Tag Archives: socks

10:40 am - July 2, 2014 - AngelaH

Hello, summer

Summer is finally here. I know it’s technically been summer for a few weeks now, and it has certainly felt like summer for the last month, but I can’t quite escape the grade-school sense that summer starts with Canada Day. Add to that the adult reality that summer seems to be the season when every weekend is planned months in advance and, yeah, we’re officially there.

This year we kicked off the summer with a last-minute camping trip. L’s sister and her husband recently moved to Toronto, and since they don’t start work until today we decided to take advantage of their freedom to get out of town. It has been a few years since we were in Tobermory, but Georgian Bay was as gorgeous as ever, and I’m so glad we went. It was a quick trip, since I had to work on Sunday, but we took our one full day and made the most of it, spending the morning clambering over rocks at Halfway Log Dump/walking through the woods on the Bruce Trail, and the afternoon swimming in Cypress Lake. I even managed a few rows of knitting (plus a fair bit of knitting in the car to and from).

The water may look tropical, but let me assure you it was freezing. So cold it actually hurt. (Also, the colours in this photo aren’t edited at all.)

This bunny spent a lot of time hanging out in our campsite.

I was originally hoping to get these socks finished up in time to get some pretty pictures in the wild, but it was a bit too dark by the end of the drive up (I was getting very close to the toe decreases) and once we were there we didn’t do too much sitting around. I finished the second sock on the way home and then ended up ripping out the first toe and re-knitting it (for a better match/fit) anyway, so it was just as well I didn’t try to rush things.

Details
Pattern: Basic 64 stitch socks
Yarn: Turtlepurl Yarns Striped Turtle Toes in Gatineau Fall
Needles: 2.5mm
Notes: There’s not much to say about these really. I thought about doing a contrast heel, but in the end decided just to knit from the other end of the ball, which worked out perfectly colour-wise and also meant I didn’t disrupt the stripe sequence at all. Ravelled here.

The colours in this photo are a little weird (both too dark and washed out) but it shows off the striping quite nicely.

Categories: finished, Knitting, Out and about Tags: camping, socks, Tobermory

9:46 am - June 25, 2014 - AngelaH

On my needles

I’ve been on a bit of a sock jag and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change any time soon. As I was finishing my Daphnes I started to flip through my stash (first in my head and then actually in the bin) to decide what to cast on next. Part of my plan for this year’s knitting was to knit more plain, everyday socks, so with that in mind I pulled out this self-striping yarn that I picked up well over a year ago.

This is Turtlepurl Yarns Striped Turtle Toes in Gatineau Fall, a hand-dyed self-striping yarn that comes pre-split into two matching skeins. The idea is that the skeins are dyed together, so assuming you start both at the same end, you should end up with perfectly matching socks. In this case, some of the stripes are variegated, so the socks won’t be a perfect match, but the stripes should line up otherwise.

I thought the variegation would annoy me, since perfectly-matched striped socks are kind of fun, but I’m actually really enjoying the way the colours are playing out. I’m actually deeply impressed by the idea of dyeing a variegated-yet-striping colourway, and the colours are so perfectly fall that these socks just look like a hike through the woods on a fall day.

All the plain stockinette combined with just-one-more-stripe syndrome is making these a quick knit and I’m hoping to finish them up by the end of the month. Summer is the perfect time to knit socks, and it’s maybe the one time of year plain stockinette socks become my primary knit, instead of something a pick up here and there.

Of course, I do have a background knit, and just for some balance, it’s a laceweight lace shawl. I cast on for Halligarth. After knitting Flukra I knew I’d be knitting more of Gudrun Johnson’s patterns, and when I saw the latest BT Wool People, it was pretty easy to choose which of her patterns would be next. I love the way each section of the tree-patterned lace nests into the ones before and after it, and shawls see a lot of wear around here.

Un-stretched, each diamond measures about 3 inches across.

The pattern is written for fingering weight yarn, but I decided to spice things up a bit and go with laceweight. This a BFL laceweight hand-dyed north of Toronto by Georgian Bay Fibre Co., who I found through a Ravelry ad (seriously, the first time I’ve ever clicked one of those). I love BFL yarn, but before I went crazy and bought one of everything I decided to commit to one project. There seems to be an inconsistency between how much yarn people need for this shawl and the yardage listed on the pattern page, so I’m playing it safe with a big skein. I’m planning to knit the smaller size and then weigh the skein and see how I’m doing. If I can eke out the larger shawl I definitely will.

