Tag Archive | sock yarn

Sock It To Me, Monday

Feb8

Oh, Monday. I was on a Zoom call this morning, one where I didn’t have much to contribute, so I had a little bit of sock knitting with me. I’d brought up the second gray sock for the boy and I did three or four rounds before pulling out the first sock to check the cuff length. This is what I found.

It might be hard to tell for sure, but no, those cuffs do not match. My typical cuff is 2×2 rib so apparently when I cast on, I did that without thinking. And without remembering that I’d done 1×1 rib on the first sock! I know what you’re thinking: would the boy care? Would he even notice? The answer to both is probably not, but I frogged and started over anyway. If I’d been further along, I might not have, but I like ribbing, so having to re-knit this isn’t a big hardship.

I do have a positive sock update to share, though. I finally finished the first Sorry Not Sorry sock late last week and cast on the second.

I’m not completely convinced I have enough of my contrast yarn for both a heel and a toe, but I’ll worry about that later. I still have about five inches of ribbing to think about that. I really want to cast on some new socks, though. There’s something about solid-color socks that bores me. I’m ready for some stripes or speckles or something more exciting…like this:

This is Doors of January by Mint Rain Yarns. It’s inspired by The 10,000 Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow and if you haven’t read it, definitely check it out! It was one of the recent books from my book group and it’s unusual and strange and I loved it so much. I ordered the black mini-skein to represent doorways at the heels/toes; it’s not a perfect match for the black in the main yarn but it’ll work. I’m telling myself I need to finish my pink sock before starting this one. I wonder if I’ll make it!

Sock It To Me Monday

Jan25

And Monday is socking it to me this week. It is cold and gray and rainy, and I found out some news at work that was a little disheartening and so I am wandering around my house in a hoodie with the hood pulled up because it is somehow mildly comforting. We all thought, Oh yay, 2021 will be better! Oh yay, the vaccine is coming! Oh yay this or that! Well, guess what. Things still mostly suck, except I have less dread every time I log into Twitter each morning.

I’ve had some time on conference calls where I’m not doing much, so my bright, fun sock is growing nicely. But mostly I’ve been working on my We Belong Together shawl and I think I will finish that in the next couple of days. Oh, and I took a short break last night for this little project.

Duncan went outside with the sweater on, and came inside without a sweater. I found it outside, damp and muddy, by the broken gate where they like to go in and out under the deck. It snagged on something, clearly. I have mended the hole and it is not pretty if you look up close but it is no longer a hole at least. I didn’t want to take a picture because my mending skills are less than stellar. Thankfully, the dogs won’t care at all.

I hope it is at least sunny where you are today!

The last one

Dec31

Today is a day for a lot of lasts: last day of 2020 (HOORAY!), last blog post of the year, and today I’ll share my last Finished Object of the year. These are Vanilla Latte socks in the Tainted Love yarn, which I started almost two months ago. They even match (mostly)!

I hurried to finish these before tomorrow because I wanted to be balanced. Back in January, I decided I would try to manage my yarn stash. My goal was to use up more skeins from my stash than I added; I didn’t worry about yardage or weight, just the number of skeins. I am proud to report that even in this dumpster fire of a year, I came out even: 74 in, 74 out! Now, I do have one teensy little disclaimer: I didn’t count gift yarn in my incoming skeins. I was going to all along, but then Christmas came and I did my almost-final count and realized I needed a little win. Along with these socks I finished two hats for the kids.

The girl’s is the Hinterland Hat (Rav link) in Maraschino Island Yarns Blackwater, and the boy’s is a simple Boyfriend Beanie (Rav link) in Land Ho! from the Treasure Goddess. Getting all these projects done made me feel even better about my Christmas yarn acquisitions. Okay, no, I didn’t feel bad about them anyway. But I am going to to do my stash challenge again next year. If nothing else, it was kind of fun to get a sense of how much I actually use and buy.

I got plenty of other lovely gifts, some yarn-related, and it was a good Christmas. Not the best — I missed being with my mom and siblings on Christmas morning — but as good as it could be under the circumstances. I know I’ve been quiet on here lately but I’ve been reading and lurking and I’m grateful to have Blogville here when I need it.

I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Nothing finished here!

Dec18

The only thing that’s finished on this Friday is the work week. My shopping’s not done, my wrapping’s not done, and definitely none of my current knitting projects are done. But I’ve had fun working on them this week!

