June Socks

It's such a shock to realize that June is coming to a close...I don't know what I've done with this month.  Our June socks were suppose to say "Summer" and mine do, in a round about way.  I knit this pair of socks for A4A as I just don't wear socks in the summer...summer to me means sandals and easy living.  These are knit from Norwegian sport weight yarn, they were fast and easy...just like my summer!

At first I photographed these socks flat, on sock blockers, laying on an old stump but they seemed pretty lifeless to me.

So I pulled out my tripod and shoot them on my feet, while I sat on the steps...I am not a sock model!

but I got more confident as the shoot went on and now I feel that if any of you need a sock model...give me a shout, I'll work for yarn!

Good day, sunshine

Both yarns I'm using are semisolids. In places, the orange is quite light. In places, the yellow becomes almost orange. When those places coincide, the edges of the sun motif become blurred. I was going to say this makes the motifs more subtle than I'd like, but somehow "subtle" does not seem appropriate for this particular color combination!



I've decided to go with these two yarns anyway, because I love both of them.

I'm already looking forward to making another pair, in blue, using the moon motif. And then I'm going to use that incredibly vibrant yellow and make an extraordinary pair of yellow socks.

Did you ever have to finally decide?

For June, I am making Karin Maag-Tanchak's solstice socks, as I mentioned earlier. I wanted to use her own beautiful yellow for the suns around the top, but I'm wondering if I'll be able to. Somewhere I have a skein of deep tangerine yarn that would provide the perfect foil, but it's not going to come out until I'm halfway through the second sock. I did see a skein that's perfect in a local shop -- but since I have three other choices here in my hands, I bravely resisted. Here are my choices:

The orange at the top is too red, and I wanted a more solid color. The two orange skeins at the left are too pale. That choice was easy.

Here is the chosen orange next to Karin's yellow. I'm not sure the contrast will be adequate to show off the motif.


And here is the orange with the paler yellow, which would definitely provide enough contrast:



Clearly, some swatching is in order. Tonight's plan is to wind the orange and both yellows and knit two small samples. That will settle the question. It's one week into June and defintely time to get started. I'd like to get back into the habit of finishing the socks of the month a few days early rather than one day late.

the purple socks in all their splendor

The camera finally reemerged. I have no idea where it's been, or what it does when it goes on these adventures. . .


yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy, Visual Purple
pattern: Brainylady's basic cabled socks

This photo clearly is intended as documentation only; I will try to get a better composition at some point, because this one is rumpled and off center and not very satisfying. The socks, however, were very satisfying indeed. I'll make this pattern again. The next pair will be red; the yarn is wound and waiting. Vacation knitting, perhaps?

May SOM Finished

You all may not know this about me but I'd much rather take photos than try to write something in a blog...it's hard for me to come up with stuff to say and creating a witty title, well that boat has sailed.

Anyhow, here are my May socks in all their splendor, made of Fleece Artist Sea Wool (70% Merino, 30% Seacell) in colorway Sorbetto.  I knit these socks toe-up, using my standard sock recipe.  The cable up the sides is the same one Elizabeth used, after I saw her socks I just wanted to do it, it's so cute...nice and round with just enough chunky-ness not to over power a pair of socks. 

I must admit, with my favorite model away in far flung lands, I had to use some ingenuity in my photography.  I set my camera on the tripod which was down very low; at feet level so to speak (so low I had to remove the center column which I'd never done before), I then set my reflector against a stone frog that volunteered to help (surprising as stone frogs can be quiet recalcitrant), I used the timer release (set on 10 seconds, which was just barely enough time), then I would push the button, run over to the rock wall and sit down and then slip off my crocs and compose my feet.  You would have laughed watching me struggle, feet modeling is not as easy as it looks!