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: Halligarth, shawl, socks

10:25 am - June 17, 2014 - AngelaH

Summer socks

As promised: more finished socks! This pair has been sitting, half-done, in my WIP basket for nearly a year just waiting for the return of warm weather to push me into picking them back up.

It was quite a sunny day when we shot these, but since they’re meant to be summer socks I guess that’s alright.

This is one of the few sock patterns I’ve knit twice, and honestly I think I could knit them a third time. The lace is so fun, and the logic of the pattern makes the chart pretty quick to memorize (or, if not completely memorize, at least make it more of a glance).

I knit these using Indigodragonfly’s Bleats, Shoots & Leaves (a merino, bamboo, silk blend) in the Baldersquash colourway. I got the skein a few years ago through their fibre club and I don’t think this base ever made it into their regular rotation, which is too bad, because I would absolutely buy more. It’s such a lovely summer-y yarn, slightly cool to the touch with enough stretch to be pleasant to knit with. I also really love this colourway, which is excellently squash-y.

Despite the long timeline for knitting these socks, the pattern is very quick. Each sock took about a week at a casual pace, so if you’re thinking you could use some pretty summer socks, I would definitely suggest this pattern. I have a skein of Indigodragonfly’s Merino-Silk in my stash (which is what I used for the first pair) and I am seriously considering casting on for a third pair.

Details
Pattern: Daphne by Cookie A.
Yarn: Indigodragonfly Bleats, Shoots & Leaves in Baldersquash!
Needles: 2.75mm
Notes: The only thing I’d say is to knit this using a magic loop. I’m a dpn fan, but the chart repeats once across each side of the leg, with stitches moving back and forth, so if you’re open to the magic loop method, it makes for a quicker/less annoying experience. I also wish I’d knit more stockinette before the toe. I did 6.5 chart repeats on the foot, but should have stopped at 6 and knit a few more stockinette rows. The socks are perfectly comfortable, but I think the stockinette would have mode them more robust (and certainly easier to darn if/when the time comes). Ravelled here.

Categories: finished, Knitting Tags: socks

9:03 am - June 13, 2014 - AngelaH

Finished Pheasants!

Remember that list of WIPs I posted about a while ago? Well I guess pulling everything out lit a fire under me or something because here I am with a third item off the needles!* These are just plain socks, knit up in Hedgehog Fibres Twist Sock (a BFL/nylon blend) in the Pheasant colourway.

I finished them last week, but they had been on the needles for a while. I cast them on after finishing my Christmas socks and they’ve been background knitting ever since. Mostly that has meant a row here and a row there, but no concentrated attention. I have a vague memory of spending an afternoon finishing the foot of the first sock so I would be able to cast on the second one before I had to go somewhere (plain stockinette socks are great social knitting as long as you aren’t just about at the heel or just about at the toe), but somehow these never pushed their way to the top of the pile.

After I finished Grace, though, I decided to just finish these already! I’ll admit that I was tempted to leave them on the side and pick up the Daphne socks that have been languishing (another item from my WIP list, which made it easy to justify), but I knew that if I left these any longer they wouldn’t get finished before the fall. And I’m so glad they’re done! This colourway is so lovely, and I even wore them earlier this week on a sort of chilly day.

Next up? I’m now half-way through the second Daphne sock without even trying, so you can bet you’ll be seeing more finished socks very soon.

Details
Pattern: Just my basic 68-stitch top-down socks
Yarn: Hedgehog Fibres Twist Sock in Pheasant
Needles: 2.25 mm
Notes: Nothing special. I knit these at 9.5 stitches = 1 inch, so they’ll basically last forever. Ravelled here.

*Items one and two, in case you you’re wondering.

Categories: finished, Knitting Tags: Hedgehog Fibres, socks

10:53 am - June 3, 2014 - AngelaH

Make, do, mend

I really love that sentiment. I know the original is “make do and mend,” but I like that punctuation can subtly change the meaning and modernize the sentiment. For me, the “do” here is about use. Make something, use it (wear it), and mend it.

