FO: Fell Walkers

It's been a while since I've posted a crafty project.  It's summer (still?), I just don't feel like it.  

I did finish a pair of socks that I started on the trail though.

I went for a stash-dive and picked out a nice ball of Opal Shafpate and cast on for the Reverso socks from the most recent Knitty.

I cast on during the train ride to Carlisle and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were fell-colored!  What a serendipitous choice for a hiking take-along.   

Not my hairy arm, btw.... 

Or my hairy legs....

I am usually hesitant to try out new techniques when it comes to sock construction.  I'm a bit lazy that way.  I don't like to think too hard when I'm making a pair of socks, as I knit them on the go and dislike fiddly things.  These were worth it though, and an idea that I had been contemplating for a while: how to make a pair of socks that can be worn with the smooth knit-side fabric on the soles without having to do a ridiculous amount of purling.  

Easy: make them inside out!

You start at the cuff in mistake rib pattern.  Instead of gusset increases, you do Cat Borhdi's ceder construction, which puts the increases at the heel instead.  Once you start the heel turn, you flip the socks inside out, and continue in the mistake rib.

So now you have a pair of socks that there is no right or wrong side out!

The only awkward moment was grafting the toe and weaving the ends in, as I tried my best to hide it.  They are cozy, warm stretchy socks that would easily fit a variety of foot sizes, so great for gifting.  They also didn't take too long at all as far as socks go.

The yarn is 75% superwash, 25% nylon, so they should wear well for years.  If not, it's going to be a mess for me to try and patch these up, as I generally count on the repair work to not be seen on the inside.

Now I'm somewhat obsessed with self-striping sock yarn.  For years, I favored intricate cable and lace patterns on my sock, which pairs well with the hand-painted variegated yarn I love so much.  Intricate patterns tend to get lost when you have yarn that stripes heavily, so doing plain socks or some texture works better.

I love them so much, I cast on another pair of stripe socks as soon as I was done.  The bug has bitten once again.  

Laceweight Merino Update

I dyed some laceweight singles and listed them on My Etsy Store.



They are all different shades of blues and purples, very saturated. It's 100% Superwash merino, very soft, and a lengthy 500 yards per skein. Check it out- http://www.etsy.com/shop/KnotMyDayJob

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.

Etsy Shop Update!

I took advantage of a nice cool day last week and put the sad-looking neglected dye pot to good use. I'm quite pleased with the results:



"Flare": These are skeins of 75% Superwash Merino/25% nylon sock yarn. They come in 460 yard skeins, and I have 4 of them listed in the same dye lot (or at least similar enough to be considered a dye lot). I kettle dyed them and then handpainted another layer over the kettle dye, and I'm quite pleased with the results.



"Rouge": This is some of the softest commercially-prepared Corriedale top I've ever touched. It has a nice, long staple length and should spin up nice and heathery.



"Arancia": Blue Face Leicester roving. It's silky and soft and I'm envious of whoever might get to spin this up.

Everything is available at my Etsy shop.

FO- Manly Wanida Socks

I knit for my man quite a bit. He doesn't seem to mind. Two keys to getting a successful garment in the end: Let him pick the pattern. Let him pick the color. You'll end up knitting a lot in navy, brown and gray but he will wear all of it.

So I was a little surprised when he chose socks that were, um, lace. But manly lace. Not grandma-doily lace, but faux cables kind of lace. The butch kind of lace. Which is nice because cables can make a sock a bit bulky and heavy, and lace will do nothing but add some air conditioning. And it's only eyelets, it's not frilly at all.

The yarn:



Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight. The colorway is "Obsidian". It's 100% superwash merino. I used almost the entire skein for the pair.



It's a heavy fingering weight, which makes for fast knitting and dense, cushy socks. Comfort socks.

Here is the original pattern:



I did Cookie A's "Wanida" socks from "Sock Innovation", but modified them to be toe-up. Also, I did them two at a time. I also made the foot plain. It's hard to cram a patterned sock into a shoe, so I tend to make my foots plain, and leave the patterned part to where it can be seen on the cuff. Once I turned the heel, I started the lace charts as written. I finished these while we were on the road and I didn't have a darning needle for a stretchy sewn bind-off, so I taught myself the Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off and now I don't need to do a sewn bind-off anymore.



These didn't take long at all to make- They were finished within two weeks. They will get tucked away for fall.

Ugh, excuse the crap pictures. I know I can do much better. I get super-lazy when it's sweltering out. I like to knit socks in summer since not a whole lot of wool will spill over and smother your lap with its warm wooliness. Trying to squeeze my sweaty pieds into them was a whole 'nother issue.



This is part of my A-Z stashdown challenge. Never you mind that I've moved on to the letter B before I finished spinning and knitting up some Alpaca. B is for Blue Moon Fiber Arts.

A is for Aarlan Arwetta

Of course. Let my maddening alphabet game begin.



I picked up 3.5 skeins (735 yards) from Catherine Knits when she was destashing. It's a Swiss yarn that claims on the website that it's been discontinued. I saw it stocked in a lot of department stores in a gazillion colors while I was there for about $3 US dollars a skein. It's 75% superwash wool (or, as the label informs me, it's "hot washable") with 25% nylon and acrylic. It's a tightly twisted 4-ply. It seems like a good, workhorse yarn. Not too soft. Not too scratchy.

I decided to use it to cast on for the Shetland Shorty. It's a boob-holster that will use up about 600 yards. It's reputed to move along quite quickly.

And so begins my destash adventure.