Here comes the sun

The topic for June is summer. I have wanted to make these solstice socks, by Karin Maag-Tanchak, since the first time I saw them, way back before Ravelry (yes, my child, there was a time before Ravelry) when Karin posted the link on either KnitU or the knitlist. Of course, I'll be tweaking things a little. . . because it's the summer solstice, I'm using orange as my main color. And I'm making both socks the same, using just the sun pattern at the top. I'm still debating which of several oranges (how the heck did I come to have a choice of oranges?) to use, but the yellow for the suns is Karin's own handdyed yarn (Periwinkle Sheep is her company name). With so much stockinette, and summer travel season soon to commence, I know these will be done on time.

Note: I've put out an APB on the camera, but for now, text only.

--E.

the one-day rule

I seem to have fallen prey to the same syndrome that dogged me in college -- please, Professor, may I have a 1-day extension? Second sock is one toe from being finished. I call that close enough, and it is still officially the May sock! Picture tomorrow,* and intro to my June yarn and pattern. (The theme for June is "summer" -- plenty of room for interpretation!)

*if, that is, the camera consents to reveal itself. . .

E.

Well finally I'm posting a photo of my socks...I've got both of them about 1/2 way done.  I was going to use the pattern "Brainless" but decided I didn't like the long thin cables nor the way the pattern outlines the gusset stitches.  After seeing Elizabeth's sock cuff, I feel in love with her cable pattern and am using that on the cuff of these socks.

Sock fatigue?

Last week I was just about ready to turn the heel on purple sock #1 when I spotted a cable that had been crossed 1 row too soon. It bothered me too much to leave it there, so I had to rip out 3 inches of otherwise perfectly good knitting. So now we're almost two thirds of the way through the month, and sock #1 is still in progress. It may be done tonight, most definitely by tomorrow. That means sock #2 will be a desperation knit. . . could I be rebelling against the self-inflicted pressure of staying on schedule?

The yarn is wonderful. The pattern is wonderful. Why, oh why, do I think I want to be knitting a red sweater instead?

Purple Haze

It seems the sock malaise has passed. I am loving the May sock! I am loving the May yarn. I look forward all day to the time when I get to pick these up again.

Theme of the month is cables. I chose a pattern I've been looking at for years, Brainylady's Basic Cabled Socks. They're coming out just right, and with 7 plain rows to every cable row, they move fast. The 2 x2 ribbing between the cables really pulls in, so I'm constantly having second thoughts and thinking about ripping out and casting on 8 more stitches, but when I try it over the very broad ball of my larger foot, it's fine, so I'm trying to stay calm.

The yarn is Dream in Color's Smooshy; the color is Visual Purple. I'm already thinking about what yarn to use for the next pair of these.

April 31

The Woolen Rabbit Harmony sock yarn, colorway morning glory

That's all I needed -- just one more day. After the third time I fell asleep over this sock last night, just 11 rows shy of the toe decreases, I knew it was time to admit that it wasn't going to get done. So I decided I'd just mess with the calendar instead! Dilemma resolved.

They're pretty, pretty socks (wish I could make the green show up), and I will like them, but something about the knitting just did not grab me. I would knit anything rather than pick them up -- half a baby blanket, 3 new scarves started, 4 afghan blocks. . .

OK, May is going to be better. When it starts. Tomorrow, right?

May SOM

Our May socks are to have a cable in them and I needed a yarn that wasn't so dark you couldn't see the cables.  This is Fleece Artist Sea Wool,  a blend of wool and seacell.  Seacell is a textile fiber created from seaweed.  It's suppose to have properties that make it breathe and pull moisture away from you skin.  These socks should be good for the ol' feet....

I saw this bit of sunshine on my kitchen counter and plopped the skien down there to photograph it.  The left side was in complete darkness...so I grabbed our white toaster and placed it just out of the picture on the left and what a great job it did lighting the scene!

April SOM finished

I finished my April socks last night, just in time for the new month.

These socks are knit in Malabrigo Sock Yarn. They are the softest socks I own, they were a pleasure to knit, the yarn just floats through your fingers. My concern is that they are so soft that they won't hold up to hard wearing but we won't know that till next winter. This color of blue is amazing, a vast array of colors all in this blue colorway.

I'm modeling these socks myself. I'm tired of laying them down flat or hanging them from a shrub in the yard. I need a sock model, my favorite one is in college a long way from here...so I rolled up my jeans, slipped on the new socks and took photos of me. It wasn't easy but I'm up to the challenge!

