Tag Archives: socks

5:53 pm - November 9, 2013 - AngelaH

In my project bag

Ah, project bags. I love them, and when I saw this post (via this one) about the call to show what’s in them, I couldn’t resist. We were out and about today, but here’s what I had tucked into my purse.

I have a couple of these stuff sacks from MEC. This is a 3 litre one, which is perfect for socks, my others are 5 litres, which fits just about an entire sweater.

Inside this one, I don’t have much in the way of extras. I try to keep all my notions in one place so I don’t lose them, but when I’m knitting socks I throw my tape measure into whatever project bag I’m carrying with me. Besides that, a finished Charade sock and the second one in progress, I have the ball band for the yarn (Dragonfly Fibers Djinni Sock in Mushroom Hunting), and a little note to myself that has the basics for Stepping-Stones by Clara Parkes, which were the last project this bag held.

Seeing as I have a bunch of other things on the go, I’ll go through the rest of my project bags in the near future. What’s in yours?

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: socks

9:10 pm - November 4, 2013 - AngelaH

Socktober debrief

Yes, yes, I know it’s November, but I am certainly still knitting socks. I managed to finish just one of the pairs of socks I set out to knit last month, but since I knew my plans were a little on the unrealistic side, I’m not too broken up about it.

Stepping-Stones.

To recap: I finished the Stepping-Stones for my mum and mailed them (she received them about a week later and said they fit perfectly and were keeping her warm, which is excellent feedback). I really like this pattern, and I have several stashed yarns that would perfect for more pairs (maybe this time for me!) once the mid-winter chill sets in and my feet really need something extra.

I’m farther along now than I was when I took this picture.

All the other socks remain outstanding. I finished the first Saltburn sock and am a cuff and two repeats into the second. I’m knitting these at the rather absurd gauge of 10.5 stitches per inch, so it’s slow-ish going. Why so tight? Well, as with most charted patterns, the jump between sizes is specific (in this case, 9 stitches). I’m knitting the medium size on a smaller needle (rather than the small size on a larger needle) because generally speaking the tighter the gauge the longer they’ll last. I knit a pair of socks at 11 stitches to the inch and, almost two years and a ton of wear later, they’re still in amazing shape. But yeah, it’s slower.

Mushroom Hunting is a perfect, perfect name for this colour.

I’m not as far along on L’s Charade socks – just half-way through the foot of the first sock. These were my transit knitting, but then I started a really good book* and wanted to read both to and from work (for a while there I was reading on the way there and knitting on the way back), so they got put aside, through no fault of their own. The more I knit this colourway, the more I love it, and with only a couple of inches to go before the toe, this sock won’t take long to finish.

So, there you go. In aggregate, I guess I knit four socks, but since the sum greater than its parts, that only adds up to one finished pair. In a surprise twist, though, I did finish the Riverbank cowl! It’s lovely and, while I don’t have and proper photos to post here (and won’t until after it’s gifted), I’ll post some on my Ravelry page once I get around to taking them.

This month looks like more socks, plus a shawl, and since it’s getting ever colder, I might have to take a quick break from the gift knits to whip myself up a hat – I’m thinking this one. What are your November plans? When I left the house today I was wearing hand-knit wool socks, sweater, shawl, and mittens – are covered in wool yet too?

*Edited to add: I fully meant to tell you what the book was – sorry! I was thoroughly captivated by A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. It is so, so wonderful, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: gift knitting, socks

9:59 am - October 22, 2013 - AngelaH

My favourite time of year

Every fall, L and I make a point of choosing a day and going on some crazy walk around part of the city to look at all the fall colours. One of the best things about Toronto is that its downtown is criss-crossed by ravines, which are open to the public and allow you to walk between very different parts of the city without having to deal with (or often, even hear) traffic. It’s like a secret world, and it’s really, really lovely.

We walked down the Beltline Trail to the Evergreen Brickworks, an area that used to be a quarry and brick factory but a few years ago was repurposed into a public park with interpretive trails, event spaces, and community classes about gardening, green living, etc. It’s somewhere I’ve been wanting to get to for years, but never have, and Sunday was the perfect day.

View of the city centre from the back of the old quarry, with the Brickworks buildings in the foreground. You just just see the CN Tower over to the right.

View of the city centre from the side of the old quarry, with the Brickworks buildings in the foreground. You just just see the CN Tower over to the right.

It rained just about all day Saturday and then for most of Monday, but Sunday was one of those glorious fall days when it’s hot in the sun and cool in the shade (ideal sweater weather!) and all the colours pop. So, so lovely. L mapped our walk after we got home and we wandered for about 8.5 kilometres (a little over 5 miles) and considering that most of it was in the woods, that’s not bad considering we never left the city.

Knitting-wise, I took full advantage of our rainy Saturday.

For once, it occurred to me to take before and after shots at the beginning of the weekend.

The first Saltburn sock is a couple of repeats away from the toe, so I should be starting the second one this weekend. Charade is also marching right along – something about two-row repeats feels super speedy, despite 72-stitch rows – and I’m really enjoying watching the colours progress. There is definitely some colour spiralling (too soon to say whether it will flash or just maintain this steady turn) at this stitch-count, but it’s slow enough that I don’t think I mind. I’m just an inch or so from dividing for the heel of the first sock.

How was your weekend? Is it fall where you are?

Categories: in progress, Knitting, Out and about Tags: gift knitting, photos, socks, Toronto

9:10 am - October 18, 2013 - AngelaH

Stepping out

I always overestimate how long it will take to knit up worsted-weight yarn, which means it’s always a nice surprise when I finish earlier than expected! I cast off my mum’s Stepping-Stones Tuesday night and, if I hadn’t decided to block them, they would indeed be in the mail already.

Ta-da! My mum likes tall socks, so I knit these to 7 inches before dividing for the heel.

Instead, after taking a couple of quick all-finished shots, I looked down at the socks and realized they had some cat hair/miscellaneous dust on them. That’s pretty normal for a pair of socks, either here or at my parents’, but it hardly seems like the condition they should be gifted in, so I threw them in some Soak, thinking they’d dry pretty quickly.

But, it isn’t summer anymore, so instead of drying in less than a day, they’re still quite wet. It’s been a damp and alternately humid and chilly few days, which is not ideal drying weather. Canada Post doesn’t run on the weekends, so it won’t make a huge difference delivery-wise if I get them in the mail on Monday instead of today, but mentally, I’m feeling days behind (instead of ahead, which is more or less where I am, I guess.)

I should note here that schedule is a relative thing, and something that exists solely in my head. I have an idea of more or less when things need to be started and finished in order to not get caught up in holiday knitting stress. Some amount of that seems inevitable, but I would like to be finished before heading to see my family (last year I had part of a fair isle mitten, two thumbs, and a hat to knit when I boarded the plane; I got it finished, but it was close). I’ve learned, though, that it’s best to take stock after the weekend rather than before. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, and while that kind of sucks, it also means I’ll probably get to curl up with my knitting and hang out with L at home, and that sounds not so bad to me.

What does your weekend look like? Are you starting to feel the tug of a gift-knitting schedule?

It is a testament to both the excellent dyeing at indigodragonfly and Clara’s pattern that this yarn didn’t pool in these socks. I love the way the colours moved around.

Details
Pattern: Stepping-Stones by Clara Parkes
Yarn: Indigodragonfly Superwash DK in Fringe Over Troubled Water
Needles: 3.25mm
Notes: I have now knit this pattern in both a solid and a variegated yarn, and I’m happy to report that it works beautifully for both. These photos are bit a dark (see my earlier comment on the weather this week) but the stitch pattern actually does show up pretty nicely even in this dark multi-coloured yarn. I also really like how clingy this stitch pattern is and how easy it is to remember. The only mod I made to the pattern was to use my normal slip-stitch heel in place of the stranded heel given in the pattern. Ravelled here.

