Nameless Socks

Hey, check it out, it's Friday and I actually have a finished object to share *laughs*

I don't think I have actually posted these socks before at all, but they've been my "I have 10 minutes, I'll do a couple of rows" project for a few weeks now.

I haven't blocked them, because I wanted to wear them straight away - blocking socks is really only something I do for the sake of good pictures, and that doesn't always work anyway ;) So please ignore the lumpy bits *laughs* They are the same length, not sure why they don't look it!

They're made from KnitPicks Felici sock yarn - the same yarn I used for my Super Awesome Happy Rainbow socks. I love those socks, the yarn is so soft and they've held up really well, so I asked for some more Felici for my birthday.

I did a garter stitch short row heel. I'd used the technique on a different pair of socks and the heels are nicely bouncy, so I thought I do another set that way. It has nothing to do with laziness and avoiding purling, honest *laughs*

I do have on problem though...

These socks do not have a name. My mum is a big fan of the names I give my socks, but for some reason I haven't found one for these. The colourway is Hummingbird, so they could be Hummingbird Socks, but that doesn't sit right. So, any ideas?!

Colour Review - 4KCBWDAY4

Today's prompt...

What are your favourite colours for knitted or crocheted projects. Have a think about what colours you seem to favour when yarn shopping and crafting.

Only after writing this part of your post should you then actually look to see what colours you have used in your projects. 


Ah, colour. I love colour. My favourite colour is orange (in case you couldn't already tell that from the colour scheme of the blog *laughs*)

I have some gorgeous orange yarn waiting for the right pattern - probably a cardigan, I also love cardigans ;)

However orange probably isn't my go-to colour for yarn purchases. Whenever I buy yarn, I tend to be drawn to greys - I love the colour in general (or lack of colour) and I love wearing it, so I find it jumps out at me for garments...

One thing I know I don't often buy is anything pastel - but I have knit one pastel thing and I love it, so perhaps I should be more open to softer colours in future. In this case, I was drawn to the delicate prettiness of the yarn

Before looking closely at my stash and my finished objects, I think it will be fair to say that for socks, I like a lot of colour. The brighter the better. For garments and other accessories, well, there's the grey thing, but I have a feeling I tend to buy/knit colours in phases....

For example, my Green Phase:

And to illustrate - Socks of Obnoxious Colour

Yep, fair to say I like colour* laughs* Also, there seems to be a fair amount of orange appearing in my sock drawer ;)

For more posts on today's topic, type 4KCBWDAY4 into your search engine of choice and get clicking ;)

Back To The Needles

After my small knitting hiatus (I had stopped enjoying working on pretty much anything) I'm pleased to say I've been back to the needles...

It's been ages since I took a picture of everything together for WIP Wednesday, but this week I have actually worked on everything that is still in progress.

My Firiel shawl is now past the halfway point, so the rows have started to get shorter. Hopefully it won't take too much longer.

My Reggae Reggae sock now has about an inch of leg - quite a way to go as this is the first sock still, but the colours are bright enough to keep my interest *laughs*

And I'm happy to report that my much neglected Celestarium has finally received some attention *grins*

I'm now ready to start the final round of increases. Which doubles the stitch count and will make each row take approximately forever. But hey, progress has been made (adding about an inch all around), and I count that as a win ;)

Spicy Socks

I mentioned yesterday that I'd gotten a little uninspired by my knitting lately. I did manage to finish my Vegas socks, probably because they involved very little thinking *laughs*

I decided to cast on more socks, using yarn that couldn't help but be inspiring... My easyknits deeply wicked skein:

I figured some obnoxiously loud colours would be just the thing to get my motivation back ;)

Yep, that's pretty loud *laughs*

I commented to cunning boyfriend that they looked like chili peppers. He joked that I was making Reggae Reggae sauce - so these have become my Reggae Reggae socks. For those who don't know, the sauce came about following the creator appearing on Dragon's Den (I think the American equivalent is Shark Tank?)

Levi Roots got his investment and Reggae Reggae sauce is pretty popular now.

Anyway, I'm knitting these toe up, as is my preference, but I decided to try doing a flap and gusset heel instead of the short row heel I usually do on toe up socks. It took quite a lot longer, but I love the effect of the Eye of Partridge stitch on the back:

I like the yellow stripe ;)

So far I love how the yarn is knitting up, but it isn't the most fun to knit with. It's very tightly spun so it'll wear well, but it's not the softest on the fingers.

