best-laid plans

February's original theme was to have been red, for Valentine's Day. Now, I have a fine collection of red sock yarn, all clamoring for actualization, and this one was just perfect:



But our better impulses have prevailed. (And I'm not all that fond of Valentine's Day anyway.) Afghans for Afghans has a due date of early March for their current campaign. And, as I am starting a "how to knit socks in worsted weight" series over at this blog and have a couple pairs of mittens and maybe even a sweater to finish, and Pat also has mittens on needles and A4A socks in mind, we're rescheduling. This month is for A4A. Next month -- well, all we know for sure is that the theme won't be Valentine's Day.

Meanwhile, I'm this far on the brand-new cast-on-today (per Two Left Feet rules and regulations) sock:

and now for something entirely different

While waiting for the February challenge to begin, I finished another pair of socks. Do not panic -- the operative word is "finished." The first sock of this pair was cast on in September of 2007. By the time the green socks were done, the second sock of this pair had reached the heel turn, so I decided to work on no other sock until it was finished. And look -- it worked! Yarn is an Opal; I will do some research and come back with color number later. Edited to add: Opal Feelings, #1701.

Look how closely the feet match! Look how the legs don't match at all. Isn't that odd? I prefer not to worry about matching, and was quite surprised when this strange thing happened with the feet.

clean and green

Here are January's socks all spiffed up. First, a close-up of the cuff, done in a pattern known as English rib or broken rib (ouch): knit 1 round plain, work next round in k1 p1 all the way around; repeat these two rounds.



And here on January grass, trying to express just how very green they are:



Tomorrow: their first encounter with feet!

While I'm waiting for February...

I saw the Golden Windowpane Scarf by Hannah Ingalls and thought of this lovely yellow alpaca/silk blend that I've owned for years.  Her scarf was too wide for me so I've adjusted the pattern a bit.  This yarn feels like butter and is knitting up beautifully.

So E, what are you working on?
Pat

Green Feats

I do believe I accused Pat of being competitive. I, of course, am nothing of the sort. That has nothing to do with why I stayed up way too late last night -- knitting all the way from the last few rows of the heel gusset to the beginning of the toe decreases between 10 p.m. and an hour I refuse to name. And this is not your dainty type of foot, ladies! Socks are demanding a bath and a consultation with their stylist before the official photo session, but here's a paparazzi shot to prove that they're done. Glamour shot tomorrow.

Edited to add: dead battery, lost charger. Dress-up photos as soon as new charger arrives.

Eleven days until I can cast on for the February sock. However will I fill the time?

January Green Socks...Finished!

Hi All,
I finished my Green, January socks. I worked in the tails last night and photographed them today. They still need to be washed and blocked but I was so excited that I had to post my finished socks. This pair was as plain as I could make them. I used my standard toe-up sock pattern (Pat Shorten, "Topsy Turvy: Toe Up Socks!, Cast On, Summer 2003, p. 69). This pattern came to life after I knit up several pairs of Kim Salzar's great pattern. I started making slight changes to make me happy and then I taught a class and had to write up the pattern.

I've included a detail of the figure-of-eight toe:

(I've stuffed the toe with a wash tag to get it to look "normal")

The turned heel:

(That's a lacrosse ball filling out my heel...I do long for a human foot...)


Finally, I used Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind-off, recommended by Cat Bordhi in her YouTube video. Sorry EZ but I will NEVER go back to the sewn cast-off, it's stretchy but not nearly so perfect as Jeny's bind-off!

Well it's time to wash, block and wear these puppies...Yeah, for hand knit socks!!

Guess what color we choose for February...Pat

Your blacks and whites are perfect, on my screen. I suspect that the green is pretty close to what I'm seeing here...remember every monitor shows color differently.

I'm knitting on 60 stitches and have past the heel on both socks - funny, to read that you are on the easy part of the sock. I consider the foot the tricky parts...toe shaping, gussets, heel, once I get past the foot, figure out what sort of ribbing I'm in the mood for then I think I'm on the easy part! Inches of mindless knitting in the round, nothing could be better.

So far so good

Green sock #1 is still on schedule, and I've reached the fast and easy part. This yarn is a vivid, vivid green, even more so than in the picture. I have to consult with co-blogger Pat, an expert photographer, on how to get the color to come out right.



I try to keep the label in the center of the ball after I've wound it, but this one got away from me. I thought at first it was a Black Bunny yarn, but it's not soft enough. It may be Araucania Ranco #305. (Edited to add: yes, this is a Black Bunny yarn, as determined in consultation with the Black Bunny herself. Nobody does green like the Black Bunny!)

This sock is on 64 stitches (I'm kind of wishing I'd used 68, but too late now), in a 2-row pattern. Round 1, knit; Round 2, k1 p1 all the way around.

January Green Socks

I had an easy time choosing my green yarn. This beautiful ball of green Zauberball came as a gift and I loved it immediately and knew that would be my first pair of socks for 2010. I wound it into two center pull balls on New Years day and cast on for my toe-up socks. This yarn knits up beautifully and feels great running through you fingers. Wonderful yarn will make warm, soft, comfortable socks!

~Pat

did you ever have to make up your mind?

What are we doing?

Two friends are determined to knit a pair of socks each month in 2010. Pat knits toe-up, Continental; Elizabeth knits cuff down, English (thrower style). Pat works on a sane, limited number of projects at a time. Elizabeth usually has sock projects in the double digits going on, not to mention all the others. . . nonetheless, somehow we manage to get along. Watch this space. . .

We tried the pair-a-month approach last year, and didn't even make it through the summer. We thought blogging the project would be a fun way to stay on track this time. We've set up a monthly schedule, soon to be revealed to the world. To start -- January is Pat's birthday month, so she picked green for this month's category.

Today is January 1 -- time to cast on!