Child’s French Sock in Citron Pattern and Diaper Knitting
Long name… for a fairly unsatisfying pair of socks. I dunno. I’m just not loving these. It’s mostly the colour, I think. The yarn is Wired for Fibre “Rita” merino sock in the colour “Opulent”. In the hank it looked like more of a semi-solid, so I thought it would be a good choice for this fairly busy pattern. Unfortunately when I started knitting it, the pink stripes really stood out and started to compete with the stitches. Not good.

Anyway, the pattern is from Knitting Vintage Socks. I knitted both socks at the same time on 2.75mm circulars. Despite looking complicated, the pattern was actually very easy to memorise. I’m still not happy with my lace knitting though. (My yarnovers between two knit stitches are way smaller than my YOs between a knit and a purl. I fear this would be problematic in a larger piece.) I do like the way the diaper knitting continues down on the heel flap. I was finishing the socks at Morris & Sons on Sunday when Mrs Morris came by and admired them. “You like ’em?” I said. “They’re yours. Happy birthday!” At least they’ll go to someone who really likes them. (More pics on Flickr and details on Ravelry.)

bmp Socks
I started these socks back in November as a prize for the Colony of Gamers charity raffle. I sat them aside in December to wait to hear who won (so I could knit the feet the correct size). And I waited… and I waited… and no email! I contacted them a few weeks ago asking what was happening, and still no reply. I figure that means they’re mine, right? Right. So this weekend I finally finished ’em.

The pattern is from Knitty. I happened to have a lot of black and white 5ply in my stash, so I used that instead of traditional sock wool. (I took the needle up to a 3mm.) They look pretty big, but fairisle doesn’t stretch much and they fit me well. I knit them on two circs and followed the pattern pretty much exactly. The shooter was done in duplicate stitch. Cute and retro, huh? (More pics and details on Ravelry.)

Ribbed Socks
These basic-yet-functional socks were a quick project I whipped up for the Snook. The yarn is Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton Fantasy, and I was hoping that the additional cotten content would make them less itchy for his feet. (We’ll see.) I used 2.75mm needles and a single ball was plenty long enough.

The pattern is basically just one that I improvised. I knitted them toe-up at the same time on two circular needles. I used Judy’s Magic Cast-on for the toes, but I decided to try an experiment. Instead of making the toes symmetrical, I decided to do make them more pointed on one side (mimicking the outline of the Snook’s toes). So on each toe, I increased every row on one side, and every few rows on the other side. I don’t know whether it’s going to make them any more comfortable, but it was fun to try. Of course, making separate toes meant that the socks aren’t interchangeable. You have to wear the “right” sock on the right foot. To make it easier to tell them apart, I knitted in an L or R on the back of each leg against a background of reversed stocking stitch. The gusset increases and heel turns were taken from Widdershins. I like doing the reversed turned heel, and I think it fits better and looks nicer than a short-row heel. I did an “eye of partridge” heel for added strength as well.

He put them on first thing this morning so I guess that’s the seal of approval! (More photos on Ravelry and Flickr.)

Twisted Flower Socks
These socks nearly killed me. After cruising along all summer averaging better than one pair of socks per month, these suckers took me more than two months to finally finish. The pattern is by Cookie A. (designer of the ubiquitous Monkey Socks and instigator of the hated “socks and high heels” photo fad), and the yarn is the Knittery’s Merino Cashmere Sock in the special breast cancer pink colourway. I started off using two 2.75mm circular needles to knit both legs at the same time. I cheerfully dived into the first chart (of three!) and within a fortnight had them up to the heels. Then I switched to chart #2 and polished off the heel flaps. Suddenly… I noticed that they didn’t seem very stretchy. I tried them on and the damn things wouldn’t fit over my ankles! So I frogged them back completely all the way to the start. Eventually i started over on 3.25mm needles, which seemed to work a lot better. I think a big part of that is just that this lace-and-cable pattern has very little stretch. (I kinda wish I’d put more ribbing at the top, because I fear they may sag a little.) One reason for my slow speed was the intricacy of this pattern, and the fact that every single row was different from the last. I found it impossible to memorize, especially as the patterns and charts shift every so often. Another impediment was the yarn itself. I have to say, I wasn’t very impressed. Oh it was definitely soft, but it was also very, very splitty. The spin was such that it actually UNTWISTED as you knitted it (and no, it didn’t matter which end of the skein you used). So I’m not sure how robust they’re going to be in the long run. I’m also a little annoyed with how the color striped and pooled (considering how pretty it was in the hank). It competes with the pattern a lot, don’t you think? They’re definitely soft and cozy though, and judging by my own foot, they’re going to be a perfect fit. Hopefully Mom won’t receive them too long after Mother’s Day… (More details on Ravelry.)

Bed Socks for Lynn
These were a very quick project I started a few weeks ago for Amy‘s Mom Lynn, who’s in the hospital right now. I thought they might be nice to keep her toes warm! The pattern is called “Bed Socks in Lemon Pattern Fancy Knit Stripe” from Nancy Bush’s Knitting Vintage Socks. The yarn is Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn, and I actually had quite a bit left over. I knitted them two-at-a-time on two 2.75mm circular needles. The pattern is well-written, and my only complaint is all the bloody k3togs. I hope Lynn likes them! (Cross-posted to Ravelry and Southern Summer of Socks.)

