Category: <span>Socks</span>

Category: Socks

Finished Objects, Socks

Sock Knitting Catch-up – Part 1

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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.

Socks

Ember Socks

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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.

Socks

Finished Socks – Forest Moon of Endor

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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

Socks from 2015 – Part 4

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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.