Michaela Made Me Do It....

OK, the Brits finished their April socks early and now they are hinting at our being behind the curve.  I needed to post something this month anyhow, I'm not being prodded by Michaela, yeah, no way I'm competitive...my socks for this month are the most beautiful blue, Malabrigo sock yarn.  These socks are super soft and springy, really I can not wait to slip my feet into these babies!

Watch this space

I'm 2 inches into the second sock. Needless to say, I chose the plain foot, for speed. I'm traveling this weekend, which usually is good for making sock progress, but this time I'm the driver!! So 8 lovely knitting hours lost. . .

April ends one week from today. It occurs to me that Pat and I are the bosses of this project, and we didn't specify any penalty for missing the deadline, but I'll be so disappointed. . .

Watch this space. . .

--Elizabeth

Note to self...

We are half-way through the month and I haven't mention the yarn I'm using or the pattern.  I haven't posted a photo or discuss my knitting thoughts...tomorrow, I must take sock knitting pictures and post them.  On top of that I only have half a month to finish this pair of socks, ouch!

Monkey mind

I think I have spring fever. We're halfway through the month on Thursday, and I've just barely started the heel turn on sock #1 (on 68 stitches, for big feet. . .)

It's not that I haven't been knitting! But I am frighteningly easily distracted in the spring -- look at this yarn, wouldn't it make a pretty scarf? Let's cast on and see. Oooh, it would be so much fun to knit something for Sarah's baby. I should work on that white blanket for the hospital -- it's halfway done. But all these family weddings must mean I should be knitting presents. . . and it's been a long, long time since I made myself a sweater. Oooh, I have this great idea for an afghan block based on a traditional pattern, and I really need to try it out right now. . .

Help!

(No pictures, because in the unlikely event that any of these get finished, they're meant to be surprises.)

Morning glory

For April's blue socks, I finally chose the yarn from The Woolen Rabbit. The colorway is called Morning Glory (not currently available on her web site) -- I'd say the blue is more like hydrangeas, but both are lovely, so that's not a problem! I'm finding this yarn impossible to photograph -- there are brief intervals of green in it that just don't show up. They're the same value as the blue, and with a blue rather than yellow tint, so the color is defeating me. I will persevere and eventually post a picture that shows reality. (Obviously, I should fool around with the background.) Meanwhile, here's what the sock will look like (it's already several inches longer, though):



The pattern was immortalized in the early days of the Socknitters group on Yahoo as the blueberry waffle socks, but it's a pretty basic rib.

I started (because I like to) with 8 rounds of k1, p1 ribbing, and then began the pattern:

rounds 1 and 2: *k2, p2* around
rounds 3 and 4: k all stitches

If I'm feeling ambitious, I'll continue the pattern down the instep after the heel turn, but I may just need the feel of the open road (ie, speedy stockinette) by then.

What I did with the rest of my month...

Yes, after I finished my socks I had time for some other knitting.  I made a pair of baby booties for a new dad at work.  I love this pattern and have been using it for years.  Each bootie takes me about an evening to make and you can vary the size by using different thicknesses of yarn.

 My young neighbor came over and helped model them.

I continue to knit scarves, they are the most mindless knitting and sometimes that's exactly what I need.  This month I made the Petits trous de printemps scarf.  My knit buddy Gina translated the pattern for me.  I made it using Kid Silk Haze...I love that stuff!

Hot Dog...I finished my socks!

Please tell me you can see the color similarity between hot dogs and my socks...these hot dogs are fresh out of the freezer and are the upscale, all beef variety, stretch your mind and think about fairground dogs, floating around in a vat of greasy water, come on you know the ones.  Having an "ah ha" moment?  Want to admit that I was right?

I'm glad I finished these socks and I will find a family member to wear them but they are too thick for me.  I am a bit disappointed with Socks the Rock yarn.  I have a skein of the thinner STR and I will try that but the colors pooled and weren't outstanding not what you expect from high end yarns.