Finished Object: Tropical Feet Wave

Pattern: How I Make Worsted Weight Socks by Susan B. Anderson
Needle: Size 4 double Points
Project Name: Tropical Feet Wave
Yarn: Mountain Colors Twizzle in Springtime (MC) & Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Worsted in Bud Green

I am in love with these socks! They knit up so fast on size 4 needles with worsted weight yarn. I love the silky feel of the Twizzle (85% Merino, 15% Silk content) and I think the Nashua (75% Wool, 25% Alpaca) is a nice contrast texturally to the Twizzle. This was my first time knitting a contrast yarn on the ankle/heel/toe

The ribbing on the ankle is Knit 3, Purl 1, which is different for me and I really like it. The socks are snug - but in a good way. Comfortable and not bunchy.

I had never used this pattern before and I found it was more of a guide than a tutorial. Meaning - I followed it along with her How I Make My Socks pattern (which is for fingering weight rather than worsted) and I also used my go to Sock Recipe: A Good, Plain Sock by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee,
and my own sock knitting experience thrown in to boot.

I am just happy as a pig in mud about these socks and I suspect they will get much wear this fall and winter. They are dense and warm and modeling them in 80°F temps was sticky and unpleasant, so I know when the fall weather arrives I will be seeking these out.

Progress report - Socksocksocksocksock

I am trucking along on my "Socksocksocksocksock" socks. I am trying to knit a stripe a night while unwinding before bed. I think I have another stripe or two and then I can make with the toe decreases. Happy to be making progress!

Socksocksocksocksock

 

I have been knitting! YAY! So right now I have three pairs of socks on the needles. I thought I would talk about this pair today. I named the socks "Socksocksocksocksock" because when you cast on a third pair of socks, you know this is the chant running through your head. Obsessed much? Naaaaw.

So the pattern I have been using is Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Sock Recipe: A Good, Plain Sock. 

I love this recipe - it's well written and it's my go to sock pattern for a good, basic sock. 

The yarn: Knit Picks Felici in Building Blocks. Sadly this is discontinued - but it's a great yarn! I stocked up on it when it was clearanced out.  

Needles: US 2 - 2.75 mm double points.

I cast on 64 stitches over two double points held together to give it some room. You don't want a tight cuff! Then I knit 2x2 rib back and forth for two rows before joining in the round. This allows for the join to not get twisted. For some reason I struggle with joining socks in the round. Not sure if it is the ribbing or what? When I am done I just use the tail to join up that little gap.

I knit the 2x2 ribbing for 1½ inches and then knit 3 inches in stockinette before I hit the heel. 

For the heel I am favoring Eye of Partridge, I think it looks nice and I find the stitches are a bit neater to pick up when I use that heel. On this pair I knit 32 stitches before I start the heel stitches on the last 32 stitches remaining. I did this partly because the blue stripe I was knitting when I got to the heel was only two rounds in, and I wanted one more row of that stripe on the sock to make that stripe a little more substantial.

 So this is where I am at. I dropped a stitch when I was working the heel - so the pattern is a little funky, but I am OK with such things. I really love this yarn and I think I am going to love these socks when they are finished.

I was able to knit a little bit of them on the tread mill which I find really exciting as well! I don't think I would try the complicated bits, like picking up stitches or decrease rows on the tread mill, but I had no problem with the ribbing and the stockinette portion while I was walking, so that is happy news. Knowing I can work on portions of my socks while walking may mean an increase in sock production!

Ghoul School Progress Report

I have been studying all weekend like a woman possessed, so knitting time has been minimal. (I think I knit two rows on Friday?) But I have made progress since my last post, and thought I would share what I have done.

I tried the Eye of Partridge heel this time around and I am so happy with it!I love how it looks on this yarn and I think my stitches picked up much cleaner. I love seeing my technique improve. I am still working away on the decreases and heading down to toe town. I suspect it will be a few weeks before I get to sock two. School is kicking my butt - and it's hard to work in the quality knitting time.

Did I mention how much I love this yarn?!?! GnomeAcres yarn is so yummy. ♥

Ghoul School

 Starting my next set of socks and I am trying to take my time so I don't stress myself out over something that is supposed to be relaxing end enjoyable. Why do I stress out over knitting?!?! Seriously. I need to think about that a little bit.

So I decided I wanted to make some Halloween type socks, and picked up a skein of "Smell my Feet" yarn from Gnome Acres. I balled the yarn up and decided to knit a mini swatch going up one size of needles from my last pair of socks.

 

So I knit up a little swatch and measured it out. Looks like going from a size 1 to a size 2 needle changes my gauge from 9 stitches per inch (what I got on my last socks) and I am now knitting 8.5 stitches per inch. Heh. Not a huge difference, but I find the knitting feels a lot faster on the size two needles than on the size 1. 

So today, while recovering from some minor food poisoning, I sat myself down. watched a movie on Netflix, and cast on for my new socks. I am calling the socks "Ghoul School" since I will be taking 6 classes this semester and working full time. I suspect I will be bery much like a zombie before too long.

Rainy Days and Mondays

Project Name: Rainy Days and Mondays
Pattern Name: Sock Recipe: A Good, Plain Sock by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Yarn Used: Lion Brand Sock-Ease Prints in 201 Rock Candy and I used 284.7 yards (260.3m)
Needle Size: US 1 - 2.25 mm
Project  love: ♥♥♥♥ out of 5 ♥

 
See my notes on my Ravelry Project Page HERE.

This was my first time using Size one needles. My first time with this pattern. My first time with this yarn. The needles were easier to manage than I would have thought. When you are a bulky knit girl the thought of working on these small DPNs can be intimidating, but I think I am over my small needle fear now.

I took gauge after I started knitting and found I was getting 9 stitches to an inch - not 8. But the socks ended up fitting me well in the end. I did soak them and block them on my sock blockers, but I tried them on before that and found they were fitting just fine.

My goal was to have these finished before school started and I didn't think I would make it - but I did! I finished the knitting and the end weaving with 23½ hours to spare! LOL. Cutting it close! But I did it. It killed me not to immediatly rince them and block them out, but I had school, so yeah.

The pattern was great. It's in Stephanie's book Knitting Rules!: The Yarn Harlot's Bag of Knitting Tricks and part of what I loved about this pattern was that she spend pages and pages explaining what each part of the sock construction is, how to personalize it to get it to really fit your foot, and then there is a two page "cheat sheet" where the pattern for a good, plain sock is just written out. If you get yourself a little stuck, you can look back in the book and read about the construction of the area you are working on and get an explanation of what you are really doing when you are on that area. Really nice! I would recommend the book just for that alone.

As for the yarn, I admit I pulled it out of my stash because it was clearance yarn and I wanted my first time working on fingering weight yarn to NOT be some expensive Indy died yarn. It would break my heart to mess up on that kind of yum. I find the yarn to be very attractive, and my hubby said they are his favorite of my socks so far, but the yarn itself is rather scratchy and I found areas to be a little inconsistent in weight when I was working on my socks. I had a spot where the yarn just seemed to be a bit thinner. Still, I suspect I will get a lot of wear out of these, and with how rough they are they will probably last for a long time. Would never give these as a gift though. I suspect the recipient would not be pleased with the scratchy factor. 

Overall I am very pleased with these socks and can't wait to wear them this fall/winter.