I’ve written about mending before (and since that post I’ve darned so many other parts of those gloves that replacing them entirely is on my summer to-do list), but it seems to be in the air these days: Karen did a great post about the resurgence of mending and the corresponding shift in attitude; Ysolda linked to a Guardian piece about the popularity of mending shops; and last fall Julie posted some shots of how she made the best of her moth-eaten sweaters.

L’s gloves, still in need of some mending. After the first few darns, I started darning on both the inside and the outside, to make the areas prone to holes double-thick. After the first time, I gave up on trying to make the mending invisible.

Not that it’s a new idea or anything, but it feels like there’s momentum right now. I have definitely noticed that the more I knit (and now, sew) the more particular I am about what I buy and the more interested I am in fixing what I have. I certainly would never have mended any of the store-bought wool socks I used to wear (which inevitably wore out after one winter) but last week, as I was plodding along on Grace, I took a break to darn some holes and weak spots in a couple of pairs of my hand-knit socks. Both pairs were already a couple of years old and, as some of my first hand-knit socks, had been in heavy rotation, that they only now required repair makes me think of the darns as badges of honour – they lasted well; they’re worth repairing.

The orange socks needed repairs to both heels and both toes. The purple ones wore through in a weak spot I knew would probably be trouble.

The question I have, though, is where do you draw the line? I am happy to darn a few holes to get more use out of a pair of socks, or put a patch over the elbow of a sweater, but at some point items do need replacing, and when that time comes, I don’t want to feel guilty about it. Take L’s gloves, for example. He has worn the heck out of them, and I’ve darned them close to a dozen times, but in the last few months of cold weather it really felt like there was a new hole every week (a combination of hard wear and lofty, woollen-spun yarn). He loves his gloves, but I’m tired of fixing them and ready to just knit a new pair, which is fine, except what do I do with the old ones?

I wear through this part of all my mittens far more quickly than any other part. When he thumbs started to get threadbare, I knit myself a new pair.

I wear through this part of all my mittens far more quickly than any other part. When the thumbs on these started to get threadbare, I knit myself a new pair.

Similarly, I have a pair of socks that’s been in need of new heels for months. I know I could remove the old heels and re-knit them, but to be honest, they’re not the most comfortable socks I’ve ever knit and I don’t miss wearing them. Aside from the heels, though, they’re in good shape, so what do I do? Replace the heels and give them away? Let them sit at the bottom of the drawer for a while longer and then throw them out? I did not have these qualms with store-bought items!

What do you do? Do you say “oh darn” as you drop them in the trash (as the Yarn Harlot suggests) or do you mend them until there’s nothing original left? Do you wonder/worry about this too?

Category: Knitting Tags: darning, gloves, mending, mittens, socks

3:22 pm - April 19, 2014 - AngelaH

Splish splash

I was going to write about our Nova Scotia trip today, but I finished my Splash striped socks the other day so Nova Scotia will have to wait. I feel like it has been ages since I finished a pair of socks, which is weird since I always have a pair on the needles.

Stripes!

I really meant to finish my Pheasant socks first, but I couldn’t resist these stripes. Ganymede decided to help out with the winding of the second skein of yarn (it comes in balls, but I wound them into cakes because I find them easier to knit from) and the resulting tangle meant I spend half my knitting time sorting out lengths of yarn to knit with. I finally fixed the problem on our way home of Nova Scotia and the rest of the knitting flew.

Besides the stripes, there’s nothing very exciting about the socks. They’re my standard 68-stitch sock (knit at 9 stitches = 1 inch), though with contrast heels. Choosing the contrast colour was pretty fun, actually. I wanted a real contrast though, so I resisted the blues and greens in my leftover bag. I was originally planning to use yellow, but against the greens it looked more sallow than sunny. The purple is unexpected, but I think it works.

When I ordered all that Felici, I bought enough for four pairs of socks (with shipping, it makes sense to buy in bulk, ahem.) I am definitely not over the stripes yet, so it probably won’t be long before I cast on another pair.

