Tag Archive | sock yarn

Rainbow KAL?

Apparently Sarah Jane at Mildly Granola is hosting a Pride Sock KAL for June, and I’m ready for some bright rainbow-ish socks. Which should I use??

Neither are true rainbows, but they’re the closest I have. The top is a self-striping called Make Me Smile, and the bottom is named Born This Way, which seems appropriate for Pride Month. Which would you knit?

Also today was a very good mail day and I got my new project bag that I ordered from Orange Jellyfish Dream. They’re hand-dyed and extremely well-made. I think I’ll put my new sock project in it! They had other colors too. You can see them here.

EDF80659-D0D1-48BB-BB8A-4F84939E097C_1_201_a Oh yeah, I got the matching pouch too. Oops.

Wait, it’s Tuesday?

May26

I saw someone’s Sock It To Me Monday post last night and was genuinely confused — I was sure yesterday was Sunday! Especially without a work schedule to ground me, my days are all muddled now. But apparently today is Tuesday so I’ll show you my finished sock a day late.

This is the Orange Jellyfish Dream yarn in my go-to sock recipe: ribbed leg, stockinette foot. I did most of the toe while on a Skype call Saturday night so it might not be exactly correct, but it’s toe-shaped so that’s a plus.

But the WIP getting all my attention right now is my new Olive Pink shawl. This is with four colors of SoLo from Lolo Did It and I am loving this project.

8D9E7CA3-73D6-4324-94EB-05B859C10924_1_201_a There are so many color changes and stitch changes that it keeps me going to get to the next section, and I’m really pleased with the colors I chose. I’m eager to get a little more green in there, though. Even though this is 20 sections and I’m only on the sixth, I have a feeling this shawl will fly off my needles. Especially since I might need some comfort knitting! The kids have both left today, on the way to Colorado. The girl needed to move out of her old apartment and into her new one, and the boy was desperate to get out of the house, so he joined her to help clean and pack. It’ll be a big change after having her home with us for about six weeks. I’d gotten used to it and we were all having a lot of fun, so I’m a bit blue today. But, c’est la vie, right?

Happy Tuesday, friends. Hope you have better weather than our gray skies and rain!

New Sock, New Room

May15

My two days of rest were exactly what I needed. I worked on my Dowland shawl and even got past the point where I had to frog last time. I’ve only got eight rows left before the bind-off, I believe, and I’m so ready to be done with this one. For some reason, the lace in this last section is giving me so much trouble. I want to get back to the easier lace of my Penny sweater but am just stubborn enough to make myself finish Dowland first.

I also cast on a new sock, as predicted. I pulled out one of my new brightly-colored sock yarn skeins, Orange Jellyfish in Intergalatic Planetary, and cast on for a Vanilla Latte sock. It’s growing quickly.

It’s knitting up differently than I expected but I do love the bright colors. And the dog! 😉

But for now, the knitting is paused again while I resume my painting activities. I’m tackling the dining room now. Yesterday I patched and taped and dusted and sanded and vacuumed and patched and sanded and vacuumed. (There were some pretty serious cracks in the biggest wall.) The husband picked up the paint last night and today I’m ready to do the fun part: getting the paint on the walls! This is the biggest room I’ve done so far; it might take me a few days just for the painting.

Happy Friday, friends. Hope you have something fun planned for the weekend!

Well, THAT took forever

May13

It feels like I have completed very few projects during this stay-at-home time. Ravelry says I have, a whopping six projects: two simple cowls, three pairs of socks, and several masks (which I guess could count for more than one project). But anyway, I finished a pair of socks last night and it felt like I’d just finished a marathon! I looked back and discovered I’d started these on March 16, the first day I started working from home. That’s almost two months ago, friends! Does it seem crazy that we’ve been doing this for so long? Sometimes it does to me, and sometimes it just feels like normal now. I’m so glad to have these off my needles finally.

The yarn is Leading Men Fiber Arts Showstopper in Complete Imagination and the pattern is Vestigial. I love the colors of the yarn and the gentle stripes. I carried the pattern down to the end of the gusset and after that I just wanted plain stockinette feet. And now I get to pick out a new sock yarn and cast on something fun…as soon as I clean off my craft room table of all the stuff it accumulated while I was painting!

FO Friday: Rainbow Socks

May1

Well, I started the week with these socks and I’ll finish the week with them. I actually finished the toe of the second sock yesterday but FO Thursday doesn’t have the same ring to it.

These socks do not match. Can you see why? Yes, the toes match up beautifully and I love that! But look at the rolled cuffs: I started on different colors. So one sock is longer than the other. Whatever. They’ll still wear just fine. Plus this might be my favorite sock yarn ever. It’s from Two Sisters Yarn Company and these colors are just so fun and happy. I used more yarn than I expected on these, about 54 grams, so I’ll have to get creative with my second pair.

I’m still working on my Vestigial sock and am in the middle of the gusset, but I’m planning my next sock as well. These will be for a good friend and here’s what I have in mind:

They’re even machine-washable! The multi-color is Plymouth Yarn Happy Feet. The green might be Madtosh?? Or maybe Treasure Goddess Treasured Toes? I hope it’s the latter because that’s also machine-washable.

This week I also finished watching Little Fires Everywhere and I highly recommend it. It’s different from the book in a lot of ways, and I’m not sure how I feel about the ending, but I was hooked. And now I need to read the book again to see exactly how it’s different!

Happy Friday, friends.

Sock It To Me Monday

Apr27

Yesterday was a sunny, lazy day and it called for a new sock. I pulled out my Two Sisters self-striping and cast on a Rose City Roller. I’m thinking that if I make one pair of Rollers, I’ll have enough left for a pair of full-size socks with contrasting heels/cuffs/toes. And having the shortie socks knit up first will help me pick the contrasting color. Plus I will actually be able to wear the short socks now, unlike the full socks which would be set aside for fall.

