Tag Archive | sock yarn

Sock It To Me Monday

Yesterday was my wedding anniversary: the husband and I have been married 23 years now! But I have to say, I like celebrating things better when we’re not in the midst of the pandemic. It was too hot and muggy to do anything outside, so we decided to mask up and try visiting an antique mall, one that’s big enough for people to be socially distanced inside. It was … partially successful. There was space, but there were also more people than I expected, and I felt like I was being crowded or rushed whenever they were behind me. There was a sign that masks were required, but we saw a ton of people wearing them under their noses. We saw one woman just wearing a plastic face shield. It wasn’t a relaxing environment for me, and I felt bad being tense and anxious when we were trying to celebrate. I did find something cool, though!

It’s a yarn swift!! I have an Amish-style swift that the husband made me years ago, but I had to get this one too. As soon as I figure out how to attach it to the table without damaging the wood, I’ll be testing it out. And I’ll be testing it with my new LolaBean sock yarn! (Yes, I realize this is a tenuous connection to Sock It To Me Monday, but I’m rolling with it.)

My obsessive Instagram habit paid off and I snagged one of the Jimmy the Model sets from LolaBean Yarn Co.! I just love watching their videos, and of course I love the yarn too. I’m trying to resist the urge to cast on. It’s hard.

I don’t know about you, but my weekend went way too fast. Maybe Monday will go fast too?

Switching Gears

Aug7

I made little progress on my new Ripple Bralette yesterday, because yarn arrived in my mailbox! This is a review project I’m doing and it needs to be done lickety-split — thank goodness I’m making simple socks.

I started with the green. They’ll be for the boy to test, since these are machine washable and he’s a teenage boy so he’s a little harder on socks than I am. Jack kept me company while I worked on them and by the time I went to bed, I was ready to start the heel.

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Of course the pink/purple will be for me, and I’m thinking some Rose City Rollers will be perfect summer socks. Maybe I can finish the first sock this weekend! Happy Friday, friends.

FO Friday: Socks

Jul10

I have two Finished Objects to share today — technically four, actually — because I finished two pairs of socks today!

One the left are Vanilla Latte socks in Orange Jellyfish Dream yarn, color Intergalactic Planetary. And the right are obviously my Christmas in July socks, also in the Vanilla Latte pattern, with West Yorkshire Spinners’ Fairy Lights. Both pairs are slightly mis-matched in size but not enough to bother me, certainly not right now. But now I’m out of socks to knit and it’s also only July 10 so I cast on the second sock of a pair of Christmas socks I started last December. These are all stockinette so it should be a speedy project.

While knitting, I’ve recently binged Pick of the Litter, Little Voice, and Lenox Hill. And I’ve read and loved The Authenticity Project, Friends & Strangers, and The Two Lives of Lydia Bird. What are you streaming lately that you love?

Sock It To Me Monday

Jul6

Apparently it was a three-day weekend for a lot of people, but it didn’t feel much different for me. The husband spent his extra day off in his workshop, and I puttered around making masks and knitting. We’ve seen family pretty recently and didn’t have any plans for gatherings, so it was a very quiet holiday, and I’m okay with that. I finished one Christmas in July sock and am ready to start the gusset on the second now.

96A4CCDF-2D55-49A3-9289-23F7B1586ED4 I also did another fast project, a drawer liner out of leftover sock yarn. I’d made a little one before, for my Kaweco pens, but this is a full-sized version for the drawer. It has the purl ridges to keep pens separate, but I’m going to make one more that’s all stockinette. They’re fast and fun and I love using up the sock yarn.

Happy Monday, friends. Here’s hoping we can all find a bit of happy this week.

WIP Wednesday

Jul2

It is July! And I finished some projects last month! That means I got to cast on two new projects yesterday. They’re both KALs and both should be done by the end of the month. One is a Christmas in July sock KAL that Mildly Granola suggested, and I pulled out my West Yorkshire Spinners yarn in Fairy Lights for that, along with solid red for the cuffs, heels and toes. I’m doing my favorite simple pattern so they can be my mindless fun/travel knitting.

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My other new project is a shawl KAL with Under the Olive Tree Knits. Jem released a free one-skein pattern called Stargazer, and it was perfect for a skein of yarn that I’d pulled out of my stash recently, wanting to knit it. You can find download options on her website.

B547B90E-4827-4694-A346-F1AFE89FED9E My yarn is Andromeda sock yarn in a fabulous color called I Love You Berry Much and I do love it berry much indeed! The pattern is a fun mix of stockinette and simple lace, and I can tell already it’ll be addictive.

