FO: Houdini Socks

I finished!

These were actually really easy. The steeking worked out nicely...it's just a fun, unusual sock construction.



This is the very last skein of Socks that Rock in my stash. I loved the colorway- Atomic 6. Great deep jewel tones of purples and blues, and it didn't pool funky at all. It's taken me almost a year, but I've been able to knit through all 13 skeins of this yarn that's been in a bin under my couch (admit it- it's fare game for yarn storage under there). It's been fun- I really like this yarn. I find it fades quite a bit after a wash (especially the darker colors) but it wears well- no holes to be mended so far. It's nice and thick so it works up quick and cushy.



Once the tube was made and steeked, you made another tube for the leg, and this one had a fun feather and fan variation. I used some leftover yarn in the "River Rocked" colorway for the contrasting stripe. I modified the pattern a bit- I did more lace pattern and less stripe.



The only thing I don't like about the construction is the bump the heel has. Because it's basically a second toe-shape, it doesn't conform perfectly to your foot like a short-row heel would.



See? It makes a little belly-button like pucker at the heel where it's kitchnered closed.

I got a chance to learn Judy's Magic Cast on for the toe as well- I love it. I would highly recommend this technique for toe-up socks and I've declared it my new favorite.

Since sportweight yarn is a wee bit too thick to make socks that fit in shoes, I'm not going to let that bump bother me. These are a great pair of house socks. I might end up gifting them anyway- my sock drawer is pretty much full and

The specs: 1 skein of BMFA Socks that Rock Mediumweight in "Atomic 6", plus a couple yards of scraps of the contrasting stripe. Which meant there were ends to weave in, but I love the effect. I used size 1.5 needles and made these two at a time on two circs.

Totally unrelated but amusing:



Bullit is one of my favorite movies, if only because of the pimp '68 Dodge Charger that Steve McQueen drives and the fact that he can rock a shawl-collared sweater AND he made a turtleneck look sexy. Who else can do that? Not too many. A British graphic designer is re-creating the iconic car chase scene in stop-motion and slot cars. How fun is that?

FO: In The Land of Oz

Instant gratification is the best kind.

(Excuse the blurry pictures- just because I'm learning how to use the super techie camera doesn't mean anyone else is. Ahem.)



This was an easy-peasy pattern that made me insanely happy. It's basically a modified feather-and-fan lace pattern. It took me about a week to whip up, with my main motivation being that I only have 1 pair of size 7 needles and I needed them for a sweater that I wanted to start RIGHT AWAY.



I used 1 skein of sportweight yarn- BMFA Socks that Rock Mediumweight. The color is "Lunasea". It's gorgeous.

I can't decide whether or not to gift this or keep this yet. It's so pretty, but I feel like I have so many lace shawls and scarves at this point. Time to spread the love.



I liked it better knitted up than on the skein- it knitted up like a watercolor. I'm always a little nervous about pairing lace with multi-colored handpainted, but I think this worked out nicely.



It's an easy pattern to modify if you have additional or less yardage. I knew I was running short so I ended the lace pattern four rows early. Even with this precaution, I ran out on the bind-off. I searched my stash of scraps and pulled out a similar color to finish binding off the last 50 stitches. I'm told that it's not noticeable unless I point it out.

The specs: In the Land of Oz shawl by Adrienne Fong. I used 380 + yards of sportweight yarn and size 7 needles. (I didn't bother checking my gauge and probably wouldn't have ran out if I did, but oh well).

Warming Myself the Best Way I Know How- With Booze and Knitwear

Wintertime is a great time for warming yourself in front of a fireplace (even if it's only a metaphorical fireplace) with a snifter in hand. Last night, we did just that over at the Brandy Library in Tribeca. We were there for a Cognac tasting. I'm a whisky drinker and I have never really tried Cognac or knew anything about them, but I'm always happy to discover new and exotic ways to get my drink on.

Because I am willing to sacrifice my morning after alertness for the sake of an educational experience, I found a couple of Congnacs that I really liked. Several more I deemed drinkable, and there were a couple that I wouldn't want to repeat the experience- they burned going down, had a harsh acidic aftertaste, or just tasted like the sour grapes they came from. Overall, I felt very warm and relaxed and fuzzy once the buzz settled in, which was really nice.

I think my favorite of the evening was a Bache Hors d'Age. It was a rather staggering $200 a bottle, but so pleasant and drinkable. I also had the pleasure of trying a couple precious sips of Louis XIII. This usually sell between $1800-$2500 a bottle. It was the most flavorful and mellow of everything I tried, but I don't have a palate for it enough to tell you more. I spent the rest of the evening telling the Wall Street bankers at the bar, "Yes darlings, I just simply can not have a productive week of social affairs if I haven't had my Louis on Monday evening." à votre santé!

