Category: <span>Finished Objects</span>

Sock Knitting Catch-up – Part 3

Continuing on with the sock knitting catch-up posts, but at least we’re into 2021 now!  This is some peak winter pandemic knitting, just basic plain stockinette socks, but honestly it was all my brain had space for at the time.

Fall-ish Socks
Started: 25 Dec 2020
Finished: 2 Jan 2021
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight, Mill Ends
Needle: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm
Notes: Mill Ends are the not-quite-perfect runs of sock yarn that are still plenty good, but not perfect.  Ravelry says I picked this up at the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool festival in 2009, so wow was it due to be used finally.  This yarn is an absolute delight – it’s SO squishy and comfortable to wear even if a little thicker than most sock yarns, and what a pretty colorway.

Day at the Beach Socks
Started: 2 Jan 2021
Finished: 11 Jan 2021
Yarn: Spindle City Yarns Handpainted Sock in colorway, “Day at the Beach”
Needle: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm
Notes: It’s my best friends, blue and brown again!  Ravelry says I bought this in 2008, so this was one of my first few sock yarn purchases ever.  Pretty wild how a few skeins of sock yarn became bins of yarn, enough to keep me warm for an eternity.  This project marks my transfer from keeping records on Ravelry to keeping records in a notebook because of Ravelry’s site redesign and refusal to add basic code for accommodating those who found the new site intolerable or harmful to use.  I even noted on the project page, “Last FO on Ravelry.  Going to notebook logging or posting on the blog.  BYE RAVELRY.”  Part of the reason I got back to blogging was to keep better track of Finished Objects, so, here we are.

Stormy Night Socks
Started: 6 Jan 2021
Finished: 11 Jan 2021
Yarn: June Pryce Fiber Arts Plum Panda sock in colorway “Stormy Night”
Needle: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm
Notes: Oooh aren’t these pretty?!  The yarn was picked up at the Pennsylvania Fall Fiber Arts Festival in 2015 so it didn’t wait too long to become socks.  My notes on this say that I left the leg longer than I usually do to preserve the color transition.  I even alternated and used the other end of the ball for the heel since the yarn was supposed to transition all the way back to the dark green again.

Bacon Socks
Started: 14 Jan 2021
Finished: 23 Jan 2021
Yarn: Holiday Yarns Flock Sock in colorway “Bacon”
Needle: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm
Notes: Plain old sock!  The yarn was acquired at Rhinebeck in 2010, and how can you possibly resist a colorway called “bacon” which pools up like streaky bacon?!  I mean it really is pretty great.

Sock Knitting Catch-up – Part 2

Another round of sock posts!  Probably at least 2 more to go after this until I’m done.  Still working through this long backlog of plain vanilla socks, but I wear handknit socks constantly, and especially with boots, the unpatterend ones are more comfortable.

Galapagos Socks
Started: 22 Aug 2020
Finished: 6 Sep 2020
Yarn: Dragonfly Fibers Djinni Sock in colorway “Galapagos”
Needle: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm
Notes: If I remember correctly, the yarn was a gift?  We had been to the Galapagos Islands years ago and it was a once in a lifetime kind of trip.  So yeah, obviously a colorway named Galapagos was a thing that had to happen.

Blue Stripe Socks
Started: 8 Sep 2020
Finished: 13 Sep 2020
Yarn: Austermann Hand Painted in colorway “Esiblume”
Needle: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm
Notes: This one pooled up really weirdly for me!  My standard sock is 64 stitches and I think maybe at 72 stitches, I would’ve gotten the stripe pattern shown in product photos.  I *think* I bought this one on a trip to the Netherlands, but can’t be entirely sure since it was after I’d started to abandon Ravelry.  It’s not a particularly soft yarn, but it’s one of those solid, workhorse sock yarns that probably won’t need darning for years and years.

Harvest Socks
Started: 14 Sep 2020
Finished: 25 Sep 2020
Yarn: Farmhouse Yarns Fannie’s Fingering Weight in colorway, “Harvest”
Needle: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm
Notes: Another yarn from 2010, these buttery hues worked up really pretty into an evenly variegated yarn without really any pooling.  This is outside of my blue and brown comfort range but I can’t help but admire how beautifully the colors work together in the final knitted product.

