when knitted up.

Luckily my friend did not care that they do not match exactly.

I started the Salt River Socks on March 8, 2011 and finished them on March 14, 2011.  For these I used Wisdom Yarn's Marathon Sock in the Phoenix line.  When I made socks for my stepsister and stepsister-in-law, I was a bit jealous, because I really liked this yarn.  Now I was finally making a fair for me in this yarn.

After these I made a pair of sock using Regia's Kaffe Fassett Design Line in the Mirage Jungle colorway.  I started these on March 15, 2011 and finished them on March 20, 2011.

I started the Grönland socks on March 21, 2011 and finished them on March 26, 2011.  I used Regia's Jacquard in the Grönland colorway.

Projects, Projects, and More Projects

I know I have been really bad about blogging. While I have been knitting, I just have not been in the mood to blog about it. Usually I just post on facebook and Ravelry. Then in July a close friend committed suicide, and I definitely was not in the mood to blog. However, now that the year is coming to a close, I figured I really needed to update on my projects.

Last January I bought some Berroco Sox in a black and tan colorway, and I immediately got the idea of naming a pair of socks the Ultimate Irish Rebel Socks. One of the songs we sing at the pub is "Come Out Ye Black and Tans," and for a while it was considered the ultimate Irish rebel song. As I understand it, some of the British in Ireland wore uniforms cobbled together from whatever they had and were called Black and Tans. In the song there is a line about the British walking all over the Irish, and now the Black and Tan socks are getting walked in. (For the record, I have both British and Irish heritage).

After I finished that pair of socks I started on Anne Podlesak's Rattlesnake Creek Socks. I used Jojoland Ballad in Bay Blue to makes these. This yarn felt so wonderfully soft in the skein, but it did not feel quite as soft while knitting it. However, the socks softened up nicely after washing. Unfortunately, I recently discovered that one of the socks had a hole in it (and I had not even really worn them yet), so I ripped out past that point and am knitting it again.

Next I started some socks using Regia Galaxy Color. I started these in June, but I did not finish them until November. These were often put on hold to work on other projects, which I will talk about shortly.

I made two more pairs of socks after this--one for my stepsister and one for my stepsister-in-law. I made the pair for my stepsister in law out of Wisdom Yarns Marathon Sock in the McClintock colorway, since Shirley likes greens. This was the first pair of socks I had made for someone else, and frankly I was a bit jealous. I really like this yarn. It felt fairly nice while knitting it, and it felt even better after it was washed. Shirley seemed to like them--she put them on after getting them and modeled them. I made my step-sister's socks out of the same yarn but used the Camelback colorway, since Susan likes browns. I finished her socks up on Christmas Eve then washed them. Susan seemed to like them pretty well.

However, I did not just work on socks over the last few months. In June I started Kerra Quinn's Felted Chess Set. My dad did a lot for me while I was so sick last year, and I wanted to make this for him. I got most of the pieces done over the summer, but after a while I put them aside to work on other stuff. I finished these up on November 28 and gave them to Dad when I went for Thanksgiving dinner (my parents had their's the Sunday after Thanksgiving due to scheduling issues). Dad really liked it and he even set it up in a position.

This summer I joined a knit along where we made fingerless gloves to send to Marines serving in Afghanistan. I ended up making two pairs. My friend Stepheny also made two pairs, and her husband Rob made one as well. To save on postage, we sent all of ours at once to the guy who started the knit along. He later reported we sent fourteen pairs to Afghanistan.

I also had three baby blankets to make this fall. I use A Simple Baby Blanket with Knit-On Lace Edging by Nancy T. McGlynn. I found this pattern online years ago, but lately I have not been able to find it anywhere, otherwise I would provide a link to it. My cousin Kayla was expecting her second child in October, so I made a blanket for her. A coworker and his wife were expecting their first child in December, so I made one for them. My friends Shane and Nancy were also expecting a baby right before Christmas. Kayla knew she was having a boy, so I made her a blue blanket. Brett and Annie knew they were having a girl, and I do not care for pink, so I made them one that is a pale yellow. Shane and Nancy opted to not find out their baby's gender, so I opted for green as a neutral choice.

Between the first two baby blankets, I made a lap blanket for my grandmother's 90th birthday. She resides in a very nice nursing facility that is more like a big house than a nursing home, and a bunch of us gathered for her 90th birthday. Many of us were not sure what to get her, and I decided I might as well put my talents to use and make her something. As I understand it, she spends quite a bit of time sitting in chair in one of the sitting rooms just looking out the window, and it occurred to me she could use a lap blanket. I used some yarn I had in my stash and looked for a pattern on Ravelry that would work with the amount of yarn I had. Unfortunately, even though the pattern only called for 525 yards and I had over 600, I still ran out and had to get another skein of yarn. I did not get the same dyelot, but it does not really matter for this one.

Okay, back to socks, well sort of. One of my friends collects magnets, so I ended up getting a few magnets to give him when I did the 2010 Central Kansas Yarn Shop Hop. I also decided to make him a couple of magnets. I made a couple of tiny socks using Debbie Jennings' Key Chain Sock Blocker pattern using leftover sock yarn and size 0 needles. Once I finished the socks, I used some adhesive magnet backing that I purchased at Michael's.

