sock tales.

my lofty, knitting-a-pair-of-socks-a-month goal is really not being met at the moment. i am SO behind!!

the problems started with this pair...



cast on in the car on the way to wool gathering in may, they languished as i worked on more enticing projects (a cardigan! as yet, unphotographed oops!) and didn't get finished until the start of july!

i then cast on these ones for my mother in law, thinking they would be quick as she was only after a pair of ankle socks...



i got this far before realising there would most definitely not be enough wool...
ever the perfectionist, i started again, this time with contrasting pink toes (yep, that's them above) and to make myself feel better, cast on ANOTHER pair to try and make myself feel better before i ripped out all that work i'd done...



these new ones are coming along nicely, and the little bit of lacework in the panel is quite compelling to knit... but i can't help but feel a little impatient as we're at the end of august and neither my JUNE or JULY socks are completed!
going to knuckle down on them for the next couple of days and see if i can't make good progress on both pairs before the month is through!
and then maybe get started on august's socks too...

wish me luck!

a tale of two socks.

around this time last year, i was talking to a friend and together we were trying to figure out a problem she had come up against while sock knitting. she wanted to keep her pretty yarn for the instep and upper portion of the sock, and use a plain, contrast colour for the sole as well as the heel and toe.
after a bit of brainstorming, we came up with a solution!

fast forward a year, and i've knitted myself a pair too to test our theory.



these are my two-toned vanilla socks. quite the success i think.

i used this vanilla sock pattern as my basis (as i have for almost every pair of socks so far this year... it's a great pattern!) and went from there!



the basic premise i used was to begin the socks, knit the toes in the round as per the pattern, and then when it came to knitting the body of the foot of the sock, i split my stitches into sole and instep stitches. i knit the sole first using the same yarn as the toe, backwards and forwards, slipping the first stitch of every row. i continued knitting backwards and forwards, completing the gusset increases and then the heel, before moving back to the instep stitches.
using my fancy yarn and the instep stitches i had on hold from the toe, i began working backwards and forwards again, to create the instep but instead of slipping the first stitch of each row, this time i picked up the slipped stitch from the sole in the corresponding row, and knitted (or purled) it together with the first stitch of my instep row, using an ssk decrease or a p2tog.
once i'd knitted the full instep and had picked up all of the stitches along the sides of the sole and heel, i went back to working in the round, continuing to work with my fancy yarn.
i decided to do a contrast ribbing section too



they were a little slow going for me, though i think that was all to do with my mind!
i think i was a bit scared of them not working, and having to pull them out.
i had a stern talking to myself though, it's only knitting, not brain surgery! it's ok to make mistakes when they're so easy to fix! and look how well they've turned out?!

they're aaaaaalmost perfect... unfortunately, they're a wee bit big on my feet. damn!
not to worry though, i'm sure there's someone out there with bigger feet than me he he.

what do you think? would you give these a go?

kanga kiwi kal.

before i get into the full details of what i'm planning to cast on for the kanga kiwi kal (an awesome knit-a-long organised by the fab folks over at wool gathering) i guess i'd better share what's been on my needles recently...



the pair of socks i started for bb before ag was born are finally done! i cast them on using this vanilla sock pattern, hoping they'd be the perfect project for my sleep-deprived, hormone-addled brain and they certainly were!

i won't lie though, i'm incredibly pleased to see the back of them as they were getting a wee bit monotonous... not that i was sick of the gorgeous yarn, or the pattern for that matter as the very next thing i cast on was ANOTHER pair of the same socks!



this pair is for my little brother, promised to him in his christmas card...
i got him to take a gander at my sock yarn stash to see what took his fancy, and he chose a cake of dream in color everlasting heavy 9ply sock in 'morning glory' which reminds me a little bit of a mermaids tail.
it's a beautiful colour and is knitting up like a dream... and i've been fairly committed to getting them done a lot quicker than his jumper, they've only been on the needles for a couple of weeks!
i've been knitting on them pretty exclusively as i was hoping to get them done by the first of february to give my attention wholly and solely to my knit-a-long projects... that obviously hasn't quite come off... but i do still have today to knit as much as i can, before casting on for my two planned projects starts tomorrow!

speaking of which... perhaps i should share my plans!



this gorgeous skein of miss click clack is destined to become a pair of jozi socks. i think the pattern will show off the variegated yarn splendidly, and i can't wait to get them on my feet!

and because i don't seem to know my own limitations... i've chosen a second project for the knit-a-long too!



this sumptuous ball of soft and squishy alpaca is going to be knit up into a textured shawl.