Caribeno Socks
Started: 23 Nov 2020
Finished: 30 Nov 2020
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Sock in colorway, “Caribeno”
Needle: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm
Notes: Annnd back to blue!  The yarn was a gift from a friend who knows exactly what colors I like and oh, what gorgeous blues.  Malabrigo is so dang squishy and soft too, these are just fantastic.

Sock Knitting Catch-up – Part 1

This year will mark my 14th year as a knitter.  Hard to believe it started one summer with a friend teaching me the basics and then letting me fly.  Socks are my go-to comfort knitting because I don’t really have to think about them yet they still keep my hands busy, and I can crank out a pair in one long day or, on average, about a week’s worth of evening knitting in front of the TV.  Now that I’ve given up on Ravelry because of their horrible redesign and subsequent hostile response to people saying it was causing them actual, physical harm, refusing to make even basic accessibility accommodations, I’m going to focus on posting these on my blog here instead of on Ravelry.  So, here we are!  This also gives me a little more room to talk about the knitting, any modifications, and so on.  I’ll post 4 of these at a time until I’m caught up and then hopefully, keep up with posting new stuff here as I knit.  The majority of these will be older projects, and I fell into knitting plain old vanilla socks (using my basic sock pattern) to try and use up some heavily variegated or pooling sock yarn that wasn’t really all that well suited to something with a pattern.  Anyway, on to the socks!

NYC Socks
Started: 25 Apr 2020
Finished: 3 May 2020
Yarn: Dragonfly Fibers Dragon Sock in colorway “City That Never Sleeps”
Needle: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm
Notes: This colorway was a TON of fun to knit.  The black is VERY black, so the colored bits really stand out against the dark.

Nell Socks
Started: 11 May 2020
Finished: June 2020
Yarn: Miss Babs Yummy 2 ply in colorway “Nell”
Needle: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm
Notes: I apparently bought this yarn back in 2010 and then it sat in my stash for .. a decade.  It’s definitely a set of colors that’s right up my alley between the blue and brown and oh gosh they knit together so pretty.

Juniper Socks
Started: ??
Finished: 13 Aug 2020
Yarn: Enchanted Knoll Farm Superwash Sock in colorway “Juniper”
Needle: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm
Notes: It appears that this dyer is no longer dyeing yarn, but it’s yet another entry in my blue-and-brown personal colorway, though this one is a little more turquoise and tan.  Gosh I really loved this set of colors and still do, but this and the yarn above were both bought in 2010, so I definitely had a real thing for those colors!

Dusk Socks
Started: 13 Aug 2020
Finished: 22 Aug 2020
Yarn: Ella Rae Lace Merino in colorway “Dusk”
Needle: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm
Notes: Still sort of blues-and-browns-ish, but definitely aptly named with the muted tones of greens and blues.  Not sure when I got this, but I was pretty great about keeping up with the stash on Ravelry until the last 5 years or so, so it was probably a much newer acquisition that I never added into their database.  Really dig those colors, and Ella Rae’s lace merino is definitely a solid sock yarn.

Next four are coming soon!  Still trying to get a blog post up once a week, so a lot of these are scheduled out in advance, but it’s great to be back at the blogging thing.

Ember Socks

Yet another Spun-to-Finished project!  Simple socks this time, but I really wanted to show off the color transition, and a pair of “fraternal twin” socks seemed like the perfect opportunity.  First up, the fiber!


The fiber is from Twisted Fiber Art and is “Sleek,” a now discontinued blend of 50% Superwash Merino wool and 50% Tencel which makes it a great, sturdy blend for socks.  The colorway is, “Ember,” which has also been discontinued from the Twisted Fiber Art list of colorways.  The tencel makes the Superwash Merino spin up super silky and smooth.


And the spun yarn!  I used a chain ply method to get 415 yards out of 4 oz of fiber.  The plying method helped preserve the color changes in the roving.  It came out to right about fingering weight, so I knew this would eventually become socks.