I’m telling you, I can’t stop working on that scrap blanket. These squares are all of my tiny 2-gram balls and now I’ll move on to the 3-gram. The squares are just so quick, and it’s satisfying to see the “blanket” grow. The sock is my Christmas Silly String yarn from BaH Yarns and it’s just about ready for a heel, whenever I can pull myself away from my blanket squares. I also took a quick trip to my LYS because they had these new pins and I was in the area, thanks to weekly testing at work. What else could I do but pop in and get a Santa and a Tree?? Okay and yes, I also got a skein of yarn (not pictured) because the boy said he’d take another hat.

Two of my long-lost packages have arrived, though the one from Etsy was slightly damaged because she didn’t pack it well enough. She wasn’t pleased with the review I left, but hey, I wasn’t pleased with the service so it all balances out. I’m still missing two Christmas gifts but I’m crossing my fingers that they get here in time.

Maybe I’ll have a finished sock to show you in time for Sock it To Me Monday!

Scrappy Sock Yarn Blanket

Dec15

Oh sure, why not cast on a new project in the middle of December? When I was digging through big of scrap sock yarn balls, I remembered that I wanted to knit one of those scrap memory blankets, the ones made with little squares of scrap sock yarn. Once I had that in my head, there was nothing to do but cast on. Sarah was the most recent one whose blanket I’d been admiring, so I found her project and downloaded the free pattern (Rav link) and cast on Sunday night.

Guys, those squares are TINY! I had no idea. One on the one hand, OMG it’s adorable, but on the other hand, OMG it’s going to take forever. And yet last night I added two more because right now this is potato chip knitting. Today I’m going to weigh some of the teeniest scrap balls I have, to make sure I use up those first. I need about two grams per square, so I’m delighted to have a use for all the bits that have no other good use but I can’t bear to throw away.

Have you made one of these blankets? How many years will it be before I have a blanket-sized object? This one doesn’t quite cover Duncan yet!

Sock It To Me Monday

Dec14

Let’s start the week off on a happy note, shall we? I got the most delightful gift box from my boss yesterday, since we can’t do a team holiday party. It had homemade cookies and two little deluxe chocolates and tea bags and a baby succulent and even little bottles of booze! I can make a pomegranate martini now! And it was in the best box with a cloth-covered lid and gold-tone handles. I’m not sure what will go in that box yet, but you know it will get used for something fun.

I also did some fun knitting yesterday, and started my new Christmas sock yarn. Originally I was going to do red cuffs/heels/toes, but I had no red sock yarn. (Sent it all to Sarah, oops!) Had no black. Had no white. Digging through my bin of sock yarn scraps gave me a fun idea though: multiple colors!

It kind of reminds me of multi-colored Christmas lights. I found six balls of solid includes, including one tiny ball of red, enough to use for one accent, so each accent section will be a different color. I’m pretty sure these will knit up fast!

Happy Monday, friends.

You win some, you lose some

Dec12

I haven’t really been knitting lately. I’m making more bobble hats for my former boss, but the last one should get done today. I worked on a sock last weekend, the boy’s sock with the leg that is 10 1/2″ long. But mostly I’ve been doing LEGO sorting. The boy loved LEGO as a kid so we have a ton of sets, and all the pieces got jumbled together over the years. Now we are I am systematically going through each booklet and finding the right pieces for each set. It’s endless and boring and mind-numbing and very soothing and satisfying. There’s nothing like finding the last, right piece after searching through a plastic tub for ages. Anyway, that’s where my brain is right now. I don’t know what it means but I’m sure I’ll get back to fun knitting soon enough.

I am still appreciating pretty yarn, and I will show you my two “wins” first. The gray and black is Knit Picks Hawthorne that I ordered on a whim because I was ordering other yarn from them and needed to get free shipping (as one does, right?). The other is Christmas Silly String from BaH Yarns and I bought it on a whim when it popped up on my Instagram feed. I very much would like to knit it next, but first I must finish a bobble hat.