Afterward was a pleasant stroll across Chinatown to warm ourselves with the wonderful Joe's Shanghai for soup dumplings. If you've never had them, I feel very sorry for you.

Other than continuing my hedonistic binge, I've been knitting away.



I finished my Land of Oz shawl, but haven't had a chance to get good pictures of it. So there's a teaser.

I cast on for another pair of socks. Yawn. With my very last skein of BMFA Socks that Rock that exists in my stash. Squeee! The color is "Atomic 6" and I love it.



They are going to be the Houdini Socks by Cat Bordhi. They are made toe-up, but you just make a tube for the foot with a toe on each end. Then you cut open the sock to create a place to fit your foot in before continuing on with the cuff. Genius, no? Well, I'm not going to say that quite yet. Let's wait to I actually get to the cutting part to see how badly I sweat this. More Cognac please!

I've also been plugging away at the Placed Cable Aran.



It's a really simple plain pullover that has a series of three O cables that grace both the front in back. It's in good old Cascade 220, that workhorse of a worsted weight yarn.

I've also been chipping away at the mound of fiber in my spinning basket from Cadfael. I can't believe how much space that little fleece puffed up to once it got teased and carded. And shhhh...I still have a huge 1 gallon freezer bag packed with more of the fleece needing to be picked through and carded. I was seriously doubting that I had a sweater-amount of that BFL fleece, but I've already got 3 full 4oz bobbins spun up and I've barely noticed a dent in the pile. I need to throw a movie on the big screen and get through some of that wool already.

FO- Cotty Socks, part deux

I very rarely make the same pattern twice, but some things just deserve a second go.



I bought this yarn at Rhinebeck 3 years ago at The Fold booth. The colorway is "Pebbles". It was so delicate and pretty, I couldn't resist. From the moment I laid my eyes on that skein, I had it in my head that this would be socks for my grandma.



Grandma is a real classy lady. She's one of those unflappable sensible people who you just want around. She also is a year-round resident of the far reaches of northern Maine. The horror! A winter there would probably do me in. Therefore, she gets as much knitwear as I can possibly churn out.



Here are my second pair of Cotty socks. I loved the first pair so much that I couldn't think of anything else that would be more perfect. They are girly but not too fussy. Best of all the pattern is written for two weights of yarn: fingering and thicker sport weight. These are a bit cushy and thick (ahem. warm.) but they aren't so thick that there would be a problem to squeeze your feet into your winter boots. I don't think I could get paid to leave the house in winter that far north, so hopefully they will get a lot of use as house slippers.



The colors striped up nicely without a lot of pooling, and worked nicely with the lace pattern. No clown barf!



They could have been a tad longer in the cuff (which also means I have a good amount of leftovers). They are somewhere between anklet and real sock at this point. I churned these out in less than two weeks to make that dreaded holiday shipping deadline, so it couldn't really be helped. I made 6 pairs of gift socks this year. Six! (sometimes having a long-ass commute totally pays off).


The specs: BMFA Socks that Rock Mediumweight in "Pebbles". I used a size 3mm needle and did these two at a time. The only modification I made was the cast-on. I like to do a provisional cast on when I'm doing the picot edge to make sure I'm picking up stitches in the right places so I don't get a wonky cuff.

Unseasonal

It is always tourist season in New York. This time of year it's especially crowded. Every time I leave my office, I feel like I've been swept into a torrential river that stops every few feet to take a picture. If I play my cards right, the river will sweep me along to my destination, or perhaps leave me clambering up the side of a cement block to escape.

It's nice to get away to a place that might be a bit quiet.



We went up to Maine for a few days. It was silent. I love being there this time of year. Yes, it's effing cold, but that's when all your hand knit winter woolies step up and take the hit for you. It even snowed a bit which made things all the more cozy.





Except for the occasional dog walker, you can be the only person on the beach for miles.





It's quite refreshing and you can really easily play that game where you pretend you are the last people on earth.

I started another pair of Cotty socks while on the aeroplane.


I almost never make the same pattern twice, but I loved the way my original pair came out and the pattern has a sportweight version. I also need just one more gift on standby- ideally one that can be cranked out quickly but still looks good. The yarn is BMFA Socks that Rock in mediumweight. The color is "Pebbles". I picked this skein up at Rhinebeck three (3!) years ago with a certain person in mind, and I'm finally forcing myself to get around to making a certain something for the certain person.