The finished socks!  I knit the same basic sock I always knit – 64 stitches around, top-down, with a heel flap.  I started them August 3, 2016 and finished August 19, 2016, so these went pretty quickly!  As you can see, the striping doesn’t quite line up from sock to sock, and that’s okay.  I actually prefer to waste less yarn and just knit onto the second sock without worrying about the start color lining up just right.  For the heels, I switch to the other end of the yarn cake once I start the heel flap so that the color transition on the leg to instep section isn’t interrupted.  Yeah, it makes for two extra ends to weave in per sock, but it takes a matter of a few minutes and makes the sock look nice.  Here’s the Ravelry Project Link for this project if you want to see more.  There aren’t any notes or anything since this isn’t a really complicated pattern, but I am pleased with how they knit up and, as usual, how amazing it is that my hands can turn a bunch of fiber into something I can wear.

Finished Socks – Forest Moon of Endor

It seems like I get the chance just once a year to drag out the backdrops and fancy camera and actually photography things for myself!  These are the Forest Moon of Endor socks by Heidi Nick (Ravelry links).  I started these January 27, 2016 and finished February 16, 2016, so they’re a pretty easy and fast knit as far as socks go.  Knit on US 1.5 (2.5mm) DPNs with Knit Picks Bare fingering weight yarn that was dyed by me using easter egg dyes, these squishy socks have just the right amount of lace.  My favorite part is the heel isn’t a traditional heel flap and opens up in the pattern as  a stockinette triangle so the lace doesn’t weaken the heel.  I didn’t write it down, but I think I used just the 60 stitch version since the lace opens up the gauge  (I usually do a 64 stitch sock, but 60 stitches was plenty here).  I made a slight modification and continued the lace pattern down the instep of the sock instead of leaving it as stockinette.

The pattern had been free last year when I knitted these, but now it costs $4.  I think the pattern works pretty well with both solid and subtly variegated yarns.  Here’s the Ravelry Link to my project page for these, and hopefully I’ll get my tush in gear and post more finished objects more often!

Socks from 2015 – Part 4

If you missed the first three installments, here are links for Part 1,  Part 2, and Part 3

Crazy Pools Socks
Pattern
: Sock Knitting Workshop
Designer: Alysania (yours truly!)
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential Multi in, “Confetti”
Ravelry Project Link
Pulled out of deep, old stash, I apparently never even added this to stash on Ravelry.  The pooling worked up SO bizarrely, but it’s interesting nonetheless.  Another yarn that really didn’t suit an intricate pattern, so I did the old standby plain vanilla sock.  Still, they’re fun colors and the yarn is a known workhorse yarn for socks, so they’ll get plenty of wear.

 

MOAR SOCKS
Pattern
: Sock Knitting Workshop
Designer: Alysania (yours truly!)
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Knit Picks  Felici in, “Coney Island”
Ravelry Project Link
Not quite as deep stash as the prior pair, but the striping was again destined for plain vanilla socks.  I believe for this pair, to maintain the stripe order, I split at the heel and worked from the other end of the ball and then went back to the regular yarn for the rest.  Nice colors, and stripes are always fun.

 

Jaywalkers
Pattern
: Jaywalker
Designer: Grumperina
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Snallygaster Fibers Lindy Hop Sock in, “Jeremiah”
Ravelry Project Link
I already knew how this yarn works up into stripes and it may be my favorite yarn to turn into Jaywalkers.  The yarn was gifted by a friend who I did some test knitting for, so these are extra special socks.  Also, blue and green and grey?  YES PLEASE.  They’re so bright, it almost makes the sparks of bright green look like lightning bolts between sky and clouds and sky.  I’m kind of regretting though not doing an afterthought heel because the striping pattern is interrupted on the gusset, but it does break up the foot and leg, and the colors are still awesome, so it’s okay.

Socks from 2015 – Part 3

Still moar socks!  If you missed the first two installments, here are links for Part 1 and Part 2.

DSC_1411Plain Socks Again
Pattern
: Sock Knitting Workshop
Designer: Alysania (yours truly!)
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Schachenmayr Regia Fluormania in, “7184”
Ravelry Project Link
Who couldn’t just love this colorway?  Blue and Orange?!  I’m in!  Arguably my favorite color of the fluormania color line, these (again) had to be plain socks to show off the color.  I really love how the transition from color to color isn’t perfectly clean and even and there’s a little bleed over, almost like a watercolor painting.  I’m also pretty thrilled that the socks are almost opposites of each other in how the colors lined up – blue on one toe, orange on the other.  They’re just perfect, and again, this is a great workhorse sock yarn and I’m sure they’ll last me for ages.

 

 

DSC_1424Hand Dyed Socks
Pattern
: Hermione’s Everyday Socks
Designer: Erica Lueder
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Artsygal Colonial Nylon Blend, hand dyed by me.
Ravelry Project Link
The pattern was really simple so the socks knit up very quickly.  There’s enough of a pattern to not be plain old socks, but not so much that the pattern is lost in the color.  The yarn was hand dyed by yours truly at a dye day class taught by ArtsyGal.  It was the first time I’d dyed yarn, so it was fun experiment and I’m glad I finally knit with the yarn which was dyed in 2008!  Oof!  So, this is some pretty well aged sock yarn, but thankfully not past its prime.  I love how the pooling worked out to look like waves of color instead of striping or spiraling.

 

 

 

DSC_1433Fireball Socks
Pattern
: Sock Knitting Workshop
Designer: Alysania (yours truly!)
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Zitron Trekking Pro Natura, hand dyed by me.
Ravelry Project Link
You’ll forgive me for yet another plain sock since this one is pretty neat, right?  I dyed this skein from a blank base myself, measuring how much yarn it takes to knit a row and then mathing it all out so I could get stripes like this.  Then it was walking laps around a set of chairs in the kitchen to re-skein the yarn in the right length, dye, reskein again into a smaller skein and FINALLY knit the yarn.  They buying/dyeing was done in 2008 (seems that class gave me ideas), and they were finally knit this past year and I’m IN LOVE with them.

Socks from 2015 – Part 2

On to the second installment of my adventures in sock knitting from 2015.- for Part 1, click here.

DSC_1410Vanilla  Socks
Pattern
: Sock Knitting Workshop
Designer: Alysania (yours truly!)
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: The Alpaca Yarn Co. Paca-Peds in, “Carribean Chocolate”
Ravelry Project Link

The pooling worked out almost like a self-striping yarn with these, and I rather like how the brown and turquoise work together.  The yarn was soft and squishy with only 20% alpaca content, so it’s soft but still has that classic wool bounce and sproing.  Just your basic socks again since I didn’t know what to do with yarn that wouldn’t work for intricate patterns.

 

 

 

 

DSC_1428Stretchy Socks
Pattern
: Sock Knitting Workshop
Designer: Alysania (yours truly!)
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Crystal Palace Yarns Panda Cotton Print  in, “Fall Herbs”
Ravelry Project Link

Another plain sock.  I’m sort of mystified how the same yarn can knit up into two very different socks because the pooling lines up differently, but it’s really rather interesting too.  The yarn came put up in two balls, so I suppose the one was just a hair enough different, or my gauge was that different between the two socks.  Either way, I’m not a huge fan of this yarn – when I wore them, they stretched out like crazy and almost didn’t stay on my feet.  I’m not sure if maybe the elastic is too old (the yarn had been ‘aging’ in my stash for quite some time) or that the bamboo and cotton overpower  the elastic.  I’m hoping a machine wash in warm water may bring them back to life.

DSC_1421Jaywalkers
Pattern
: Jaywalker
Designer: Grumperina
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Zwerger Garn Opal Feelings in, “1702”
Ravelry Project Link

This yarn was just begging to be Jaywalkers with those HUGE stripes.  The coral and red colors look like that in real life too – it’s super hard to distinguish between the two colors.  For the heels, I did the heel flap and turn in yarn from the opposite end of the ball so that I wouldn’t mess up the striping pattern.  I think I forgot to do that on the first one and then remembered for the second.  Great, basic workhorse sock yarn with fun colors and a super quick (3 day!) knit.