FO- Lenore Socks

Can a pair of handknit socks be sexy? Before I started the Lenore socks, I would have said no. Handkint socks are incredibly warm, comfy and comforting. They can be silly, funky and downright gaudy, because you are either going to be entombing them in shoes or just you will have the luxury of bumming around in the privacy of your own home with them.

These are a bit special. I put them on and BAM, I was thinking I should start burlesque dancing and use the leftovers for tassled pasties and how awesome would that be. Foxy Soxy is here to rock your world, people.





Here's a terrible pictures with a flash, but you can see the lace better:


It looks like one of my cathedral arches collapsed when it got tucked under, but they really are symmetrical and perfect.

The specs: I used almost all of a skein of Socks that Rock lightweight in "The Raven" colorway. The pattern is Lenore by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. I love the color- there are greens and reds and purples, but toned down with blueish-black. Also, this is the VERY LAST SKEIN of Socks that Rock lightweight yarn in my stash. I'm doing a little happy dance in my chair. (Not that I don't love it, I'm just trying to burn through it).

As with everyone right now, I've been crazy busy. I've been daydreaming about having free time and having everything checked off my to-do list. Also, not getting home until 2 am every morning: it's fun, but it's one unpleasant early morning. The end is in sight and I'm way overdue for a lazy day.

Sox on the Beach

What better way then to escape the November chill than to fly down south and spend the weekend at the beach?

Actually, I can think of lots of better things. Like dental appointments and getting ingrown toenails righted, but no matter. The weather was beautiful and I cast on for some socks.



They are the Lenore Socks. I'm using a skein of Socks That Rock lightweight in the "Blackbird" colorway. This was a sock club mailing from last year that was paired with a pattern from Cookie A. I thought the pattern was too complicated for me to tackle as a travel project, so I cast on for this one instead. I love the color- there's green and purple and reds and blues all mashed in there, but very subtle.



I cast on two at a time, and I actually have the heels turned already. They progress very quickly, and have a simple lace pattern that is fairly mindless.



Which is good, because sun tends to make me woozy when paired with a few stiff drinks, and I didn't really have the concentration thing going on.





I also made it to the Morikami Japanese gardens. How wonderful is that?

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- 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.

Recent Stash Acquisitions

Of course, I couldn't travel without picking up a souvenir of sorts.



Most of the yarn bought in Europe comes from huge department stores. Very old-school. They actually had some pretty nice stuff- lots of German yarns like Regia, GGH, and Austerman. I needed to find something that I wouldn't be able to get at home, so I found the one yarn store listed in Zurich- Hand Art. They don't even have a website. They did have a cute little shop with all the yarns organized according to color. I spied a high-up shelf that had the only unorganizable yarns- handpainted!- and chose this rather stunning hank of Opal sock yarn in the "Rosenbeet" colorway.

When I got home, my final Rockin Sock Club pattern and yarn were waiting for me:



It's in the colorway "Blackbird"- mostly black with pinks, blues and greens overdyed, with a raven-like sheen. The pattern by Cookie A complements the colorway nicely- sometimes variegated yarn can look too busy with a pattern, but this seems like it will work. And quite timely, as I am reading the book "Crow Planet" right now.

September STR

I had joined the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin Sock Club last winter...my itchy mouse-clicking finger did anyway. This is the first time I tried a sock club- I'm usually a bit picky about my yarn colors and patterns that I choose. I must say, so far I've been impressed with what I've been getting in the mail. The colors especially have made me swoon this month.


STR Mediumweight in "River Rocked"


The photographs do not do the yarn justice. The colors are brilliant, and the linen-stitch sock pattern by Cat Bordhi plays on these colors well. They just scream "perfect autumn day" to me.

It was all I could do to keep myself from casting on. I have two projects on the needles that I'm actually making progress on and I need to keep it that way. I stashed the new sock yarn in the bin and went back to the Aeolian. Only 3 rows left! I can knock this thing out in a couple hours barring any great knitterly blunder or yarn shortage. And the Espresso- I'm on target to be able to wear this as a FO to Rhinebeck. I don't need a sock distraction right now.

But still.

If yarn could have puppy dog eyes, this is what it looks like: