Tag Archive | sock knitting

Weekend Adventure

Whew, I’m tired, guys. The husband and I went on a quick weekend road trip to visit the girl in Colorado and watch her perform her junior flute recital. We packed two days full of adventure and good food and vaccinated hugs, and it was all fantastic.

Of course I had to visit a yarn store in Fort Collins! And Longmont! Plus the husband found me the perfect travel mug at a kitchen store. So I came home with yarn goodies and a finished sock.

But there was a day of driving on either end, and we came home to minor renovation-related electrical issues, two dogs coming home from boarding full of craziness, one upset dog stomach, one damaged car bumper from an altercation with a curb, plus the usual unpacking etc. Fortunately, the clever husband blocked the gaps in the fence with some temporary fencing, so we’re able to take the dogs to the backyard when the workmen aren’t here. That helps so much! They’ve made amazing progress on the demolition; now they’ll move on to cleaning up the side of the house. The extra wiring and light fixtures will go away, the two upper doors will become windows, and the wall sections will be replaced with clapboard siding. No idea how long it’ll all take, but I’m hoping no more than a couple of weeks. Three dogs and limited backyard access is not fun!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to take a nap before dinner! Happy Tuesday, friends.

FO Friday: Socks

Apr2

After I finished my Water shawl last week, I went back to socks, and that’s been my main focus this week. I finished the first Ewe Turn Dyeworks DK sock and the second Ella Fitzgerald inspired sock — and I have 54 grams of the Ella yarn left over! I’m totally going to make another pair but with purple contrast bits next time.

Before I do that though, I really need to cast on one of my new sock yarns! I fell deep into the Desert Vista Dyeworks website and couldn’t resist the yarns inspired by Twilight, West Side Story, and Wonder Woman. Pretty sure Bella & Edward will be first, and I might even do a Twilight marathon this weekend while I knit them.

Happy Friday, friends.

Sock It To Me Monday

Mar29

I finished my rainbow shorties late last week, which meant it was time to cast on another sock … even though I still have one sock WIP on my needles. Two sock projects at one time is fine, right? This pair is with new DK yarn that Shannon sent me, part of her new yarn business, Ewe Turn Dyeworks.

The pattern is a simple purl chevron that I got from a book, like an actual book in my knitting library. I’m trying not to use Ravelry and since I have four sock books, I should make good use of them! The DK feels so thick and squishy after doing fingering weight socks but I did have some size issues. Last night I got to the toe and realized the foot seemed larger than usual. It probably would have been okay, but I decided to frog back anyway. I pulled back to the end of the gusset decreases and just did two more decrease rows. Should be a better fit now!

Yesterday Sarah and I tried for one of our outdoor knitting dates, but our excitement about “spring weather” was a little early. Instead of sunny and temps in the 50s, by 1:30 it was only 46, and it was sunny but windy. We survived two hours and even though it wasn’t as long as we’d hoped, it should tide us over until it is actually warm enough!

Hope you had a good weekend too. Happy Monday, friends.

Life besides knitting

Mar24

Let me just tiptoe back into my little blogging space here, see if my mojo has actually returned. I haven’t been knitting as obsessively as usual the last couple of weeks. Instead, I’ve been obsessively playing with LEGO. I say “playing” but I really mean sorting and bagging. The boy used to love LEGO as a child, so we have A LOT of sets, and over the years the blocks got all mixed up. We started sorting them all by color a few years ago, and finished that job last year at the start of the pandemic. Since then, I’ve slowly started putting together the pieces for various sets. Some of them I assemble and display (Harry Potter, Indiana Jones), some I assemble and then bag up (superheroes), and then some I just bag up (City, Creator, TMNT). So the last two weeks I’ve spent a lot of time combing through tubs of LEGO bricks to make complete sets, and bagging them up in little baggies for each color. It takes forever but it’s so stupidly satisfying for me. It’s also satisfying to know that some of these sets will now be going to new homes and out of my attic!

Last weekend was gorgeous weather, so I took a break to play outside. I repotted a few plants, planted a new one in the planter in our front yard, cut back some dead blooms, and watched the husband cut down a small tree. We’re getting closer to our renovation project and I’m getting so excited to have a prettier house! Along the way I also found some pottery shards and other interesting bits in the yard. I think I’ll save them and put them in the bottom of my next potted succulent.

And I have been knitting, just a bit. My Water shawl is almost done so I’ll share that soon. I’ve also got two easy socks on the needles, both second socks, which are perfect for work Zooms.

Happy Wednesday, friends.

Happy Women’s Day

Mar8

Today is International Women’s Day and it also happens to be the girl’s 21st birthday! We’re not able to be together today (darn that growing up business) but we did FaceTime this morning and we’ll see her next week. I feel both as young as I was back then and also like I’m kind of old, but not in a bad way, more of a wise badass away. And she’s well on her way! (To being wise, I mean. Not old. Though she’s on her way with that too, I guess.)

Here’s to strong women: may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them!

I do have a sock to share today, too. I started a pair of shortie socks last week with some leftovers and finished the first one yesterday. Short socks are so much fun to knit!