More projects

While I have not been very good about blogging lately, I have been pretty good about knitting. Since Ravelympics, I have finished two pairs of socks, a pair of mittens, and a pair of fingerless gloves.

For some reason I got on a mitten kick. I have downloaded a number of patterns, and so far I have made one pair of mittens. I made the Rubya'it Mittens (available on Ravelry) by Heather Desserud using Black Louet Gems (fingering) and Wisdom Yarns Poems Sock Yarn in the Vista colorway. Because the first mitten only ended up using green and blue from the ball of Poems Sock Yarn, I used the another portion of the same colors for the other one. I have not gotten around to blocking them yet, so one is a bit bigger than the other.

After finishing the mittens, I felt the urge to make another pair of socks. I opted to use Brown Sheep Company's Wildfoote Luxury Sock Yarn in the Blue Grass colorway. It is the same basic sock pattern I do for most of my socks, but I think they turned out very well.

After finishing that pair of socks, I felt like making another pair of socks. This time I opted to use Regia's Kaffe Fasset's Design Line in the Landscape Jungle colorway. It is the same basic sock pattern, but I used a sturdy heel instead of a short-row heel. When the yarn tends to stripe, I find I do not always care for how it pools on the short row heel.

I also started on a pair of cabled fingerless mitts, but they are currently on time out. Needing another project I opted for another pair of fingerless gloves using the pattern and Laines du Nord Guinco.

Proscastination

I don't know what it is, but lately I just have not felt like knitting much. I even procrastinated on this blog post--I started thinking about a few weeks ago. I mentioned this to my friend Brian, and told him that I could envision my dad bursting into song and him (Brian) coming up with some pun. He told me I was an amateur crastinator until I got paid for it.

I started working on the Celtic Knot Stole by Sarah Kendra Hughes on February 13, 2009. I am not an accomplished lace knitter, so it has been slow to progress. If I am lucky I can get 3 or 4 rows done in an hour.


It is also not a good project to work on at the pub. Yes, I have knit complicated stuff at the pub before, and I have worked on this there before. I did finish up a couple pairs of socks during this time, but one those it was just a matter of weaving in the ends. I also managed to make another pair of Maine Morning Mitts for my friend Sharon.

Socks in Regia with peasant heel:


Socks in Lane Cervinia with sturdy heel:


Sharon's second pair of fingerless mitts:

Lohengrin Socks

It took about three weeks, but I finished the pair of Lohengrin socks I was working on:


Another view:


I really liked this pattern, but it was a bit tricky doing it two at a time by magic loop method. I would not recommend it for a first attempt at doing two socks at a time, but other than that, I encourage people to try this pattern.

This pattern is available through Ravelry.

Twisted

On November 1, I stopped in at Settlers Farm in Wamego on the way to Manhattan. I bought two hanks of Put Your Best Sock Forward-one in a blue colorway and one in a gray. I mostly do plain old stockinette socks, but I decided I wanted to try a more complicated pattern for socks. I had originally opted to try Eunny Jang's Bayerische Socks. I love the pattern but it just did not show up well with this yarn.

I had recently found Caoua Coffe's Lohengrin Pattern on Ravelry, and I decided to try it instead. I cast on for two socks on Friday and knit some at the pub. I am not sure how many hours I have put into them so far, but I am really liking them. The pattern is much more visible than it had been on the Bayerische Socks.




I still plan to do the Bayerische Sock pattern, but I think I need to use a yarn with a tighter ply

FO--Fifth Pair of Socks

I finished up my fifth pair of socks last Friday, while at the pub. I think they turned out really well.


I washed them today and am wearing them as I type. I know I should get back to other projects, but I feel the urge to start another pair. I have quite a bit of Regia sock yarn, including four colorways of the Kaffe Fassett Design Line, and I also two colorways of Brown Sheep Company's Wildfoot sock yarn.

An Update

Okay, so I have been really bad about updating my blog. For a while I was too busy knitting. Then I was too fatigued to even knit.

Once I was well enough to knit again, I made some progress on the cabled afghan.


I also ended up starting over on the latest pair of socks, but now they match up really well.



I finished turning the heels last night, so now it is on to the feet and toes. I am also thinking about working on the Persephone Scarf some more.

Afghans, Scarves, and Socks, Oh My!

Well, my favorite barrista called in last Wednesday, so I still do not have my size 8 needles back. I did finish another strip of the plaid afghan and seamed them together. I started the third strip this morning and have finished one pattern repeat so far, and I may be able to finish another pattern repeat this evening. The original pattern calls for five pattern repeats, but I am doing six so it is longer. With the two strips seamed together, it is reasonably wide, so I may only need to do another two strips once I finish the one I am working on.

Before the latest cold snap, I started the Persephone Cable Scarf by SmarieK. I am using Brown Sheep Company Nature Spun in Deep Sea. After working on the cabled afghan, I have become used to cabling without a cable needle by holding the stitches in between my thumb and forefinger. I have tried it a bit, but it does not seem to be working as well, so when I go back to working on the scarf, I will probably resort to my trusty flying bird cable needle.

Last Friday at the pub, I started another pair of socks. I am using Schoeller und Stahl Fortissima Sockotta. While the labels indicated they were the same color, I am wondering if one of the yarns was incorrectly labeled. Looks like they are going to be another pair of Dobby Socks.