Oh, and I did go to a yarn store while I was in Portland (because you can't throw a rock without hitting one in that town. It's almost scary.) Tess' Designer Yarn is one of the most gorgeous and unique shops I know. Everything is hand-dyed by the shop owner and she has a wonderful eye for color. It took all of my will power to drag myself out of there empty handed.

FO- Knetted Socks

I finished a pair of socks recently. They are from the Socks that Rock club from last fall. Begone, sock yarn! You will languish no further in my stash.



The yarn is BMFA medium weight in "River Rocked". The skein is absolutely gorgeous- so many great fall colors in there.



Predictable, it knitted up kind of muddy, but I did love this pattern. The linen stitch diamonds helped show off the colors.







The pattern is "Knetted", by Cat Bordhi. She does such unusual, creative patterns. This one had a heel that I can only describe as a "happy face". It's "U" shaped, and it fits really well, and it eliminates the need for gusset shaping. And the toe- there was no Kitchener stitch involved. There was a series of decreases the spiraled down to nothing. Really ingenious. They look kind of funky without a foot in them, but they are actually really nice on.

Oh, and I started this for Socktoberfest. I forgot to take pictures of that event. It's our annual sock-knitting and beer-swilling evening at the local Teutonic establishment. We do it on a Monday night, and everyone backs away from us and leaves us alone.

This is yet another skein gone for my A-Z stashdown challenge. I actually noticed a dent in my sock yarn bin the other day. Oh, that's only because I've used 12 skeins of sock yarn up since this challenge began last spring.

These are going to be gifted, as my sock draw is full. The medium weight yarn is a bit too thick to shove into a pair of shoes, so these would be great house slippers or an outer layer boot sock. I grew up in Maine, and buying your winter boots a size too big so you can fit another thick wooly layer of sock is the norm.

FO- Cotty Socks

My draconian stashdown continues.



Another skein of Socks that Rock gone. This is more of the Lightweight in the "Raven" colorway.



The pattern is called "Cotty" by IrishGirlieKnits. They have a lovely picot cuff and it was a really simple lace pattern that was addictive. I loved the colorway and had been saving this yarn for a good pattern that would be equally awesome. I'm very pleased with the result.



The specs:
I used US size 1 needles. I did these top-down, two at a time on two circs. No modifications, except that I made the cuffs a bit longer (mostly because I loved knitting them so much I didn't want to stop).

I plan on making these again- the pattern is written for both fingering weight and sport weight yarn.

FO- Anastasia Socks

All this handpainted yarn is getting to me! I love the way it looks on the skein (oooh, colors!) but a lot of times you have to do the most simple of sock patterns in order for the whole thing to not give you a headache. I'm starting to like plain, solid colored sock yarn.

Yet, here I am, with a whole bin full of multi-colored sock yarn. What is a girl to do?


This was a skein from last years BMFA Rockin' Sock Club. I liked the pattern by itself, and I was okay with the purpley yarn, but when I started knitting, I was quickly overcome with doubt. The lace pattern got lost in the dark stripes. I frogged those socks and found a new pattern for the yarn.

I found the Anastasia pattern by Minty Fresh. The simple spirals worked well with variegated yarn while not putting me to sleep.


I cast them on during a weekend trip to Sag Harbor while waiting forever for a table at brunch.

By the next weekend, they were done.



I did these toe-up, two at a time on 2 circs. I was really happy with the pattern/yarn combination.



There is something oddly compelling about spiral patterns. Once I start them, I feel as though putting them down for a break would somehow interrupt the spiraling process...so I just keep going.



These are destined for giftdom. I won't say to whom.



The specs:
I used 1 skein (360 yards) of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in the Pepe Le Plume colorway.

Needles were 2.25mm (US 1) circulars- the Addi Lace variety. I am going to need to rave about these in a future post as they are my new favorite sock needles.

These are part of my A-Z stashdown. I have two more skeins of BMFA lightweight to knit up- I saved my favorite colorways for last.

FO- Kai-Mei Socks

I'm back for a little bit and I have some FO's to catch up on. I am keeping up with my A-Z stashdown challenge.


Yet another skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock in lightweight. The color is "Downpour". This is a really thick, cushy sock yarn. I thought the color combination was gorgeous.

I'm on a bit of a Cookie A. kick and chose the Kai-Mei socks from her wonderful "Sock Innovation" book.

I cast these on when I was in France. The 3x3 rib went on forever, and made them good candidates for making both socks at once.



Here they are, looking longingly out at the mountains and Lake Geneva and vineyards near Lausanne, Switzerland. It's amazingly gorgeous there. Plus, you pretty consistently need socks year-round up in those mountains.

