Socks, socks, and more socks!

The first pair...

Approximately one year ago (give or take a couple of weeks) I decided, “Screw it. I’m learning how to use those stupid itty bitty DPNs and I’m making socks.” Five days later, I had my first pair. They were done in a Red Heart Heart and Sole with Aloe yarn, and I haven’t looked back.

Obviously, my sock yarn palette has become more sophisticated, but for that first pair, I didn’t want to screw it up, so I used something cheap. I don’t think anyone can fault me for that! I still have this first pair of socks and I love them. They show that even though I was a beginner (with socks, at least), I was able to set a goal and accomplish it. Now, I have enough socks to wear a hand knit pair every day for about a week, and I have about five other balls of sock yarn sitting in my stash waiting for me to get to them. I think they sit there, not so much waiting as lurking. ;)



Horseshoe Cables with ShiBui





After starting with said Heart and Sole, I moved on to some Hazel Knits, then to some ShiBui Sock (which, in my humble opinion is still one of the best deals out there in terms of quality to price ratio), I have in my stash some gorgeous blue from Miss Babs (purchased at Sock Summit specifically for Tardis socks), a beautiful bright yellow with sparkles from Knitted Wit, a really cool camo colorway from Pico Accuardi, and yes, even some of Lion Brand’s sock… what can I say, it was on sale, and I kinda dig the color.

Ann Budd design with Sanguine Gryphon

I love the sense of completion when a pair of socks is done. You know that you will get use out of them. Probably more so than anything else that you take the time to knit. You ALWAYS need socks. Yes, I know there is magic loop, and knitting two at a time on circulars, but something about doing them each individually is ultra satisfying to me. Watching this little tube grow… I don’t know. It’s just kind of cool. There are so many methods and different types of heels, toes, cast-ons, cast offs… the variety is endless, and so are the patterns! I have several sock pattern books, yet always crave more! Cookie A is one of my favs, but I also really enjoy just a simple ribbed sock, which makes for great tv knitting, or audio book knitting… or knitting when there are kids around.

Nutkin with IndigoDragonfly's Captain TightPants

I don’t think that my love for socks is going anywhere anytime soon… and I look forward to the next time Sock Summit comes to PDX!

Other Projects... Non Christmas (i.e. FOR ME!)

Since the holiday rush is done and over at our house... I got everything done a week before Christmas!  Yippee for me!  Now, I've decided to take the rest of December and make things for me (and maybe a couple Etsy quickies... the shop is pretty bare).  There are a few things that I have been planning for a while that I just haven't gotten to.  I have a few custom orders waiting in the wings, but they know I'm taking two weeks for me.  :)  It helps when they are your aunt and a friend you've had for almost a decade!

Okay, so I needed some new jammies pretty badly. I usually buy them about once every five years or so... yeah, really.  This time though, instead of blowing $30 on one set of the Nick and Nora ones that I love, I went and found these two AWESOME fabrics at JoAnn's.  Not the gnomies I was trying to replace, but I am totally okay with Superman and  some little owls.  This way I have either Super awesome dreams about being a superhero... or I pay homage to my favorite owl, Hedwig!  :)

And now the exciting news:  MY FIRST PAIR OF SOCKS!  I've been knitting for almost ten years, but only seriously for about the last three or four. I've been really impressed with how far I've come along, but for some reason, socks just seemed really daunting to me.  I'm glad I found the pattern I did.  It made sense, was simple, and was also forgiving.  It called for a size two needle, I only had a three, and it came out just fine.  :)  (I, of course, then promptly went out and got the twos for my next sock project, that is currently in progress)

Rarely do I actually use the yarn that the pattern calls for, let alone in the same colorway, but this one actually turned out to be an easy pattern that was advertised on the label... go figure.  Anyway, these were done with the Red Heart Heart and Sole with Aloe in Razzle Dazzle.  A self striping and self patterning yarn, these went a lot faster than I was expecting and I am thrilled with the results... I love funsie socks.  :)