Sock Yarns on Review

Edited to add: As I still haven't taken pictures of my Berwick jumper, I'm leaving this up for FO / Fibre Arts Friday in case it is of interest ;)

I heartily admit that I may have become a little obsessed with sock knitting since my first pair - I still dream of an all-handknit sock drawer and I'm getting there slowly *laughs*

Having said that, it might seem a little too obsessed to have been pondering my sock drawer earlier (sometimes it takes a while to decide which pair to wear) and have then come up with this post...

I was interested to see how some of the different sock yarns I'd used had been holding up, so I thought it might be interesting/useful/none of the above to do a quick review of the most worn socks and their condition.

I've focused on the socks I wear the most, which have all had roughly the same amount of wear (ok, so this isn't a scientific study but I think it'll be sufficient!). Also worth noting - I handwash all my socks, even the ones that can go in the machine.

Princess Unicorn Socks
Yarn: KnitPicks Imagination: 50% Merino, 25% Alpaca, 25% Nylon 

The heel on these has completely felted, which is perhaps unsurprising as the yarn is particularly soft and fluffy. They are the only princess soles on the list, which makes me wonder if that has any additional properties that might affect wear. Now I'm going to have to make more to test this theory *laughs*


Super Awesome Happy Rainbow Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici: 75% merino, 25% nylon

I love these socks. They're my softest pair and they feel like old friends when I put them on. Being so soft, I am pretty impressed with how the yarn is holding up, often the softer yarns are not the most hard wearing. You can see some pilling on the foot, but it is relatively minor. The heels are a bit felted, but the stitches are still in good condition. Overall, I'm pleased with these ;)



Second Socks
Yarn: Zauberball: 75% wool, 25% nylon

I think these socks are in the worst condition of all of them. To be fair, they have been around the longest (side note, my first socks aren't on this list because I don't wear them very often!) but I also don't wear them as much as some of the others any more.

The foot is completely pilled, it's hard to show because of how dark the yarn is but even this picture demonstrates a lot of pilling. Where it's not pilled the yarn is completely fuzzy. This is probably due to the fact that Zauberball is a single plied yarn, so it gets fuzzed really easily. Regardless, they still feel good on my feet - I just wouldn't knit anything with a pattern, it would be completely obscured.


Socks the Third
Yarn: Silky 4 ply Sock: 80% wool, 20% tencel

When I first finished these socks, the yarn felt all weird and squeaky and I wasn't sure I'd like them. After a wash it was all good, they became soft and lovely. They have also held up probably better than any of the other socks. Minor pilling and fuzzing around the heel but nothing really of note.

The only thing I will say is that the yarn hasn't got much spring to it, the ribbing on the cuffs is a lot looser now, and they feel like they have stretched a little. So maybe they're not holding up as well as I think. The colour is still awesome though (I dyed the yarn myself you see *laughs*)

Starpower Socks

Yarn: Skinny Bugga: 80% merino, 10% nylon, 10% cashmere

These are my most expensive socks. They are also the worst for pilling. Because of the colour and the pattern, it was really hard to get a good picture, so I picked the bobbly bits off one of the socks and took a photo of that instead *laughs*:

I was a little surprised at how badly these have pilled, and a little disappointed if I'm honest. I have another skein of skinny bugga in my stash, and I'm pretty sure I won't be knitting socks with it. It is beautiful yarn, but not cut out for socks. A shame really, I like the luxury of having some cashmere on my feet ;)

Multicoloured Swap Socks
Yarn: Drachenwolle: 75% wool, 25% nylon

I debated whether or not to include these, as they're made with German yarn that might not be easily accessible to other people (I got it in a swap). But then I looked at how great the condition was and decided to include them anyway.

They aren't the softest socks in my drawer, but aside from a small amount of fuzziness on the heels, they look the same as the day I finished them.

Drunken Socks of Deformity
Yarn: Moonlight and Laughter Merino Superwash Sock: 100% merino

Sock yarn with no nylon - I expected these to fall apart if I'm honest! They've pilled a little on the feet, and the heels are quite felted, but they're actually much better than I expected. One heel is worse than the other, but if you know the backstory of these socks then that won't come as a surprise ;)

Conclusion

So there you have it - the softest yarns aren't necessarily going to fall to bits after a few wears, the hardiest yarn is still pretty hardy, and the expensive yarn may be best used for something that gets a little less wear than your average pair of socks.

I hope this post has been interesting, or informative, or at least just not horribly dull!

New Sock Days Are Good Days

For some reason, I have saved my Ice Cream Waffle socks to wear after blogging about them - so now that I have taken pictures and am composing my FO / Creative Friday post, they have finally made it on to my feet *laughs*

I really like the way the yarn pooled on the foot - but then, I actually like it when my sock pools into interesting patterns ;)

I'm not 100% convinced by these socks, sadly. I knit them to the pattern size that had 64 stitches, because I pretty much always knit 64 stitch socks. However that's when they are plain, and this pattern has very little give in it. So they're a little snugger than I would normally like, even after blocking.