I shoved them into my carry-on bag when I flew to Chicago and immediately regretted it as one of the teeny tiny needles snapped en route. So just in time to turn the heel I switched to doing these the old-fashioned one-at-a-time way. Anyway, with all that plane time and delays, I got these done really quickly. It's amazing how much I can get done when the handheld electronic devices must be put away.



I only have pictures of the one sock done, but I assure you, the other one was made and in a perfect mirror image. As I was Kitchener-ing the toe shut on the second toe, I bumped into a friend of mine whose birthday weekend was coming up, and being the dunce that I am, I had gotten her nothing. A hasty sewing in of the ends and voila! She had a birthday present. I knew these would be a gift, but I didn't know to who. The timing was perfect.



I looks like I'm tip-toeing through the poison ivy. Sometimes, the only thing that grows in Brooklyn is noxious weeds.



The specs-
I used one skein of Socks that Rock lightweight in the Downpour colorway and size 2.25 mm needles. The 3x3 rib takes up a lot of yarn, so I used up almost the full 360 yard skein. The "butterflies" that travel across the foot were a little difficult to get consistent tension, but after a little stretching I could get them fairly even. These would be hard to wear with a pair of shoes on- the butterflies have a bit of a bulge in the center where all the stitches are gathered, and the ribbing makes them kind of lumpy as well. A good pair of pretty house socks these are.

FO- Travelling Woman Shawl

I cast on for this shawl because it was another easy, fairly mindless knit. It goes on for a bit and then a simple lace pattern starts and then it's done. Messing with charts and complicated lace while on the road is not something I'm good at, since usually a wee bit of alcohol is consumed with lunch.



I continued my A-Z stashdown challenge with yet another skein of BMFA Socks that Rock lightweight. This time the color is "Footzy Foo". It a very spingtime colorway- lots of fresh pale greens. I usually don't like to pair lace patterns with complicated hand painted yarn, but these were all similar enough greens to not be too busy (the dreaded "clown barf" effect). These small shawls are a perfect way to quickly use up a skein of sock yarn. Socks usually take me a couple weeks to make, but shawls like this will take me a week or less.

I cast on somewhere over the Atlantic while fending off a chatty Canadian gentleman, who right away took out his Iphone to show me pictures of his girlfriend who worked at Hooters. I figured pretending to sleep for the next few hours was probably my best move in this situation, so the shawl got put down for a bit.


The shawl went to Locarno and took in the amazing Alpine air with me, and then it got a few hits of rather stale smoke-filled air.


It always makes my mother so proud to have raised such a classy daughter.


It went for a hike with me up Üetliberg.

By the time I got home, all that was left to do was block.







The bind-off row is a bit curled up in the pictures, but another blocking should take care of it.

This is a gift for a friend Dagmar, who lives in Germany.



She has the most amazing curly red hair and super fair skin. I think the green will look amazing on her.

The specs: The Travelling Woman shawl by Liz Abinante. I made the pattern exactly as written. I used a size 7 needles and ran out of yarn at the bind-off, so I found another skein of STR that had the same colors, snipped out anything I didn't need, and bound-off in 1 foot increments. Total pain in my ass, but it worked. Should have used size 6 needles and ended up with a slightly smaller shawl, but ah well. I used one entire skein of the STR lightweight yarn, which is 360 yards.

FO: Lavalette shawl

I love little scarves and shawls. Working in an office that is frequently over-cooled year round makes me even more prone to collect them. They keep you just warm enough and they tend to make you look much more fabulous than you already do.



I put on a scarf and voila! Suddenly I am racing around Monaco in a pimp car with an over-tanned Cary Grant flirting with me. It's magic, I tell you.

When I was picking out projects for my travels, the Lavalette shawl jumped out at me. It's a simple stitch pattern ideal for paying attention only halfway. I paired up this yarn:



It's 360 yards of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock lightweight in "Sunkissed Sands" colorway. Onward, my A-Z stashdown marches. I'm slowly chipping away at the stash.

The shawl made its rounds in Cathar Country up in the Pyrenees:



and we had ourselves a nice time in the salty marshland of the Camargue in Provence:



By the time I got home, it just needed to be bound off and blocked.



I just kept knitting until I ran out of yarn, did a couple of plain rows and ended the whole thing.


ahem. You would think Grace Kelly would comb her hair on the weekends. Sheesh!




It was super easy to the point of boredom. No counting involved and no lace charts. Great for watching the scenery go by while keeping yourself occupied.

This is going to be gifted, but I'm not saying to whom. I'm hoping it goes on some good adventures with the recipient in the future.