Ps. Thank you all for the amazing suggestions for man socks! I cast on for Charade yesterday, and while I’m only in the ribbing (which I’m making extra deep), I’m already loving the way the yarn is knitting up. I ended up giving my Cranberry Biscotti socks to L as they were a bit too big for me and not only are they a good model for what will fit him, but he wore them today, which means I need to bust a move on these ones (when he starts wearing wool socks, you know the weather is cooling down).

Categories: finished, Knitting Tags: gift knitting, Indigodragonfly, socks

9:55 am - October 15, 2013 - AngelaH

Heels and toes

It’s mid-October, so I thought a Soctober update was in order. Mostly, I think, I’m on track.

My first priority this month was to finish these Stepping-Stones socks for my mom, and I’m only a couple of inches from starting the toe decreases, so if all goes well they’ll be in the mail by the end of the week.

Indigodragonfly Superwash DK in Fringe Over Troubled Water. I changed skeins part way through the foot of the first sock, so I’m interested to see if the difference between socks is noticeable.

If you’ve never knit socks or are looking for a speedy pair, I can’t recommend Clara ~~Hughes~~ Parkes’ pattern highly enough (I can never get the name right on first type – this is why). These socks knit up quickly, are more than just plain stockinette but don’t require too much attention, and are a free pattern to boot. This is the second time I’ve knit these socks and I know more pairs are in my future because, honestly, in Canada we need thick socks. I also plan to knit the large size in lighter-weight sock yarn, because I like the way it breaks up the colours in variegated yarns.

Second on my list is Saltburn. These are the official start of my Christmas knitting, so I can’t say too much about them. I will say, though, that I’m planning to shorten them. The recipient like ankle socks, and while those aren’t super practical in the winter, I don’t want to knit socks so high that they won’t become part of the regular rotation. To compromise, I’m knitting the cuff as written and then three (rather than five) chart repeats. The leg is 3.5 inches right now, which is probably as high as they need to be, so when I pick these up again I’ll be dividing for the heel!

The white is Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label in Natural and the blue is Jill Draper Makes Stuff Splendor Sock in Cobalt.

That makes these socks just about 1/4 finished, which is a nice surprise. I usually knit the legs of socks to somewhere between 5 and 7 inches, and only knitting to 3.5 makes these ones feel super speedy!

I’ve been trying not to get ahead of myself planning- and execution-wise, which is something I absolutely tend to do, especially ahead of the holidays. I’ll cast on four things and then wonder why I’m not seeing any progress. This year, I’m trying a more measured approach and working on no more than two projects at once: one that requires attention and one that’s more mindless. Saltburn is my current attention-requiring project, but since I’m almost finished my mindless Stepping-Stones, I decided it was time to wind the yarn for the next mindless knit.

Dragonfly Fibers Djinni Sock in Mushroom Hunting. I can’t get enough of this colourway.

I haven’t yet decided on a pattern for L’s socks, but I’m thinking they’ll be something kind of plain. The yarn is gorgeous all by itself, and he’s not sure he wants anything fancy, so I’m going to keep it simple: 72 stitches knit up as… well yeah. I have three basic options, I think: a) 1×1 ribbed cuff into 3×1 ribbed sock; b) 1×1 ribbed cuff into 1×1 mistake rib (one row 1×1, one row knit); c) 1×1 rib cuff and stockinette.

What do you think? Do you knit man socks? What gets the best reviews? I’ve knit lots of socks, but never for L, so I want to try and get this right.

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: Dragonfly Fibers, gift knitting, Indigodragonfly, jill draper, socks, Socktober

10:35 am - October 1, 2013 - AngelaH

October is for socks

Can you believe it’s October 1? That seems crazy to me, but since I can’t do anything about it, I’m going to go with it. Bring on Socktober, this year, I’m ready. Besides some finishing up, this month is going to be all socks, all the time. I’m not great at monogamous knitting, so I’ll have a few pairs on the go at a time, with the goal of knitting two complete pairs and finishing at least one other. That may be insane, but we’ll see how it goes.