I love this yarn so much. I would wear a sweater in this yarn. I just don’t know how well it works to make a sweater in self-striping sock yarn!

I also spent some time with my sewing machine yesterday. In all my mask-making recently, I hadn’t made any for myself or my family. And with so much uncertainty around the virus and when we’ll go out in the world again and what restrictions will be required when we do, I thought it would be best to be prepared.

They are all reversible with the same fabrics but I used different ties for each one so we’d know whose is whose. They’re also not perfect but it was still fun and satisfying, even if my eyes were so tired by the time I was done. I don’t think sewing will ever be my favorite craft, but I am tempted to try to make something fun, like a small project bag. What’s your favorite simple pattern for beginner sewing?

FO Friday: Socks!

Apr17

I have new socks to wear for spring! I finished my scrappy shortie socks last night and they’re the same size and used up two little leftover balls of yarn. They’re a pattern from my head but I’m pretty sure it started with the Rose City Rollers and I just modified the leg to add a short cuff.

My yarn friends at work are going to do a worsted-weight sock knit-along through work, so that will motivate me to do the second sock for the boy. I’m kind of…leading it, I think?? Which is so weird to me but whatever, I have made a lot of socks so I’m pretty skilled at basic sock skills, I guess? Anyway, it’ll be fun and give us a good excuse to meet virtually and show off socks. And maybe I can get someone else addicted to sock knitting because it’s the best.

My apparently never-ending supply of happy mail continued today with this fun collection of goodies from the Treasure Goddess: ea25de0f-c7d8-4475-b1ba-c0cde6023f8e The sock yarn will actually become socks, and the two little pirate sheep in the middle are temporary tattoos, how fun is that? And that sticker in the upper left corner? LOVE with the yarn ball? I think that would make an amazing real tattoo! Only if I did it, of course the yarn would be purple. We’ll see if I still want it once we’re allowed to go out into the world again.

I don’t expect any happy mail tomorrow but who knows, something could show up! Happy Friday, friends!

More Masks

Apr16

I wish I could show you some fun knitting, but I have none to share. The nurse friend I’ve been making masks for said her team was required to wear masks now and they loved the ones she had, and I’d offered to make more, so she wondered if I’d still be willing. I definitely was, especially since I had supplies on hand. I used up the last of my dish-cotton yarn and the last of the cotton shirt I’d cut up to make six more masks.

I think this is a total of 16 I’ve made, and I might be done now. It felt good to do something to help people in healthcare, and my friend said her boss, a senior VP and CIO of a major hospital system, liked it enough to ask for one herself. That made me feel pretty cool! If you’re interested, I used this pattern and added a two-layer cotton lining. I used the sewing machine to sew the two pieces of lining together, then hand-stitched the lining in place. I ran out of ribbon so I slip-stitched yarn into place on the corners and just chained for 18″ to make the ties. I tried to make them as sturdy as possible to withstand many washes in hot water.

Besides masks, I had a short interlude for another puzzle. The girl is now sheltering in place with us, which is really comforting for this mom’s heart, and she’s my puzzle buddy. (She’s also my showtunes/musical buddy and my chick flick buddy.) Good news: I have someone to help me. Bad news: the puzzles go much faster!

I was spreading the ModPodge on this one last night and the husband walks by and says with dismay, “You’re gluing that one together too?” LOL! I guess he’s not a big fan of finished puzzles either! This is the last one to get glued, I think, so he’ll be fine. But I like the idea of hanging this one in our sitting room, which is where we have our record player and piano, and where the kids used to practice their instruments.

Now, I’m gratefully back to sock knitting, which is good because I have a VERY GOOD supply of sock yarn thanks to pandemic stress-shopping! (Somehow, I am still in the black for the year: I have used more yarn from stash than I’ve added! NO IDEA how that’s still true and no idea how long it will last.) The latest is my first skein from Mint Rain Yarns, a self-striping in a color called Make Me Smile.

And it does! The hardest part might be deciding which awesome sock yarn to knit next!

Okay, it’s 8 am which means it’s time to get to work for the day. Happy Thursday, friends. Hang in there.

Rainy Day Knitting

Apr12

This has been a cloudy, gloomy Sunday, but it’s been a pretty satisfactory day for me! I took some masks to my friend, who gave me homemade bread and cinnamon rolls in exchange, and then I spent the afternoon knitting. I sat down with my three (THREE!) sock WIPs and here’s what I learned…

The socks only grow if you actually sit down and knit on them!

Those are all first socks but at least I’ve now got two completed first socks, and that feels good! Plus these are both quick socks, with one being a shortie and one being worsted weight, so second socks shouldn’t be too far behind.

I’ve also been binge-watching Little Fires Everywhere. At first I was skeptical — I wasn’t sure about the casting and there was so much that wasn’t in the book — but now I’m a little obsessed! Anyone else watching?

Friday, bah

Apr10

Today is Friday and it is a good thing it’s Friday, but I’m not in a very Friday-ish mood. I’ve got some frustrating work stuff going on that’s not helping my mindset. I might have ended up browsing for yarn online this morning! I also decided I needed a fun new project.

49a7f868-cad3-40a9-b58c-313a8b831072 These will be shortie socks using leftovers from other projects. I’ve only got three pairs of shorties and have been enjoying them as spring has sprung. I’m pretty sure the pink is Hedgehog Fibres and the black mix is Madtosh. The colors don’t exactly match but eh. Whatever. I’m even tempted to use some of my smaller balls to make single socks and just mix and match. Great way to use up some sock yarn! Happy Friday, friends.