When they're on my feet, the way they stretch makes the pattern quite hard to see, which is a shame because it is a nice pattern (V Junkie)

I really like the circles/waffle effect. I'm not too sure about the cuff though, I think a ribbed cuff tends to make a bit more sense, the one in the pattern has a tendency to roll.

One thing I am liking so far is the heel - it's a short row heel but done in garter stitch instead of stocking stitch. I wasn't too sure how that would feel on, but it's really soft and bouncy. Time will tell on that though! If it works, I might do all my short row heels this way - no purling required *laughs*

I have just under half a ball of this yarn left, and I have some plain brown yarn too - so there may be some interestingly striped socks in my future. But I have a lot of sock yarn, so that probably won't happen for some time!

I know I mentioned on Wednesday that I have a few more finished objects to share, but I think I'll save those for another Friday ;)

It's Been A While

Wow, it seems like ages since I participated in a Work in Progress Wednesday/Yarn Along.

I think a fair bit has probably changed - I finished my Berwick jumper/sweater and my Ice Cream Waffle socks (one or both will appear on Friday *grins*) and I have ripped out my diagonal stripe socks. They just weren't working for me and I want to make sure the lovely yarn gets the right pattern.

Also since I last posted a project round-up, I have started and finished a shawl. I'm quite excited about it, but again, I'll save that for a Friday ;)

So, current projects...

I'm still working on my Celestarium, although I haven't actually done more than a couple of rows in weeks. I think the combination of 4 charts plus beading apparatus makes it a bit more of an undertaking than I've been in the mood for lately.

Frogging my socks meant that I had an opening for new socks - I can't not have socks on the needles *laughs* These are my Vegas socks - using yarn I bought in, wait for it, Las Vegas.

I'm really enjoying using this yarn, Tofutsies - it's made of 50% Superwash Wool, 25% soysilk brand fiber, 22.5% Cotton and 2.5% Chitin (apparently made from shrimp and crab shells). Anyway, it's really soft. This is sock 2, I already have the first one finished. 

After finishing my last shawl, I have been quite taken with the idea of knitting lots of them, so I cast on another ;) The pattern is Firiel, and the yarn is Nooch, and it is so very squooshy that I want to buy many, many more skeins *laughs*

It doesn't look like much now, but when it is blocked it'll be lovely, honest! 

Well, They Got Finished And That's The Best I Can Say About Them!

I have a finished project that I haven't posted about despite finishing it a couple of weeks ago... Well, by "finished" I pretty much mean "cast off because I was sick of it" *laughs*

Behold - The Noro Socks of Frustration and Disappointment:

While the colours are great, I don't like anything else about them *laughs* The yarn was awful to work with, thick and thin, it came apart in my hands at least 3 times, and just rough and unpleasant to the touch.

I haven't blocked them yet, but hopefully a soak in some hair conditioner will soften them up!

Because I got sick of them, they're really short and hard to photograph without looking weird, so I tried to take an arty shot...

*laughs* Not my best work!

When I split the ball of yarn into 2, I decided to wind one ball in a different direction to the other, so that I would get a kind of upside down mismatch...

It worked, but I gave up on them before I finished a full colour repeat. I tried but in the end decided that knitting something that I got no pleasure out of was a bad plan so I cast off early. And that was such a good feeling!

Sock KAL 2

Well, last week I had cast on the toes but hadn't decided what pattern I was planning to use *laughs* I'm happy to say that the pattern has been selected (sort of, I'll explain shortly!) and I have made a small amount of progress...

The yarn (Juno Fibre Arts Buffy Sock) is knitting up beautifully, I love the splashes of red and blue.

As for the pattern... Well, it is based on the Embellishing Hilda Sock pattern, but with some modifications. The pattern has 4 repeats of the diagonal lines, but I'm only doing 2. I am also considering reversing the direction of the diagonal once I get to the left side of the sock, to make a zig zag pattern instead - although then I'll have to decide what to do on the rear of the leg.

Oh, and I'm not reversing the pattern on the second sock - but that's not really a design decision, it's because I forgot *laughs*

I'll probably do a regular short row heel rather than the heel in the pattern, mainly because the pattern writing is slightly confusing and I'm too lazy to decipher it. Plus, I like short row heels.