Stepping-Stones, being knit in Indigodragonfly Superwash DK in Fringe Over Troubled Water

My first plan is to finish up these Stepping-Stones for my mom. I cast them on in April, knit three inches and then put them down for six months. It’s starting to get cold again, though, so it’s time to finish them up. I picked them up the other day to stash in my bag as after-work knitting and I’m almost done the gusset decreases on the first sock. I’m knitting them in DK-weight yarn, which is coming out looser than the other pair I knit, so maybe they’ll end up being layering socks. Either way, they’ll keep her feet warm.

My other plans are holiday-related, so I have to keep things a little vague. I’m planning to knit Saltburns for my sister, using this delicious bright-blue.

Jill Draper Makes Stuff Splendor Sock in Cobalt

And, for L (who has finally come around to hand knit socks) I’m going to knit a simple 3×1 rib in this warm brown. I figure I’ll go basic for the first pair, and if he likes and wears them, I’ll knit something more fun.

Dragonfly Fibers Djinni Sock in Mushroom Hunting

If by some miracle I get all of this finished (or, if I finish the first two and then need something interesting to balance out the ribbing) I’ve got my second pair of Daphnes to finish up. I love these socks – the colour is perfect, the pattern is fun, and the only reason I put them down was because I needed something more mindless to balance out Burrard. They’re more of a summer sock, but if I finish them now they’ll be ready and waiting next year, which is okay by me.

Indigodragonfly Bleats, Shoots & Leaves in Baldersquash (everything about this yarn is amazing, including the name.)

Are you knitting socks this month? Please tell me you have crazy Socktober plans so I feel less like a maniac.

Category: Knitting Tags: planning, socks, Socktober

9:24 am - September 27, 2013 - AngelaH

We’re sorry, Burrard can’t come to the phone right now

I really, really thought I was going to have a finished sweater to show you today. I finished seaming Burrard last Thursday, before we went camping, and that just left the button bands and collar to do this week and I really, really thought that was a realistic goal. And then, well, this week rolled around and it was a day short (because we didn’t get home from camping until Monday night) and then I had long days because I was filling in for a special section at work, and before I knew it it was this morning and I’d spent about three and a half hours with Burrard and, well, yeah.

It’s not so bad, really. I’m four rows into the button band, which means I’m one row away from putting in the button holes, and since I’ve already more or less mapped out where they’re going to go, that’s a snap. And that means I’m only two rows away from starting the short-row shawl collar, and once that’s done I’m only a few rows from binding off, and then it’s just weaving in ends and I’m done. Practically nothing! Except my sister is coming to visit this weekend, and the weather looks good, so we probably won’t sit around the house talking while I knit like a maniac. But by the next week? Yeah, by then I should have a finished sweater to show you.

In the meantime, how about some finished socks? These were my everywhere socks. I carried the first one with me around Boston and grafted the toe shut on the plane on the way home. The second sock took longer, but I every night on the way home from work for the last couple of weeks I’ve knit a couple of rows (including a few while camping), and wouldn’t you know it, they all added up and now I have a finished pair. This is the kind of stealth knitting that surprises even me. All that time, feeling like I wasn’t making any progress and then all of a sudden I was dividing for the heel and then, before I knew it, decreasing for the toe. It wasn’t fast, but it was exactly what I needed.

I kind of love the weird way colours pool around a flap heel. It should bother me, but it’s so unpredictable I almost look forward to it.

I am a big fan of this pattern (Simple Skyp Socks, which has been knit by everyone I think) and this yarn (Dragonfly Fibers Djinni Sock) and I suspect to see both in my near future. If you, like me, are late to the Skyp Socks party, I say don’t wait. They’re addicting in the way that patterned socks can be, but also mindless enough that you can pick them up and put them down and not worry about wondering where you are when you get back to them. They’re perfect for social – or transit – knitting, and the pattern includes a range of sizes. Even better? They don’t gobble up much yarn. I have size 9 feet, and knit the leg longer than normal, and still had 32 g left over.

I’m still working on the whole selfie-sock-photo thing. I’m getting better though.

Holiday knitting is right around the corner, so I might not finish another pair of socks for myself for a little while, which makes these even sweeter. They’re the first cashmere blend socks I’ve knit for myself, and even if it takes a few months for a repeat performance, at least I know my feet will be cozy and warm in the interim.