Now for the losses. I have two Christmas presents for the boy that are stuck somewhere in the ether, one coming from the UK and the tracking just says it’s on its way and check back for “regular updates”. Ha. One is from Etsy and there is no tracking number and the seller said “oh yes I’ll get you that tracking number tonight” and never did. I have a beautiful skein of yarn that I ordered from a small dyer whose yarn I love, and I ordered it November 2 and it has not been shipped, has not arrived, and I can get no answer from them through email or Instagram. I want to believe that there is something personal going on to explain the poor service, so I’m trying to sustain some empathy even though I have no evidence to support it. And then there’s this.

On the left is an Instagram photo of a special colorway preorder to support a domestic violence shelter. Good cause + purple = I ordered it. I knew it was a preorder so I waited. After four weeks, I’d heard nothing, so I sent a quick polite email just asking for an update. What do you know, it was ready to ship out that day! It came quickly at least. The right photo is the skein that arrived. One of these things is not like the other. I know colors can vary from one device to another, but I looked at her photo on multiple devices and they all showed purple. And mine … is gray, with flecks of blue and mustard and one big black splotch. Like it? It’s yours for the cost of shipping!

It’s for a good cause, so I don’t want a refund or anything like that. Someone told me I should give the dyer a heads up. If nothing else maybe she’d find it helpful to know that her photos don’t match her yarn? I don’t know. That’s awkward and I haven’t decided if I want to do that. But if I don’t, I know I’ll never order from her again. What do you think? Am I being too picky? Should I send an email or cut my losses and move on?

Sock It To Me Monday

Oct12

Good tennis over the weekend meant I had good sock-knitting time, since I needed something low-maintenance. I’m maybe a third of the way through the foot of my first LolaBean Jimmy the Model sock.

I’m a little disappointed in myself, though, because I forgot to use the purple for the heel! I guess this pair will just have contrast cuffs and toes, and I won’t have to worry about running out of purple yarn.

I also blocked two finished projects this weekend, plus all three dogs got baths, which wore me out. Jack loves water and had a great time. Grace and Duncan hated it, so that was more of an adventure. But now they all smell nice and feel so soft and silky. This morning Grace found a frog in our back yard, but fortunately she thought it was weird enough that she didn’t eat it. I nudged it under the fence into the neighbor’s yard and rinsed out her mouth, since some frogs can be toxic to dogs, and she seems to be just fine. These dogs sure keep my on my toes!

Happy Monday, friends.

Dissent Cowl, plus yarn

Oct5

I know, it’s Monday in Blogville which means I’m supposed to be writing about socks, but I can’t do that. A) I have no sock progress to share and B) I want to share today’s upcoming cast-on. My favorite LYS, Yarn Social, is partnering with another LYS to host a Dissent Cowl KAL/CAL. Since I wanted to make the cowl anyway, this seemed perfect! I’d already bought the pattern, but to participate I needed to buy at least one skein from either store. (Haha, “at least one skein”! Like it’s ever just one!)

Saturday found me at the yarn store along with a fellow knitter buddy, a poor soul I convinced to knit along with me. I’m excited about my choices!

I got a new jumbo winder for my birthday, so I used that to wind the yarn last night. The KAL starts today and I’ll be casting on as soon as my work day is done. But of course that’s not all I came home with. They had a new (to me, at least) color of WYS Christmas sock yarn, so that plus the green had to be mine as well.

Oh hey, look at that: there’s a bit of sock in here after all!

Also, this is my 1,000th post on this blog! Who knew I’d be hanging around so long? Happy Monday, friends!

WIP Wednesday

Sep30

As I keep reminding myself because days mean very little anymore, today is Wednesday, so I will share my brand-new WIP! Finishing my Sonny & Tubbs socks left me with zero socks on my needles, and that is never acceptable. I had to cast on pronto, and I was excited to finally be able to pull out my LolaBean Jimmy the Model set! (If you’re not familiar with Jimmy the Model, look for him and/or LolaBean Yarn Co. on Instagram. Jimmy is her husband. They are delightful together and on their own!)

My son says he keeps glancing over and seeing Jimmy’s face, and it catches him off guard every time. For me, I like to catch a glimpse of a smiling face! The bag was a collaboration with Mrs. Brown’s Bags and it’s fantastic: roomy and very well-made.

I did work on my Sea Swell shawl last night as I watched the shit storm that was supposed to be a presidential debate. I’ll just say I had to refill my wine glass twice, and it took me a while to unwind to go to bed! Here’s hoping any future debates go more smoothly.

Happy Wednesday, friends!