We’ve had a slew of birthdays in our family the last few weeks and have started doing some small social-distanced gatherings. As hard as it is not to hug my nephews and nieces, it’s so nice to get to see my people again. And yesterday was the boy’s birthday: he’s 17 now! How did that happen?? He’ll be a senior this year and it just doesn’t seem possible. He also joined me for a rare live music performance. Our town has always done a community summer band and the girl participates every year. This year they only did one concert, with the musicians spaced six feet apart, and streamed it live on Facebook. Family members were allowed to come, so the boy and I took our chairs and our masks and enjoyed the music in the summer night. I’ve missed live music so much; this was a treat.

I’m not sure what we’ll do when the weather doesn’t allow us to gather outside anymore, but I guess we can cross that bridge when we come to it. Hope you all are enjoying your summer so far!

Happy Mail

Jun26

Here’s the thing: when you only knit on one project, and it’s a bigger project, that means you don’t have interesting progress to report on your blog all the time. So it is with me and my Olive Pink shawl. I am on the last section, with just the border after that, and I know I will finish this weekend. But rather than share another photo of that, instead I’ll share my happy mail from yesterday.

This beautiful set, called Stained Glass Menagerie, is from Show Me Yarn, a Missouri dyer whose yarn I love. They’ve done these collaborations with Willow Island before, with matching yarn and bag, and I just couldn’t resist this one. I needed those bright colors in my life.

Sock it to me Monday

Jun22

My Pride socks are done. I used the Heel Toe Do Si Do pattern and while I like how it looks very much, I had to have the pattern handy the whole time and I missed having mindless socks.

The yarn is MollyGirl’s Glamour Lite in Born This Way, and has a little sparkle thread which is quite delightful. No word yet on how they’ll feel to wear; I’ll let you know when it’s not in the 80s with high humidity. For now I’m back to knitting on my vanilla socks, at least until next month when I start my Christmas in July socks. Happy Monday, friends.

Back to socks

Jun18

I told myself that when my Penny sweater was done, I was going to get back to painting. I have one stairwell left that needs fresh paint before I feel like I can pack away the painting supplies. But then yesterday I finished my sweater. Wove in the 2457 ends and blocked it and everything. It’s drying, so I’ll share photos soon. Anyway, I finished it and remembered what I’d told myself and I didn’t like what Past Bonny had said. Apparently I’m not ready to get back to painting. Instead I’m going back to my Pride Socks.

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I pulled them out of my bag and discovered I’d been knitting too long on the leg and it was a good 1 1/2″ longer than the first sock. That’s too much of a difference for me, so I had to do a bit of frogging, but now they’re back on track and I’ve got the heel ready to go. This might be the start of a round of Finish-itis. I think I’m ready to work down my six WIPs!

Marathon, not a sprint

Jun11

I’m wiped out, guys. Between the state of the world and some stuff going on behind the scenes, my mental/emotional state is kind of a wreck. I’m really struggling with going back to sharing knitting and dogs on social media, especially Instagram. It seems so trivial and petty right now. But I’m here, and I’m knitting. Mostly I’ve been working on my Penny sweater. I’ve got the body done and most of one sleeve done.

I’ve discovered I much prefer knitting sleeves separately rather than when they’re already attached to a big lump of sweater you have to keep adjusting. However, I’ve also discovered that when I purl on DPNs, I get the worst ladders. Here’s hoping that shit blocks out.

The other day I also ventured out to a yarn store. I made all the necessary precautions (sanitizer before and after, masks, limited touching of the yarn) and it was really comforting to be back in a familiar and pleasant environment. I miss yarn stores.

It’s all sock yarn, probably no surprise there, though I suppose it could grow up to be something other than socks.

Happy whatever-day-this-is, friends. Hope you’re all staying safe and healthy.

Sock It To Me Monday

Jun2

I cast on a new sock first thing this morning for the Pride Month KAL. Of the two yarns I was pondering, Born This Way from MollyGirl Yarn was the overwhelming favorite, and I had to agree that it seemed the perfect choice. And I decided to jazz it up just a tiny bit more by picking a new pattern to me, Heel Toe Do Si Do. Guys, this project is addictive.

944DFB50-B0DA-4F4A-9859-B5AA71022B8E Everything about this is perfect for me: the colors, the striping, the sparkle, the subtle chevrons. These will be easy to finish within a month.