Pretty sure the second one will be cast on today. Happy Monday, friends, and Happy Women’s Day to all my fellow wise women!

WIP Roundup

Mar4

We are four days into the new month and I’m making good progress on two new WIPs. I had to cast on a new sock of course, and I cast on for the Blogville Water shawl KAL. Last night I made it to the end of the first garter stitch section and I’m ready for the first short row section. Before I dive into that, though, I need to make sure I know how to do the special stitches. Hopefully I can get into that tonight!

But I also have new things on deck! With warmer temperatures arriving, I’m discovering that shortie socks are my favorites for spring, and I only have four pairs. That’s not nearly enough, so I dipped into my bag of leftovers for a couple of little balls and I’ll cast these on later today. The rainbow yarn is my happy mail from today and my first yarn from Desert Vista Dyeworks! It’s Rainbows Run the World with colors inspired by all the women we saw on Inauguration Day. Why do I have two skeins? I don’t know, I just loved it so much I wanted enough! I know one skein will be socks, maybe the other will become a cool cowl or something.

What’s your favorite non-sock thing to make with self-striping sock yarn?

It’s March! And Monday!

Mar1

Hooray hooray, it’s March today! That is happy because it means that spring is coming. We could very well still get another cold spell, possibly even some snow, but somehow it’s easier to endure in March than in February. Plus this is the girl’s birthday month and she will be coming home for a visit and that is also very happy. Another happy thing is that I did manage to finish that sock yesterday, adding one more FO to my February total. (No, I don’t know what the total is. More than two and less than 10, that’s all I got.) These are my Sorry Not Sorry socks from Hedgehog Fibres, with contrast yarn from Less Traveled Yarn.

The first thing you may notice is that one heel is solid pink. That’s the annoying thing about this sock. See, I had a 20g ball of that contrast yarn but once I got past the second cuff, I only had 5.5 grams left and I wasn’t convinced that was enough for a heel and a toe, and I wanted a contrast toe more, so I went the safe route. Of course then I got done and I’m pretty sure I could have done the heel too. Next time I do contrasts, I think I will weigh as I go so I know how much yarn each little contrast element takes.

Now it is March and I carried over only two WIPs, a lace cowl and the gradient shawl. That means I can cast on all the new things, right? I have to have a sock on the needles and I don’t think I can resist my newest yarn, from Kenyarn and inspired by the Ella Fitzgerald Barbie doll. But I am also ready and eager to cast on the Water shawl (Rav link) for the Blogville KAL that Alissa is running. My yarn isn’t very water-ish but it is the only two matching skeins of fingering in my stash and there’s no way I was buying new yarn for this, especially since this gorgeous yarn (from The Periwinkle Sheep) was waiting for a project.

I might also cast on for a hat for the husband, and maybe the cowl with the Woolfolk. I have all these project bags, I might as well put them to good use!

Happy March Monday, friends.

FO Friday: Gray Socks

Feb26

The boy’s gray socks are finally done! I looked back and realized I started them three months ago. And while they are very long, they’re also very simple, just plain ribbing. I think it was the boring gray that made them take so long.

The legs are 10 1/2″ long and I knit to 8″ on the feet before starting the toes, so yeah, these are quite a big bigger than what I make for myself. But he put them on the next day and seems quite pleased with them, so I’d say it was worth it.

I’d have another FO to share, my Mad Mini Wrap, except I tried to use up all the green and lost at yarn chicken. So now I need to undo most of a bind-off and the last row. Darn it all.

The good news is that I’ll definitely get it done by the end of the month, taking me down to three WIPs that I’ll carry into March. That’s not bad at all!

Sock It To Me Monday

Feb22

I’m starting to think ahead to March, when I’ll be casting on a Water shawl (Rav link) in a knit-along with Alissa and a few others here in Blogville. It’s a two-skein shawl that might have a trick or two up its sleeve, so to get it done by the end of March, I know I’ll need to focus on it quite a bit. Though I know I can’t finish all my WIPs before then, I decided I needed to at least finish the boy’s gray socks, which have been lingering for far too long. If I don’t finish them soon, I’m afraid they’ll get lost forever! After working on it most of the weekend, I got all the way past the heel turn.

That’s a very long leg, I’ll have you know! And the foot will be equally long, I believe, or very close. So this week I just need to watch some good TV and movies and zip through this foot. What about you, are you hoping to finish a WIP or two by the end of the month?

FO Friday: Purple Lemonade Socks

Feb19

This might be the fastest pair of socks I have ever knit, and the only reason is because I love the yarn so much. I used my favorite Vanilla Latte sock pattern, so they were simple and easy to knit during work meetings, which might have helped. These took less than a week!

And they are already being put to use! We have sunshine and temps in the upper twenties, so I can wear my handknit socks again. When it was so bitter cold, I had to wear thinner dress socks with thick boot socks over to keep my feet warm. It feels so good to have just one layer of sock again, and to see such cheerful colors. I ended up with a good-sized ball left over, so I’ll knit some socks from the grey skein like this and then do a pair of shorties from the two balls of leftovers. I do love it when a plan comes together.

Happy Friday, friends!