Socks

On the same day that I presented Ms. Redjeans I also gave my mom some socks that I’ve been working on here and there for a wicked long time.  Since these socks have taken so long, I decided to give them their own post. 

For the top portion of the sock, I used a cable rib pattern from Ann Budd’s Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks.  The yarn is a red and gray Cherry Tree Hill mill end that I got on ebay about a year ago. I bought it because my mom’s favorite color is red, and red and gray are the colors of the high school she teaches at.

I like these socks, I really do.  At least, I like the way they’ve turned out.  But I think I have to be honest with myself, and with you, dear readers.

I don’t really like knitting socks.

This is not a bombshell on the level of that time Grumperina said that she doesn’t like knitting sweaters.  But I share some of her concerns.  She asks “Somehow I feel like I’m not a ‘complete’ knitter unless I’m cranking out sweaters. Do you ever feel that?”  I know what she means.  I love sweaters of course, but I’m really not a fan of socks and I feel like a lesser knitter for that.  So many people crank out cute socks, and there are tons of great patterns.  Heck, I even posted a couple of sock patterns that I really like.  In general though, they’re not my cup of tea and I can’t even really explain why.  I hope you forgive me. 

My Tempest Socks are Stepping Out

I chose a rainy July evening to introduce you to an original sock pattern.

I call them Tempest. I used Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in the Tropical Storm colorway. It reminded me (appropriately enough) of a thunderstorm, so I chose a zig-zagging lightning bolt pattern for the lace.

If you’d like to look at the pattern, I posted it here.

Enjoy!

Home Again

Whew!  We’re back from the trip.  The two major things we did since the last post was visit our friend Brian in Austin and our friend Amanda in Louisville.  There was much drinking and goofing around.  No pictures.

We were supposed to go to Virginia after Kentucky, but we were TIRED so we went home.  We spent the night near Cumberland, Maryland.  On the way there, at dusk, we stopped at an absurdly scenic rest area.

We definitely need to go back to West Virginia and Maryland. They were beautiful, but we were too road-weary to want to do anything.

Meanwhile I HAVE been knitting. I’m working on some secret projects that I’m not quite ready to share yet, but I did start these.

These might be the ugliest Jaywalkers ever created. Or they might be awesome. I can’t decide. They’re in Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, African Gray. It somehow didn’t look as garish in the skien. It is incredibly garish though. I’m so ambivalent about how these are turning out that I seldom work on them (though I have made progress since taking the photo). I wonder if Grumperina has a prize for most colorful Jaywalkers.

Remiss

 A few of you have asked if I finished those socks for my mom.

I didn’t. I showed them to her on Mother’s Day, and she seems to like them. She forgives me, because she’s forgiving in general, she loves me, and I have a good excuse.

Three good excuses, actually. I’ve barely been knitting at all lately, for the following reasons.

1) Work

We’re working on a huge case right now. HUGE! I just got home from work actually. At 12:20 am. How depressing.

2) The Move

You may be thinking “hey, so that condo you bought… when are you actually moving there?” In a week. I’m not remotely ready.

3) I have a boo-boo on my yarn finger.

I know, I’m a big baby. It’s not a bad boo-boo, but it’s on the finger I use to “throw” the yarn, so it makes the whole operation much more difficult.

The boo-boo is almost better and the move will be over by June 1 whether I like it or not.  Work will be busy until I quit to go to law school.  Ah well, just a few more months to go.

Mom, avert your eyes

It has come to my attention that my family stops by the blog occasionally.  So, Mom, if you happen to be looking at this in the next couple of days, move along, nothing to see here.

Bummer

The good news:  I figured out the pattern for Pomatomus!  The chart didn’t make any sense to me before I started, but once I got into the pattern it was very easy to memorize.

The bad news:  These socks are going to be tiny!  Comically tiny.  There is no way they would have worked for me.  Or my mom.  Or my sister.  They are just way, way too small.

Where did I go wrong?  I think my gauge has changed as I’ve become more accustomed to small needles.  I’ve only knit a few pairs of socks, and of course I wasn’t immediately comfortable with the tiny needles.  I couldn’t get a good grip on them, so everything came out really loose and I had to go down a size.  I think that as I’ve become more comfortable with the small needles I’ve started to get what would be a “normal” gauge.  Since I was still using a smaller needle, I came out with smaller socks.  Oh poo.

I won’t re-attempt these immediately.  I picked Pomatomus in green because of the March Socktopia theme “It’s not easy being green.”  Now that March is over I’m not in any rush.  I also have a TON of this yarn (CTH Supersock) that I got as a mill end from ebay.  I think I’ll use it to swatch for Serrano.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Brought to you by Wicked, Pomatomus, and the color green.

Edited to add:

And a card from my SP!

Thank you SP!

February Socktopia Socks – Heart Lace

Here are my February Socktopia socks!

Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, Red and Magenta Mill End from EbayNeedles: KnitPicks Circs, Size 0
Pattern: Generic top-down stockinette sock, embellished with my own heart lace panel.

I staggered the hearts, placing three in each tier on the leg and one or two in each tier on the foot.

I used an eye-of-partridge heel flap, and I think I picked up the gusset stitches neatly, if I may say so myself.

I am very happy with them!

This was my first time using size 0 needles, and I really like the dense fabric that it produced. I’ll do all of my Cherry Tree Hill socks on 0s in the future.

Does this look like a heart?

Awhile back I purchased a Cherry Tree Hill Supersock mill end from the ebay vendor emtnestr. It is a beautiful range of pink to red to magenta, perfect for Valentine’s Day socks.

Since one of the Socktopia themes is “Forever in my Heart” I decided to do socks with lace hearts. I spent some time yesterday swatching, and I think I’ve figured out a cute little pattern. Does this look like a heart to you?

I probably un-vented it, but I figured it out myself, which is gratifying. I’m pretty sure that I’ll be finished in time to wear them on the 14th.

Now, to be fair, I think that Valentine’s Day is rather silly as a holiday, and James and I don’t typically do much to celebrate. We both have winter birthdays, and it frankly seems like holiday overkill. That’s ok, though, I’ll take any excuse to knit and wear cute socks.

January Socks – Snowflake Lace

Just in time, my January Socktopia socks.

I achieved a (somewhat subjective) thematic trifecta with these socks:
- They are based on the Snowflake lace socks from MagKnits. I switched it around a little by using magic loop instead of DPNs, and doing more pattern repeats on smaller needles.
- I started them on my birthday (Woo, celebrate!)
- I finished them on Monday, January 29.

I used KnitPicks Essential in Dusk. I really can’t say that I’m impressed with this yarn. It was extremely splitty, and not very soft. After wearing them around the house for a few days I can tell that they’ll pill like crazy. Oh well, you get what you pay for.

This is only the second pair of socks I’ve ever completed. Note that I did not say second ever started.

I did my first short-row heel, and I found it easier to do than a heel flap heel.

The “cup” seems a bit shallow though, so I’m not sure how these socks will wear.

The lace pattern is very pretty and easy to memorize.

It is the same lace pattern used in Glasgow Lace, which is one of the reasons that I chose this pattern. I was happy to have the lace pattern down pat so I could focus on the sock construction.

I am happy enough with these socks, and looking forward to even better ones for February!