Categories: finished, Knitting Tags: socks

10:12 am - April 13, 2014 - AngelaH

On the road

In a couple of hours, L and I are heading for the airport. We’re going to Nova Scotia for a few days to visit my family and hang out. I haven’t been home since July and the last time L and I were there together was nearly two years ago, so it’s definitely time. The forecast isn’t very promising (rain, maybe rain, and rain) but that’s Nova Scotia in April, so we’ll pack rain coats and just suck it up. It’s my sister’s birthday tomorrow, and birthday lunch and dinner with friends are the only concrete plans we have. I’m hoping to get in trips to my favourite yarn shop (and a nearby vineyard) and Lamb’s Run Farm, where my mum got me this lovely skein of yarn. It’s a long shot, but I’m going to try and get some more so I can make the Moon & Stars shawl (my back-up pattern is Norby, so it’s not a disaster if more yardage doesn’t exist).

I really love this yarn. It’s luminous and wooly and I can’t wait to knit it up.

In terms of actual knitting, I thought about bringing Grace, but sweaters take up so much space in a carry-on. I might still bring it for knitting around the house, but my default travel knitting is socks, and since I have two pairs on the needles, I’m bringing them both.

Plain socks, knit up in Hedgehog Fibres BFL/nylon sock in the Pheasant colourway.

I’ve mentioned my Pheasant socks before, but the other pair has yet to make an appearance here. It seems like everyone is having a bit of a self-striping moment right now (see Tanis, Cassy and and Wei Siew as examples) and I couldn’t resist either. I loved watching the stripes unfold on my Christmas socks, so I’ve had my eye out for fun self-striping yarns ever since.

Felici in Splash.

I found out recently that Knit Picks is discontinuing Felici, which I had never knit with but heard nothing but good things about. I decided to go see what colourways they had left, and then found myself buying eight skeins (enough for four pairs of socks). It was a gamble, but so far, totally worth it. This is the Splash colourway (with a contrast heel to preserve the stripe sequence) and I love it. The colours are fun, the yarn is soft and firm, and they’re perfect spring socks. In taking these pictures I realized that I have to pairs of socks a little more than half finished. It feels like ages since I finished a pair, but clearly that’s my own fault, since I should have just finished the Pheasant socks before starting with the stripes. I just couldn’t resist, though. With any luck, by this time next week I’ll have two finished pairs of socks to show off – and, in all likelihood, another pair on the needles.

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: socks

10:58 am - March 7, 2014 - AngelaH

I did not forget about these projects

My background knitting. Slow but steady, these are part of my grand plan for increasing my pairs of plain socks.

All evidence to the contrary, I know, but it’s true: Just because I’m not actively working on a project doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about it. And, more often than not, I’m debating when/if I should pull it out of my basket and get back to work. I finished my Flukra on Tuesday (proper photos to come) and since I plan to cast on New Girl in the near future, I thought maybe instead of starting something new I’d pick up something that had been languishing. I’m not quite sure what that will be, other than the socks at the top of this post, which have been background knitting for two months now and thus, despite their slow progress, always in active rotation.

It occurred to me that some of these projects had never made it onto the blog, or that even if they had, possibly not for a year or more, so here we go, a tour through my works-in-progress (presented approximately in chronological order by cast-on, according to my Ravelry notes).

Shaelyn, cast on March 3, 2013.

Shaelyn has definitely been on the needles forever. I cast this on when L and I went to Eleuthra last year, and then spent the week knitting socks instead. I did work on this on the flight home, but we fit turbulence and my ruler (marking the row I was on in the chart) was jostled. I lost my place, couldn’t figure out where I was, and put the project away without trying very hard to sort things out. I may also have been frustrated by how awful this yarn was to wind (both skeins doubled back on themselves in the middle, meaning they required cutting, untangling, and rewinding). Anyway, now that I have snuggly Flukra to wear I’m dying for another equally scrumptious shawl, and this may be it.

Hunter St. Cowl, cast on April 6, 2013 (appearance not improved for having been shoved in a small bag. Ahem.)

There is no excuse for my languishing Hunter St. Cowl except that I cast it on during the same period as most of these WIPs, so it may have been the victim of my restless spirit and a spate of startitis. I love this pattern, I love this yarn (Tanis Fiber Arts Pink Label lace weight in Lucky Penny), and even though I’m not really a cowl person, I sense this is one I would wear. Progress was slow at the beginning, and I guess I was in the mood for some quick gratification, so I cast this aside. I would like to wear it this spring though.

