Hedwig & Friends

Hedwig and Friends is a new sock pattern now available free on Ravelry! Just a few rows of cables create this fun pattern.  The rest is knit and purl stitches.  Plus, a few beads for some added cute-ness! And, best of all, just in time to sit down and knit while watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part II on DVD!

The yarn above is Tern in Back Bay by Quince and Company.  At 221 yards per skein, two skeins are more than enough to make a pair of women's size medium socks.  Tern is a dream to work with, 75% wool and 25% silk.  A great fingering weight yarn, hand wash, lay flat to dry.

My prototype sock was knit with KnitPicks Stroll Fingering in Jack Rabbit Heather.  To say I love this yarn and this colorway is a huge understatement! It's wonderful! 75% Merino Wool and 25% Nylon, this Fingering Weight Yarn is machine wash and tumble dry low.  At 231 yards, 2 skeins,again, was more than enough to knit a pair of women's size medium socks.  

Footsie!

So, you’re getting ready to knit some socks for holiday gift giving and all you know is that your niece wears a women’s size 6 shoe and your brother wears a men’s size 10? How long should the foot of the sock be? I’ve been known to trace my kids feet so I know how long to make their socks but what if your sweet niece lives in Connecticut and you live in Atlanta? Such has been my dilemma. But not anymore. I found these great Shoe Size Conversion Charts at ehow.com These charts will assist you in determining approximate length of feet in inches if you know someone’s shoe size. I’m sure they are going to help me knit perfect fitting socks this year!!! If not, I always can add a note to put those all wool socks in the dryer for a while if they are a smidge too big or explain how to block them a bit if they’re running a little small!!

A New Pattern to Celebrate Socktober!!!

Effervescence Socks by iknit2purl2 on Ravelry

To celebrate Socktober, I designed a sock pattern to share with all of you! Effervescence is now available  as a free download on Ravelry.  It's an easy knit, using the mock cable stitch.  By utilizing yarnovers and slipped stitches, you create a pretty cable pattern over a 2x2 rib.  This sock pattern alternates the mock cable stitch between the ribs which creates a bubbly, effervescent look over the sock.  And did I mention it's easy? An 8 stitch pattern over 4 rows creates this fun look!

The yarn above is The Sanguine Gryphon Skinny Bugga in Miss Spider.  At 450 yards, one skein of this fingering weight sock yarn is more than enough to make a pair of Woman's socks in size Medium.  For the pair below, I used Blue Moon Fiber Arts Lightweight Socks That Rock yarn in Turquoise.  Again, one skein (360 yards) was more than enough for a pair of Woman's Size Medium socks.

 

Letting Go

Day Four: 31st March. Where are they now?

Today's Topic:  Whatever happened to your __________?  Write about the fate of a past knitting project. Whether it be something that you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person. An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.

I will admit, I'm a bit of a control freak.  For example, I used to not be able to have my mom or my mother-in-law help me out in the kitchen. (i.e. when they stayed with me after my children were born).  I hated to walk in and find something where it didn't belong. I  never said anything; they were so nice to come down and help, but ohhhh those types of things bugged me.  I guess having children helped me in that department.  Kids definitely have a mind of their own.  And, now, I welcome the help when the moms visit and wait until they've gone home to return things to their proper place.

How does this relate to knitting, you wonder.  Well, it's taken me a while to get to the point where I'd not worry about what would happen to a gift that I knitted for someone....would they lose the socks?  Well, let me tell you...they lose the socks...both of my kiddos have lost socks that I knitted for them. It's just the way it goes.  They don't love me any less.  They don't love those socks any less (maybe they didn't completely love them to begin with...some were too small or too large or really, I'll admit, not very attractive).  Kids lose stuff.  Husbands lose stuff too,  Especially husbands who travel for business.  I can't even tell you how many  of my husbands (store-bought) socks have made it to the Land of Lost Socks.

They lose hats too...my husband left one somewhere.  hmmmm...not quite sure where.  My niece left a hat here at Christmas.  (At least I know where it is).

And, they try to take care of hand-made knits but don't always know how.  For example this sweater hung on a hanger for a while.  The straps have stretched out so much that the sweater is un-wearable.  I intend to fix it.  But I haven't quite figured out what to do...take the original straps off and start again....wash and re-block and hope the straps shrink back to their original size?  Any suggestion about what to do would be greatly appreciated.

So I don't worry about the gifts anymore.  They get lost, they get stretched out, they shrink.  Oh well.  I can always knit more.

Startitis Attacks!

Oh my goodness! I can't seem to stop casting on new projects! I have one pair of socks almost complete...just the toe decreases on the second sock and I'm done.  But....




Almost Done With This Sock!


I pulled out yarn this morning for two more pairs of socks.  I've already cast-on one pair.  Both are just plain, basic socks, the second may have some kind of colorwork but, really, two?  Well, no, maybe three because I'm thinking about a particular skein of yarn making a really nice pair of socks.  What am I thinking?




Socks for My Husband


This moring, I gathered up all of my sock yarn for the purpose of picking out some for upcoming projects.  I'm going to match the pattern to the yarn instead of my usual vice-versa.  Kind of a priority list of yarn - an assortment of what I would like to knit over the next few months.  Not necessarily my favorite yarns...I'm picking yarns for people who will be the beneficiaries of all of my sock-y knittiness.

Really, there's quite a bit more sock yarn around here than I care to admit.  My children even had the audacity to question whether I could ever actually knit that many pairs of socks.  I patiently told them that my stash was as much a collection of something that I liked to look at as it was something that I liked to knit with.  :)  Hence, the big pile on my bed. I may even have to sleep on the sofa if I can't bear to pack it all away today....good thing hubby's on a business trip!

Spring Socks for Me!

Brooklyn Handspun

Yes, more new yarn. to love...and, again, from The Loopy Ewe.   It's so pretty and incredibly soft.  It's called Aquatic and it's dyed up by Marie in Brooklyn, NY. The yarn base is called "Soft Spun Plus".  At about 375 yards, it should make a beautiful pair of socks for me...I love the blues and greens combined with the coppery shade of brown.  It's 100% Superwash Merino and, did I mention, so so soft.

"Aquatic" from BrooklynHandspun

Think I'm going to use this to knit Spring Forward Socks  which appeal to me not only because of the beautiful Spring weather we are having right now in Georgia but also because the pattern is very, very pretty and (I'm hoping) easy to memorize.  Can't wait to start!