Glib Socks
These are my fifth completed pair for the Southern Summer of Socks, and I think they were the fastest to knit. Less than two weeks from start to finish! I’m still well on track to meet my goal of one pair per month.

This was my first time using the Cascade Fixation. It’s a really weird yarn: 98% cotton, 2% elastic. It’s thick and sproingy and I know a lot of people use it for bathing suits(!). I bought it because the Snook hates wearing wool on his feet, and I figured he might be willing to wear this. All the patterns I could find were either girly or boring though. I mentioned my frustration to Bex, and she remarked that she was working on a simple sock pattern at the moment. She e-mailed me the stitch pattern and it was perfect. (She’s since put the pattern up on Ravelry as a free download.) Read on for the technical details.For the needle size, I looked at the Flame Wave Socks from Interweave’s Favorite Socks. They use 3.5mm on the foot for a women’s sock, but suggest to use a larger needle to make the sock larger. I was also worried about my tension with knitting with such a sproingy yarn, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to go up to the 4mm.

I used Judy’s Magic Cast On for the toe, and then increased up to 50 stitches. (26 on the instep for the patterning, 24 on the sole in plain stockinette.) I knit both socks at once on two circular needles. I had him try them on constantly so I could work out the length of the foot. This stuff stretches A LOT. I used a basic short row heel, and then I picked up an extra two stitches in each gap when I started the leg again. (There’s still a bit of a hole there, but I’ll live with it.) So that brought me up to 55 stitches in total for the leg. Then I just kept going until I was nearly out of wool, when I switched to a 1×1 rib for the cuff.

Very happy with these! Now we’ll see whether they can stand up to the Abominable Feet of Destruction. (Cross-posted to Ravelry and the Southern Summer of Socks.)

Toe-Up Jaywalkers
These are my fourth completed pair for the Southern Summer of Socks (previously: Whitby, Retro Rib, Widdershins). The original Jaywalker pattern took the knitting world by storm a few years back, so I’m a little late to the party. I’d previously made a start on these a few months back but frogged them when I realized they were never going to fit over my ankle. (The pattern is notorious for its lack of stretch.) I later decided to use the toe-up mod instead, so I could better judge the fit and length as I went along. The yarn is Vesper Sock Yarn in the “Tartan” colourway, which I thought would suit the zig-zagginess of the pattern nicely. I knitted them two-at-a-time on two 2.75mm circs, and I used Judy’s Magic Cast-On to start the toe. (Note to self: Next time either use more than twenty stitches or space out your increases better to avoid toe pointiness.) The zig-zag pattern is actually really easy to do and takes two seconds to memorize, but it does make for some odd pooching where you switch from zig-zag to straight stockinette. The worst part of the construction was trying to figure out where to start the gusset increases; the pattern doesn’t really tell you so I had to guess and I ended up reknitting it three times. The reverse turned heel is very nice though, and it seems to be a good fit. I’ll give these an 8 out of 10! (Cross-posted to Ravelry and Southern Summer of Socks.)

Mini Socks and Swatches
I whipped up two little objects last night. The first is a little “Sock Blocker Keychain,” which came in a kit from Robyn’s Nest. Isn’t it cute? I believe the yarn was Lorna’s Laces. The second project is a swatch for my planned Easter Show entry this year: “Road to Golden” from the Fall 2007 Knitscene. (You can see pictures of other people’s versions on Flickr.) I was a bit worried that the acid yellow is too bright and lairy, but so far everybody I’ve showed it to likes it. What do you think?

Widdershins in Noro Kureyon Sock
These socks gave me carpal tunnel, I swear. I swore on Christmas Eve that I’d finish them over the holidays, and I spent pretty much every spare minute on the 25th and 26th working on them. The pattern is Widdershins, adapted to be knit on two-circulars. I used Judy’s Magic Cast-On for the toe, and it was AWESOME! I’ll definitely be starting my toe-up socks this way from now on. My biggest problem with the pattern was simply one of gauge, which is really my fault. Fifty-four stitches (with cables) is just too tight for my foot at my normal sock knitting tension. So I ended up increasing a bit more than directed throughout the foot, which meant that I had to wing it quite a bit on the heel. That’s probably why the heel doesn’t fit quite as nicely as the one in the picture. Oh well, they’re still wearable. I also reversed the cable twist on the second sock so they’re mirror images. The other fun thing I did was use a tubular cast-off for the cuffs. I’d never done it before, but the Knitter’s Book of Finishing Techniques has really great instructions. I did it too tightly the first time, but I unpicked it and did it properly. It looks really nice.

Oh, and the yarn? Yeah, that’s the new Noro Kureyon Sock yarn. It’s not available in Australia yet, but the supplier sent me a ball so I could test it out. It feels pretty rough to knit with (like any Noro, really), but the colours are just fabulous. It’s also got a really long colour repeat, so you’re going to have to unwind half the ball if you want your socks to match. I was also impressed with just how far a single 100g ball went. These are really long! I’m wearing them today and they feel a little itchy, but not too bad. I’ll report back once I’ve give them a good wash. (More details are on my Ravelry notebook, for those who are members.)