Grace, cast on June 1, 2013.

Not finishing Grace is my No. 1 knitting regret of last year. I cast it on a little too close to summer, I think, and put it down in favour of Kit, and then never quite got around to finishing it. I always forget that fall is pretty much all holiday knitting, which means that great lightweight cardigans that I’d wear all winter basically need to be knit before the end of September. I might not pick this up before New Girl, but I think it’ll be the first thing I knit afterwards – I hope I left myself a good note about where I was in the pattern.

Daphne, cast on July 18, 2013

The minute it gets warm, I’m knocking out this second Daphne sock. This is less second-sock syndrome than putting down a for-me knit to pick up a gift-knit, and then not quite getting back to it. That being said, the first sock flew off my needles (having knit the pattern before made it easy to return to), so I know these will be quick to turnaround when the weather improves (wool/silk/bamboo blend yarn in openwork just isn’t robust enough for winter).

Stasis, cast on Feb. 2, 2014

Stasis is a pretty recent WIP. I cast on the week before the Olympics, but it’s true what they say about knitting white/grey yarn in February. I got through the colourwork without incident, but the minute I got into the fields of stockinette I just couldn’t handle it. This is a shade I love to wear in the winter, but one I apparently can’t knit with. I’ll pick this back up in May (before it’s too hot to have a sweater in my lap) and finish it so it’s ready for me in the fall.

And I think that’s it! What do you think? Are you shocked I have any needles left for new projects or are you laughing that I think this is a lot of WIPs?

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: cowl, Grace, shawl, socks, sweater

11:19 am - March 1, 2014 - AngelaH

Colour therapy

I finished my rainbow socks on Tuesday and they are awesome! Which is to say, the colours are awesome (thank you Three Irish Girls!) and they make these otherwise plain socks sing.

I’m not sure good lighting even exists at this time of year, so I’ll refrain from posting any shadowy pictures of my feet. These were just plain 64-stitch socks, with my usual heel and toe. I was pretty sure I’d need contrast toes to stretch the yarn, but when I got to the toe of my first sock, the skein still weighed almost 60g, so I just chugged right along with same colours all the way through. I actually have a bit leftover, which is a nice surprise. It’s not really enough to do anything with on its own, but it would be perfect for adding a bright stripe to another pair of socks, or (heaven forbid) darning these ones in the future.

For scale, it’s already 14 inches deep, with another six or seven garter ridges to go, plus the border. This is going to be a big shawl.

Socks finished, I turned to my neglected shawl (so neglected I haven’t even mentioned it here). I originally bought this yarn for Ysolda’s Follow Your Arrow KAL, but partway through Clue 1 I lost my nerve. I like the idea of an MKAL, but I realized that, in practice, I prefer to know how all the pieces will fit together before I start knitting them. So I followed my arrow to another pattern. I’m knitting Flukra by Gudrun Johnson. I’ve been coveting this shawl for quite some time now (even more so when I saw these examples of the shawl knit with garter stitch edging). I was originally going to knit it up in this, but it’s winter, and there’s enough white/grey around.

I’m knitting it in Sweet Fiber Cashmerino Luxe and wow. This is a blend of merino/cashmere/silk and it is so, so soft. It’s like the downy fur on a kitten’s tummy. I can’t wait to wrap myself up in it. The colourway is Mystery (which would have been perfect for Ysolda’s KAL) and the colour of slate: mostly blue/grey, but with hints of rust running throughout. It’s not a bright colour, but it is a warm one, and I’m really enjoying the way it’s presenting in garter stitch. I’m almost done the body and I am pretty excited to get to the lace, which is all-action all the time, with no rest rows, which makes me think it’ll speed right along.

As if that wasn’t enough, I got home after a long day of work to find a very fun package on my doorstep. A few weeks ago Tanis Fiber Arts did an Etsy update, but instead of it being the usual grab-and-go madness they decided to dye to order, offering six colourways in three different bases. I don’t normally enter the fray of the Etsy update, but this was a really nice way to do it – not nearly as overwhelming or frustrating.