Details
Pattern: Simple Skyp Socks by Adrienne Ku
Yarn: Dragonfly Fibers Djinni Sock in Admiral Benbow
Needle: 2.5mm
Mods: None, really. I forgot to knit a purl row after the ribbing, so I left it off the second sock too. The only other tweak I made was when dividing for the heel I arranged my stitches so the instep would be symmetrical, with one purl stitch on each side. Otherwise I just knit as the pattern directed me to. Ravelled here.

I knit both of these socks from the same skein, but they looks totally different. Somehow, the second half of the skein had way, way more of that rusty orange colour. I love that about hand painted yarns, especially with a pattern like this one.

Categories: finished, in progress, Knitting Tags: Burrard, socks

9:38 am - August 16, 2013 - AngelaH

Slightly odd socks

iPhoto tells me this was taken July 5.

It turns out that maybe the best way to finish a pair of plain socks is to cast on an intricately cabled sweater. These socks have been on my needles since April. They were my backup knitting: something I could knit a few rows on here and there when I needed a break from whatever else I was working on, or we were spending an afternoon with friends, or I thought I might finish my book on my way home from work and maybe I should tuck my knitting into my bag just in case. And they were perfect.

The first sock languished at the toe decreases for a while (they’re easy, but not totally mindless) and then I finished it up and cast on the second sock back in June, when I thought I might need a stretch of plain stockinette. And then the second sock just sat there with two inches knit until my recent cabling issues. I wasn’t in any rush to finish them, but then after turning the heel on the weekend, I decided I was pretty close to done should maybe just buckle down and finish them off.

After the weekend.

There has been a twinge of fall in the air here this week, and it has been getting decidedly cool at night, two things that should make me want to finish a big sweater, but instead drove me to knit socks. I can’t explain it.

The two skeins knit up really differently. The first sock barely pooled at all (except around the gusset, which is to be expected), but the second sock flashed like crazy. This is why hand painted yarns are fun.

What I can explain, though, is why they don’t quite match. This goes back to casting on when I needed something plain. I had most of two skeins of this Koigu KPPPM (#P123), so I went for it. Two skeins of Koigu will make me a pair of plain socks almost exactly (that is, minimal leftovers). I knit these socks at 9 sts to the inch, because without the benefit of nylon the tighter knit makes them last longer, so they’re dense, and I have big feet, but one skein per foot is perfect. I, however, did not have one full skein per foot, and instead of altering my standard sock pattern – say, knitting a 5-inch leg instead of my normal 6 inches – I just went on autopilot and then ran out of the first skein just before the toe of the first sock, and then ran out of the second skein in almost exactly the same spot in the second sock.

I had some leftover Koigu (colourway number forgotten) kicking around, so I just used that. They don’t quite match, but I don’t mind so much. I have a soft spot for surprise toes (toes of a different colour, whether just one or both) and when the yarn is this wild and not-matching anyway, I don’t mind at all.

Details
Pattern: Basic 68-stitch cuff-down socks
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM #P123
Needles: 2.25mm
Mods: Besides the toe, none. These are knit more tightly than my normal socks, which is why there are more stitches. Notes are here on Ravelry (thank goodness, because I couldn’t remember the exact numbers of things by the time I got to the second sock!)

Oh, and yes, even though I meant to go right back to Burrard, I may have slipped accidentally and cast on for more socks. Simple Skyp Socks have been popping up all over the place and now I know why.

Super addicting. (Knit in Dragonfly Fibers Djinni Sock in the Admiral Benbow colourway.)

Categories: finished, in progress, Knitting Tags: Dragonfly Fibers, Koigu, socks

9:20 am - July 23, 2013 - AngelaH

Meanwhile, behind the scenes

Remember Willowherb? The socks I cast on way back in mid May? Yeah… I knit up the first one really quickly and then started the second one and then got distracted. You know how that is. The seasons were changing, other things seemed more pressing and one thing led to another and then a month had gone by.

