FO: Fish Lips Kiss Heel Sock

Last month, news reached me of an unfortunate Amtrak accident near Philadelphia.  

"Gosh, I hope I didn't know anyone on the train", everyone thinks.

Knowing lots of people who work in Sales and travel the East Coast corridor almost constantly didn't help my chances and I did end up knowing someone who was gravely injured on that train.  

Third hand news of a long-term ICU stay, surgeries, concussions and broken bones reached me but ultimately a long and painful recovery was in store.  It gave me nightmares for a week.  

Once I was assured that he wouldn't be an amputee (a very real possibility) I set to work on a pair of socks.  Dapper, simple, comforting warm socks.   

This might sound new-agey, but when you are knitting something specifically for someone in mind, you are thinking of them subconsciously or consciously with every stitch, and whatever you thoughts are towards that person gets woven into the fabric of your garment, much like a protective amulet or magical armor to keep that person safe and well.  

Big man feet, loads of stitches, loads of healing thoughts.  

Once modeled by a for-hire foot model, I packed them up sent them off with well wishes and healing universal vibes to my friend, who I am certain is in need of a bright day here and there.  I told him "wear them with Birks, you'll be a star!" knowing that it will make his blue blood curdle.

New technique:  the Fish Lips Kiss Heel, a nice way to avoid gusset shaping and keep your stripes consistent on your self-striping yarn, and not having a heel flap to pick up stitches- Thanks, Sox Therapist!  I think it worked- they seem to fit and the unique short rows made for a flawless gap-free heel.  I'm making another pair right now to fit them to the next recipient better as this pair required a little guesswork as far as foot size goes.

Yarn is Online Supersock 4-ply "walking color".  I think it looks quite dapper, Birks or no.

fo: Plain jane socks

I've changed gears and started making socks again.  I love the usefulness of jumpers, but I have much sock yarn in my stash that needs to be turned into socks, and those socks make for wonderful gifts.  Maybe someone particularity cold-hearted might turn down a pair, but what ice queen wouldn't want a pair of these?

Quick, plain jane socks.  The yarn is Online Supersock 4-ply City Color.  This yarn is fantastic- it's affordable and the 75% superwash 25% nylon blend is just the easy-care hard-wearing for non-knitters who can't be arsed with handwashing their precious.

The colors are fun.  I didn't bother trying to line them up, giving them a charmingly mismatched quality.

Pattern is my basic toe-up two at a time sock with the Fleegle heel, and a couple inches of ribbing at the top.

Best part, they took me all of 8 days to make.  I'm not a speedy knitter, but that's really fast as far as sock knitting goes.  For me, anyway.

FO: Circle Socks

It's been a while since I've made a pair of socks.  This is an odd thing since most of my yarn stash is sock yarn.  I should probably make more socks.

They are still my go-to for travel projects.  If I have a long train journey in store and I'll be hiking around a bit then I always have a pair on the needles.  It's much easier than having a adult-sized sweater shoved in my bag while walking hill and dale.  

I made these for a guy-friend who is generous and gregarious.  He's had us over for dinner more times than I'm comfortable with before making a grand gesture of thanks.  So here they are:  a pair of socks that he can wear with his crocs while out back brewing beer.

I started a basic toe-up, two at a time sock while on the train to Exmouth last month.  When I got to the heel I tried something new:  Fleegle's No-flap-no-hassle sock.  I really liked the heel it made- smooth and flat- and once that was done, I chose a pattern to compete the cuff- the Circle Sock, modified to work with my sport-weight yarn and stitch count.   It's a simple slip-stitch pattern that adds a little bulk and texture to the cuff.

I'm modeling them here, so they are much bigger than my foot.  I used a skein of Online Supersock Murano color, and they do look a bit like Venetian glass.   Except they are wool and sock-shaped.  Even though I don't know the recipient's dressing habits intimately, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't wear handknit socks with shoes, but he does keep a cold house and a no-shoes policy, so I think these will nicely fit the bill for house socks.  Sport weight yarn is a bit thick to shove into shoes, but they make a cushy and warm house sock.  It's also very durable- the superwash wool/nylon blend means this will last a good long while.  They aren't precious at all.

FO: Scarf and gloves. Unmatched, naturally.

Once I had gotten all the gifties sent off in early December, something remarkable happened.

I stopped knitting.

Really!  I've had no motivation or inspiration at all.  It's weird, but it's cold enough out so that I think it will hit me again any day now.  I mean, I have a few projects on the needles, but I'm chipping away at them so slowly that I can't tell if I'm progressing at all.

Soon.

I did finish two smallish projects though.

First up, a luxury gift.  Tiny they might be, but made out of the softest cashmere.

I had two skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmere in my stash forever.  The really lovely yarns tend to stick around for a while- I'll knit with all Cascade 220 down to scraps with no complaints, but I have a really hard time deciding on projects with the good stuff.  Since this yarn only has a miserable 49 yards in a skein, I was having a hard time choosing.  The only thing to make that small yardage-wise would be a hat for a baby, and I didn't know anyone currently expecting who wouldn't throw it in the washer-dryer without blinking.

Another option?  A really simple pair of fingerless gloves.  Not the most exciting thing in the world, but so soft and warm I almost kept them for myself.  

The pattern (and you barely need one) is from the Knitbot Essentials book.  They are called "70 yard mitts", but I made mine a bit longer and used every last bit of 98 yards on mine, and the police haven't showed up at my door yet.

Another gift:

I started a Hitchhiker scarf at knit night, and soon had used up an entire skein of Online Supersock.  This pattern was so simple, worked entirely in garter stitch, and everyone who saw me working on it could not believe that someone had created yarn that stripes so perfectly on its own.

It made for a perfect gift: it's a scarf, but a very unusual one, as it's asymmetrical.  I might just make some more of these if I ever get around to it. You can almost take a nap and not screw it up.

Oh, and just a bit of gloating as to what I got at a Christmas swap with my fab knitting group:

A skein of Wollmeise!  The lusted-after handpainted yarn from Germany.  I have no idea what I'll do with something this colorful, but I'm still in the stages of petting my precious.

Didn't think used to kind of be a knitting blog?