Clockwise from the top: Fjord, Rock, and Aurora

Anyway, I thought long and hard and picked up three skeins: Two skeins of the Purple Label Cashmere Sock, one in Rock and one in Aurora, and a Green Label Aran Weight in Fjord. I didn’t have any particular plans when I bought them, but when I saw them in person the wheels started turning. Rock, especially grabbed me. It looked much more grey-green in the photos Tanis posted, so I was surprised and delighted to see that, in person, it was the most delicate and subtle green, with just a hint of grey and gold in the background. I’m not locked in yet, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to become a Bakau shawl, which is another pattern I’ve been crushing on for a while.

AND, as if that wasn’t enough, let’s talk about knitted skirts. Remember the other day when I said I got the New Girl pattern for finishing my mittens? Well, Cassy commented that she thought was should do an informal KAL, since she loved the skirt too. We got to talking, and it’s official: in mid-March we’re going to cast on for New Girl. The pattern is half price at the moment, so if you’d like to join us, this is a good time to buy. There’s no pressure (and no prizes), but it’s nice to knit the same pattern at the same time as others: it’s good for encouragement, helpful if you run into problems, and an excellent way to narrow down your colour choices.

Categories: finished, in progress, Knitting Tags: New Girl, shawl, socks, stash, Tanis Fiber Arts

12:02 pm - February 23, 2014 - AngelaH

DNF

One thing the Olympics makes clear is that you can analyse every little performance detail forever and it won’t change the outcome: If the snow was firmer, if he’d just stepped to his left, if her takeoff had been slightly later, etc. And so it is with knitting, I think. If I’d just had more time this week, or knit a couple more rows on the weekend, or focused on one project, I’d be done by now.

I turned the heel during the men’s gold-medal game this morning, but since I have to work today, finishing these will have to wait.

But I’m not, and honestly, that’s fine. My Sochi socks are three-quarters finished, and if it takes me the next week to get the second foot done, well, that’s how long it takes. Of course, I can say this now, but earlier this week I was feeling a little adrift. There’s something making a goal public – even one that doesn’t have life-changing implications – that makes not meeting it hard to swallow. I think it burned all the more because I was a bit adrift knitting-wise. The weather here has been up and down, and I’m starting to feel the weight of how colourless it is. I think snow is very pretty, and we’ve had a much sunnier winter than usual, but still, months and months without any real colour (aside from fluorescent signs) is oppressive.

You know those days/weeks where nothing you have on your needles seems interesting or necessary and makes you want to throw it all into a corner and start fresh? Yeah, that was this week for me. I didn’t do it (no time) but I thought a lot about it. I’m over it now (that feeling tends to only last a day or two for me) but it was close. Thank goodness for rainbow-coloured socks.

Anyway. I did finish my Hodgepodge Mittens last weekend (as planned) and although it hasn’t been that cold in Toronto this past week, the have proven themselves quite warm, and pretty close to wind-proof (it has been very windy). The Fresco is so dreamy to wear, and the short floats mean the fabric is compact and dense without being heavy. It’s supposed to get cold again this week, so we’ll see how they stand up, but I suspect they’ll prove warmer than the mittens I’ve been wearing for the last year.

As a bonus, since they were part of the Holla Knits KAL that’s happening right now (thank you for telling me, elloluv!) I got a free pattern of my choosing for finishing! I went with the New Girl skirt, since I’ve been thinking a lot about knitted skirts lately and that one has been in my favourites since it came out. I’m resisting casting on until I finish a few more things, but I am starting to mull over colours and yarns. Any suggestions?

Details
Pattern: Hodgepodge Mittens by Annie Watts
Yarn: Classic Elite Fresco in Graystone, Port Royal, and Parchment
Needles: 2.75mm + 3mm
Notes: I changed the cuff to 2×2 rib (with the smaller needle) because I like my mitten cuffs to tuck into my sleeves, which means they need to be slim. I also added length to the hand by doing a fifth row of the contrast triangle portion and moving the thumb up to the second repeat. I found the thumb opening to be kind of big, so I used the smaller needle for the thumb to keep it from being huge. They’re still slightly big, but not in an awkward way. Ravelled here.

Categories: finished, in progress, Knitting Tags: mittens, Olympics, socks