both projects are for little ol' me and i am champing at the bit to get started on each of them after quite a few months of relatively simple knitting.

wish me luck!!

are you joining in with the kanga kiwi kal too?
there are some great prizes up for grabs and the rules are super simple; your project (or projects!) must feature an australian or new zealand yarn AND pattern and be started and completed in the month of february. easy! won't you come and join in the fun?

stash diving.

one of my 2017 goals, is to knit through my stash of sock yarn.
over the weekend just gone, i thought i'd better dig it all out of my stash, currently housed in the bottom layer of my fancy secondhand ikea trolley, to get a handle on just what i'd set myself up for for the year...



um, well that'd be seven pairs of socks just there! i most certainly have my work cut out for me!
particularly when this isn't taking into account...



all of the leftover bits and bobs from other projects! not quite enough to make a pair of socks by themselves... but together, they're sure to make some splendid scrappy, stripy socks. and no doubt more than just one pair!

i think this lot will have me well and truly set up for knitting for the ENTIRE year! a strange feeling, knowing i really don't need to buy any yarn... though truth be told, it would seem that i haven't NEEDED to buy any for a while. this is only the fingering-weight sock yarns, you'd better believe there's quite a few other areas to my stash. oh my!

a pair a month, not too much to ask right?

on the needles.

in my last post about what was on my needles, i mentioned needing to get to this mammoth and slightly heartbreaking task...



frogging my ill-fitting jumper... well it's all done now! it took a surprisingly long amount of time as the mohair was nice and sticky he he. i managed to get all of the yarn separated into the two different types and neatly balled up.
bets on how long they'll stay neatly balled up and not in swatch/jumper form?
could be quite a while seeing as i've started not one, but TWO other projects... and have approximately 23901840 baby knits on the backburner while i wait for our little one to be born and reveal it's size he he!

anywho, enough talk about baby knits, more talk about actual current projects!



this is the beginnings of a deco city shawl in skein merino silk sport.
i brought the yarn home with me from the craft sessions last year, knowing that i'd have to do something beautiful with it, and this shawl caught my eye earlier in the year when flicking through pompom issue 15.

i'm loving how it's knitting up so far, and am fully intending to extend the length and width a little by continuing the repeats until i run out of yarn. i have two skeins and would love to use up as much of them as i can. oh and i'll have a beautiful generous shawl to boot!

the other project i've made a start on is a little more of a brainless project... i figure i'll have some times coming up (and well, sometimes at the moment if i'm a bit tired...) when i won't be able to focus on the lacy pattern of the shawl and will need something simple.
enter, the vanilla sock.



simple stockinette sock body, with the choice of two heels, knit up in gorgeous circus tonic handmade jubilee sock.
i love the way this colourway is knitting up... mostly white/cream, with little swathes of grey/black and every now and again, a wee little speckle of random colour. called 'magpie lark', it really is the perfect name for it!
this yarn i picked up at hannah's shop pop up in sunspun almost two weeks ago now! i just couldn't wait to get it on my needles!

i decided it best to knit them both at the same time, to ensure they actually both get finished... and that they end up the same size!
these are for bb, as the last socks i knit for him have most definitely seen better days. hopefully because i'm using proper sock wool, and not a highly inappropriate for boy socks yarn, they'll wear a lot better he he!

what's on your needles at the moment? any baby knit recommendations?

first.

the first of five current works-in-progress that are on the fast track in 2016 to get finished.
as much as i want to be all, new year, new projects, i started a LOT of things last year (and the year before *ashamed face*) that i really do want to get done.

anywho, back to these finished beauties...



now to tell you the truth, this wasn't a project i started last year... it was one my ma did. she started them mid way through last year, and got the large majority of one sock done and dusted.
in october however, she had a fall, resulting in a break to her elbow and shoulder and no more knitting!
one thing led to another, and unfortunately, she passed away just before christmas.



the last time i saw her, we had a discussion about me taking over the knitting of these socks, as they were cast on as a birthday present for her brother, who is turning 70 midway through this month.
so takeover i did, and boy did that tight deadline put a rocket under my bum to get them done!

now, my ma and i, we have quite different tensions, so these are two very different socks. i realised quite early on, that if i wanted them to match, i definitely should have changed my needles to a size or two bigger. but i kind of like the idea of using the same needles for each sock... and that they're quite different in size. my ma's brother will always be able to tell the sock that was knitted by his big sister, and the one knitted by his grand-niece.



ma knew her sock pattern by heart, so i had to do a fair bit of reading of the sock she had already knit to ensure we had similar heels, cast-ons and toes.

