Five pair!

These were giftie socks, started in August and done by Thanksgiving. No one read blogs, so I *could* have posted sooner, and in fact had every intention of doing so, but the picture sat on my camera until last night!so, without further ado, I give you five pair:
From left to right

• Louet Gems Sport in Linen, Cat Bordhi's Riverbed Master pattern, for the FIL's size 9 feet
• Louet Gems Fingering in Champagne, Cat Bordhi's Cedar Master Pattern, for Mom's size 8 feet
• Louet Gems Fingering in Teal, Beaded rib with short row heel, for the MIL's size 5s
• Louet Gems sport in Charcoal, Cedar Master pattern again, for grandpa's size 11s (!!)
• Lang Jawoll Color in faded lime, Embossed leaves pattern, for grandma's size 7s

I learned quite a bit making these. The Embossed leaves were the first, and I used the Italian Tubular cast on, which I plan on using again and again. It's fiddly, both to learn and use, but it looks so professional and doesn't bind AT ALL. Plus? Using Cat Bordhi's new book is so much fun! Really makes you think about how the sock can be put together. And they feel heavenly, what with the heel flap that doesn't need stitches picked up. And either of the cuff downs feel really nice on the ankle, too!
So, that makes eight pair completed for me this year. Not one every two months, but at least I met the total count! (I'm not counting the pair of Sockotta mit Bambou that I made over Thanksgiving and I can't locate in the laundry to photograph!) Thanks for the KAL! I had fun everyone!

November Socks

Another pair of Christmas socks finished. If only Christmas were six months away, rather than one, I might finish all the socks I'd hoped to finish.

These are Nancy Bush's Gentleman's Socks with Lozenge Pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks. The yarn is from Fearless Fibers in smoke. Needles were US size 0.

October Socks

Made from Fearless Fibers sock yarn in Infatuation, with the heels and toes out of Lorna's Laces in Manzanita.

(More Christmas socks finished, hooray!)

Twist & Shout Socks

Finally after almost 2 months of knitting, ripping, reknitting and a bout of second sock syndrome, I'm done with the Twist & Shout Socks. It was the first time I knitted lace socks and used a short row heel.

Pattern: Twist & Shout Socks by Amy King
Yarn: White Willow Superwash Sock Yarn in Medicine Woman colorway
Size: Women's 8 medium
Needles: US 1 on 2 Addi Turbo circs
Modifications: 68 stitch cuff 1.5 inches, 66 stitch leg and 72 stitch heel and foot, standard toe decreases
Start: July 23, 2007
Finished: today!!!

If you want to read more about me knitting these socks, go to my blog.

August Socks

Sideways Socks Supreme

Finally finished the Sideways Socks out of Cascade fixation. They make thick socks, but the stretchiness really helps this style of socks fit right.

Thanks to a tripod and a swiveling LCD monitor on my camera, I was able to take this picture of myself in the socks. (I am sitting in a chair, not balancing on my toes.)

next pair(s) down

This is my newest pair (that actually fit!!) They're ONLine Beach Color, but I don't remember the color number (again. Call me lazy, it would fit.) Also? Another pair of toddler socks from the leftovers. Just imagine the same thing, with wider color repeats, on a very fast little girl.

I've been silent for a bit, but I have (!!) two pairs to show off!
First:
Toddler socks for my daughter. I swore I wouldn't make her socks til she stopped growing, but that was before I found out how fast these little things are to pop out! It only took me four hours to make the pair, weaving in the ends and everything!
Specs:
Yarn - ONline Walking Colors #848
Size - Toddler
Needle - ML on size 1 addi turbo
Started - yesterday
Finished - today!!!

Second -
This is the first pair I've every made for myself that actually fit! It's a variation of the Gentlemen's Rib pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks (I didn't have the book on hand and remembered it wrong...) Done in Paton's Kroy Sock, but I don't remember the color offhand, and toddlers and husbands are calling for dinner, so that's all you get!

That makes two whole pairs so far, unless single socks can combine into mismatched pairs, which would make four.....

My Socks for May

I finished my May socks and my 2nd pair of knit socks so far. I love the colors of these but this yarn is fiddly. I just might up my needle size but I do like a tighter gauge in socks to make the knitting easier I hope and 'cause the socks are a bit snug.



yarn: Gedifra Fashion Trend Sportivo, color #5768
needles: #1 dpns
pattern/tutorial: www.cometosilver.com/socks/SockClass_Start.htm
method: cuff down sock

I'm still trying to get the hang of toe grafting and still not quite succeeding.

Now I'm off to check out all the other great socks and figure out which pair to make next.

The "mardi gras" socks

(as named by my husband)

These would have been done in under a week (hurray!!!) but I broke two of the DPNs so I put the project on hold while I awaited replacements...and ended up getting bored waiting (they were backordered) so I bought a set of Crystal Palace #2s and finished that last sock off so I could be done!

These are my absolute favorite pair so far--I love the way they fit, I love the short-row toe...LOVE them.

Pattern: adapted from the Priscilla's Dream Socks pattern in IK's Favorite Socks book (I used a heel flap to help them last longer and cast on 56 stitches but then decreased after the gusset down to 60). Next time I'll probably carry the ribbing down the instep.

Yarn: mediumweight Socks that Rock in Scottish Highlands (lots more purple in them than the thumbnail really shows)

Needles: Sox Stix #2s (and then supplemented with the Crystal Palace DPNs)

This was my first pair on DPNs and I actually really enjoyed it. I prefer the Crystal Palace needles, but do wish they were only 5" like the Sox Stix. For some reason that extra inch makes a difference!

Finished pair! (1/6 done with the challenge)

Pattern: Diagonal rib from Favorite Socks
Yarn: Denim from Oldfield Creek Sock and Yarn

I originally planned to make these for my husband, but I was worried about running out of yarn, so they ended up a bit too short for him. He also wanted thicker, wear-around-the-house socks, so these are mine. I liked this pattern because it was different on the right and left foot, thus helping with second sock syndrome. The yarn is a pretty colorway and they feel nice on my feet.

Up next: my younger daughter Meredith convinced me to knit up my Tofutsies yarn for a pair of socks for her. Planning to try a toe-up pair.

One Sock Down

I have finished a sock. This is another pair of Austermann Step Jaywalkers, only I have made some modifications to the pattern based on my experiences with first pair. With them I found the ankle slightly tight and the foot slightly loose, so I went down a needle size and made the ankle in the larger sock size. When I got to the foot, I just did the double decrease on the first knit row to get down to the right number of stiches. I also carried the zig-zag pattern about halfway down the heel flap for better shaping. My last modification was to replace the ribbing with a ridge that would bend with the zig-zag. Initially I was pretty pleased with this change, but as I got farther along, I noticed it was curling too much. For the mate, I am trying a second row of all purl to see if that helps. In the meantime, I am contemplating the merits of a simple crochet edging to keep it from curling.

Yarn is Austermann Step in Erde (#12). Needles are size 0 Sox Stix. Pattern is Grumperina's Jaywalkers.

What's on My Needles

Hello! I just joined the KAL. I seem to be suffering from some Knitter's Attention Deficient Disorder, as I just counted and I have five different pairs of socks in progress (some many years old, oops). I am working hardest on the leftmost pair at the moment, the Jaywalker made form Austermann Step yarn. I did finish another pair of Austermann Step Jaywalkers last weekend though, so I am capable.

1 down. 11 to go...

The stupid pointy toe, short-row-heels-that-almost-killed me, ran-out-of-yarn-so-they're-way-shorter-than-I-like-handknit-socks-to-be socks are finished. I am so psyched to have these behind me. Actually, now that they're on my feet I'm really enjoying them, but I didn't enjoy knitting them. Kinda a disappointment all the way around.

I had to knit them on #3s (I would have preferred #2s) because I knew I wouldn't have enough yarn. I used Mountain Goat from Mountain Colors (unknown colorway--the skein was mis-marked), and the garter stitch rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. As it turns out I'm not so crazy about the garter stitch rib...I think I would have preferred regular ribs.

Umm...could I complain about these any more? :P

Here's a photo of my feet modeling them. It's a tough colorway to photograph, but I think that first photo captures it best. You should know that my feet aren't really fat. Dunno what is up with my photography skills today. ;)

But they're done. Wahoo! It's on to my next pair now...I'm actually thinking of trying a plain stockinette pair. I'm using some variegated yarn from Socks that Rock, and I always like the way the variegated yarn looks in stockinette on the sole of my socks. We'll see...I'm off to swatch it.

Finished Socks

I finally finished these socks last night - the pattern is Knitty's Pomatomus and the yarn is from angoravalley.com (lacewing sock - 100% superwash merino, color citrus). I started out on size 1 needles but had to rip them out and move up to size 2 because they were too tight. They took me 3+ weeks, which is about the quickest I've ever made a pair of socks. This pattern was really fun - clear, easy to follow and just a little challenging. I will probably be buying more of Cookie A's patterns soon. Now I have to go check my stash and decide what socks to make next.