That’s something I love about socks, though: they’re great little side projects. Whenever I didn’t quite feel like working on whatever was my main project, I’d knit on Willowherb. A few rows here, a few rows there, and by the time I was finished Kit, I was most of the way through the leg, so picking it up to finish didn’t feel like any big thing. And, of course, it wasn’t.

These socks were on the needles for almost two months, but in actual knitting time they didn’t take longer than two weeks to knit. (This is what I love about charted socks. There’s so much motivation to just finish at least this repeat or this section of a repeat before putting them down, which for me often results in knitting at least two or three more rows after deciding I’m done for the time being.) Sometimes coming back to a project that’s been sitting around can feel a it like a slog, but let me tell you, I enjoyed knitting these just as much in July as I did in May. I loved watching the stitches twist their way across the sock and holy moly, did I love this yarn. I have several more skeins in different colourways stashed and I can’t wait to use them!

Details
Pattern: Willowherb by Rachel Coopey
Yarn: Indigodragonfly Merino Sock in Safety Pin or Safety Pint: Discuss
Needles: 2.75mm
Mods: I was sort of in between the sizes listed, and rather than trying to knit the larger size at a tighter gauge, I opted to knit the smaller size a little looser. I didn’t need to loosen it up much, since it was a 68-stitch sock (my usual), but the twisted stitches and the way they cross over the top does tighten things up a bit. In the end, I got a sock that fits like a dream: tight enough to show off the lace and stitches, but not so tight that it’s hart to pull on or uncomfortable. Other than that, I deepened the heel by four rows, and I think that’s it.

I didn’t plan to leave so long between the two socks, so my notes are pretty bad and thus, they don’t quite match. Part of that is my own fault since I realized about four rows too late in the first sock that I’d somehow missed a couple of pattern rows. It’s in the foot and I considered ripping back, but I would have had to tink every row because ripping would be impossible with all the yarn overs and whatnot. It didn’t bother me that much, and I suspect only knitters will notice.

Categories: finished, Uncategorized Tags: socks, Willowherb

9:25 am - July 5, 2013 - AngelaH

Restless, restless

I don’t know if it’s the weather, work, or what, but I just cannot seem to settle on anything these days. I love all the projects on my needles, but for some reason don’t really feel like knitting on any of them. I’m restless. It hits me every year around this time, so maybe it’s a hold-over from my (long ago) days in elementary school, when the beginning of July meant the beginning of freedom and now means, well, nothing (not true: July 1 is Canada Day and that means quite a lot, but you know what I mean).

Clockwise from top left: Dragonfly yarns Dragon Sock in Mushroom Hunting B-Side and Djinni Sock in Admiral Benbow; Tosh Sock in Celadon and Cousteau; and Malabrigo Sock in Lettuce. These are not all destined to become garments for me.

Sigh. The thing about being restless with my knitting is that even when I don’t want to work on what’s right in front of me, I still want to knit, so I go on Ravelry and read blogs and get all revved up and buy yarn. Being restless can be expensive, is what I’m saying.

It’s that Cousteau that’s calling my name (it wants to be a shawl and it wants it now!). It’s saying that I finished that little dress and finishing means getting to cast on something new, but I’m going to ignore its siren song and plow ahead with Kit. I’m about a third of the way through the body and it’s the perfect weather to wear it and, truth be told, the mindless knitting of the body suits my mood.

Of course, it took three inches of plain sock knitting to realize that, but these were already on the needles from a time when I needed plain, plain knitting, so they’re fair game I think. Plus, I miss working on socks. I can’t seem to settle myself enough to actually spend time on them, but I can feel that magic coming back, so I’m going to give it a little time. Maybe once Kit is finished?

These have been on the needles forever, and I like that they’re there when I just need a row or two of mindless knitting in fun colours.

The main thing, when I hit these sorts of doldrums (holy nautical metaphors in this post – sorry) is just to keep knitting. Eventually I’ll re-find the spark that got me into the project in the first place, so it’s just a question of stitch following stitch until that happens. It isn’t as if the knitting isn’t enjoyable; even less than riveting knitting is still soothing.

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: Kit Camisole, socks