it was such an honour to continue on with this pair of socks that my beautiful ma had started.

stay tuned for hopefully quite a few more finishes as we travel through these first few weeks of the year...

show and tell.

as predicted last week, the socks i've been working on ARE done this week. just.
i may have cast them off last night. quite late. oops!

in any case, they're done and dusted!



these socks, used yarn and a pattern from the inaugural yarnhaus "box of sox" and since i signed up for a 6 month subscription, there'll be a lot more socks in my future!

the first installment, came with the pattern 'tip top toe socks' with the option to knit the socks, toe-up, or top-down.
i opted for the toe-up option, with my last two pairs of top down socks not fitting so well (one because i ran out of yarn mid-way through the foot, the other because i didn't anticipate the amount of stretch in the rib).
i also converted the pattern to knit two-at-a-time to avoid the whole potential second sock-itis issue. it also definitely made it easier to ensure both socks were the same size too!



the socks overall have quite a firm fit... though in these photos, they haven't been blocked. i'm anticipating a little bit of stretch with wear, which seems to be what happens with most of my hand-knitted socks.
i was very naughty and didn't swatch for these, which would explain why i have quite a bit of yarn left, despite knitting them a little longer than i was first expecting to.

my reason for not swatching, had nothing to do with yarn quantity though, and everything to do with just wanting to get them on my needles!
in fact, i was so keen, i decided not to wait the two days until i was back at work and had easy access to a swift and yarn winder, but wind the skein by hand. WHAT A NIGHTMARE! the skein got SO tangled, it took me FOUR days to untangle. seriously!
such a fool i am!



anywho, i'm super excited to welcome this pair into my stable of hand-knitted socks.

are you a sock knitter? do you wear hand-knitted socks? what have you been making this week?

spring socks.

one of my goals for this month was to finish up the 'twilight' socks i started back in october and i'm SUPER happy to say that they are all done!



they're absolutely massive on me, but they're done!



the heel flap looks a little silly on me, and i've managed to make them too long, as well as not quite working enough gusset decreases, ending up with more stitches on the sole of my socks, than on the instep. oh well. they're still warm.

and i LOVE the colours.



i've got quite the collection of hand knitted socks building up and it's rad.

do you wear hand knitted socks? do you knit socks?

socktober.

just before the weekend, an excellent thing happened...



two became one. the single, lonely red sock, became a PAIR of socks!
my super fancy new knitting needles were the motivation i needed to get them finished up, and well, that last little bit of sock was a heck of a lot easier to knit with needles that didn't bend at the slightest inkling of pressure. needless to say, my tension was much improved on that home stretch too!



so happy was i to see the back of them, i may have immediately cast on another pair. well after knitting a tension square or two that is...



yep, another two-at-a-time pair! i'm loving this metal circular needle too! the stitches slide so smoothly along!
a lot more so than the interchangeables i'm knitting this pair on in any case...



not too worry though, it's not nearly as difficult to knit with as those silly double pointed needles were (lesson: never buy knitting needles from large chain craft stores)
these beauties haven't grown much (though i did finally flip them in the right way to show off the k1p3 rib pattern, i likeeeeey!) as i have been distracted by the previous purple pair.
though i AM already thinking about casting on the next one too...



you can never have too many socks on the go in socktober though, am i right?
the question will be though, how many can i get finished by the end of the month??

are you a sock knitter? what's the quickest you've ever knitted a sock?

my creative space.

as always, i have a couple of things on the go this week...

i'm working around and around on this little granny square.



the balls of wool i've been using are definitely not as full as they were when i started, and well, it's grooooooowing!
it's nice to see the changes right before my eyes!

i also started a little something... that i was swatching for last week...



a pair of socks! i so LOVE this colour. so SO much!
i couldn't resist not casting on with the wool once i'd finished my swatch... particularly because i'd borrowed this book from my local library and i was desperate to give the technique a go!

it's going quite well, except for the whole not having sufficient time to knit them!

i also kind of wanted distraction from the blasted red sock... i splashed out and purchased a set of decent dpns, in lots of different sizes so that knitting the remainder of the red sock will be a dream. and well, i thought i could start something new while i waited!

however...



my new needles arrived earlier in the week! so now i have no excuses not to finish up that silly red sock quick sticks!

i also may have picked up a couple of extra things from the online store i purchased the dpns from. new supplies to keep knitting my socks two-at-a-time!

what are you creating at the moment? are you a dpn sock knitter? or a magic loop sock knitter?