Actually, talking of heels - usually I do the short row type over half of the stitches (my usual cast on is 64, so the heel goes across 32). On my Ice Cream Waffle socks, the heel is done over 29 stitches for some reason, and from trying on the first sock it seems to fit better than usual. So I might use these to experiment with a narrower heel. The design is flexible enough that it won't disrupt the pattern.

Click the picture below to head over to Sarah's blog and check out everyone else's links :)

Tiny Progress Pile

It's funny how having too little time to craft also leaves me with too little material to post *laughs*

I tend to make a fair amount of my knitting progress at the weekends, but this weekend turned out to be very busy (I even did spring cleaning!) so I don't have a lot to show for the last week...

To be fair, that is sleeve 2 of 2 *laughs* And I have turned the heel on Ice Cream Waffle Sock 2, so it could be worse!

I am trying really hard to get these both done, because they are the second of their kind, which is always dull and repetitive. On the plus side, finishing the sleeve will mean I am almost done with my Berwick, and that is exciting because I really want to wear it *laughs*

Oh, I have also made some progress on my knitalong socks, but I'll post about them tomorrow!

Sock KAL 1

So, today is the start of the Sock Knitalong, hosted by Sarah of Crafts from the Cwtch.

I have selected the yarn I'll be using....

This gorgeous Juno Fiber Arts, Buffy Sock (which just so happens to have been a gift from the lovely Sarah *grins*)

I have cast on, however I still haven't quite finalised the pattern I plan to use *laughs* As I'm doing the socks 2 at a time, toe up, I have knit the toes and now I'm narrowing down my choices.

The yarn is so pretty, with splashes of red and blue, and I really want to make the most of it. I think I want to go for a pattern with something like slipped, winding or twisted stitches, pretty but not too bulky. There isn't too much variegation, so I can afford to make something with a bit of pattern as it won't get completely lost.

Currently my frontrunner is Charybdis... But you never know ;)

Lots

Hi there - it seems like a while since I posted, thanks to being ill lately :(

On the plus side, I wasn't too ill to knit, so I have made some decent progress on a couple of projects *laughs*

Check it out - Berwick is all finished in the body. I even did some of the finishing so that I don't have to do it all at the end. Also, seaming the shoulders meant I could try it on and check that I'm happy with the length *laughs*

I always seem to make garments too short. Sometimes through lack of yarn, sometimes as a choice and often because I get bored of the body part ;) This time, I have made it the right length, so I'm pretty pleased. Now all I have to do is knit the sleeves, pocket edgings and the giant neck, and it'll be done.

And I've already started on the first sleeve ;)

From the top picture you can also see that I have knitted most of the leg of my second Ice Cream Waffle Sock, a few rows left and I'll be turning the heel.

As ever, if you want more lovely knitting and yarn along content, head to Tami's and Ginny's *smiles*

Ice Cream

This picture may look remarkably similar to last week's, but there is one important difference...

This is sock 2 *grins*

Do you ever get a project that just won't let you put it down? Because I don't think I have picked anything else up this week. Hence finishing the first sock relatively quickly. And being sensible and casting on for sock 2 right away.

I think part of it was the pattern - it was easy to get sucked into the "just one more repeat" mindset *laughs*

Based on the colours and pattern, these socks are hereby known as my Ice Cream Waffle Socks (ok, so the blue is a slight addition to the neopolitan ice cream look, but never mind!)

One thing about these, I cast on for the smallest size as I have small feet, but the pattern hasn't got much stretch. So I have made the leg a little shorter than normal, which means sock one only used 1/4 of the yarn. 2 pairs of socks from this one skein might be possible, which is awesome *grins*

Sock KAL

I mentioned yesterday that I have cast on a new sock, to make up for the annoyance I am feeling at my Noro socks (hate the yarn, it tangles every few stitches. I'll finish them, but I won't like it!)

New sock - has another repeat since last night but I forgot to take a new picture!

Anyway, I had already decided to join in with the latest Knitalong (KAL) from Sarah at Crafts from the Cwtch. So, you may wonder why I have already cast on, if the KAL hasn't started yet (the official start date will be Thursday 24th January)

Well, as I am knitting these socks one at a time, I thought the community aspect of a knitalong would help me to try and overcome second sock syndrome - but if I want to have a hope of getting to the second sock in the appropriate timespan, I needed to start right away *laughs*

This is a fairly long-winded way of saying:

• Sarah is having a sock KAL - check out her blog today for details
• I am participating, because I love socks
• I have already started, but that's ok because reasons

Anyway, although I don't consider myself an expert by any stretch of the imagination, I have knitted socks toe up, top down, one at a time, 2 at a time, on DPNs and using magic loop - so if anyone has any questions during the KAL, I'll do my best to help!