work in progress

Not surprisingly, I am a little bit behind on some of my knitting projects. This pair of Hermione socks will be a birthday gift for my sister in NY. Her birthday was in December, but thankfully, she has been a very patient sissy.

The first sock is complete, and I am two pattern repeats from beginning the heel on the second sock. The yarn is The Fibre Company’s Canopy Fingering, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite sock yarns. Unlike last time, I am knitting this pattern in one solid color- Paw-Paw, which my sister picked out herself.

If you’ve never tried this yarn, I highly recommend it. It is a soft and slightly fuzzy blend of alpaca, merino wool and bamboo, and comes in beautiful kettle-dyed shades that are perfect for spring knitting. Once these are finished, I’ll move on to finishing my mother-in-law’s Shaelyn, followed by my Hedgerow socks.

So many projects, so very little time…Have a lovely week!

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mismatched

As the weather gets colder, I find myself walking around the house exactly like this – a mismatch of flannel p.j. pants, hand knit socks, a scarf or shawl and a cozy sweater…

I hope you all have a cozy weekend full of wool and knitting.

{images via toast uk}

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a little yarn shopping.

Would you like to see what yarn I bought at Seed Stitch this past weekend? I definitely wanted to get some new sock yarn, so upon entering the store, I went directly to the Spud & Chloe display where I immediately plucked these two skeins right off the rack:

The colors? Red Hot and their new colorway – Hippo! I thought this wintery, long-john inspired color combination would be perfect for a cozy pair of socks. The pattern?

Hedgerow! I have been wanting to knit this sock for quite a while, and thought that the texture would pair beautifully with the red and the gray. While browsing the shop, my husband called me over to look at a little shawl knit in Cascade Ultra Pima. He liked how crisp the stitch definition was due to the lack of fuzzy wool or alpaca.  He called it “hi-def knitting.”  How cute is that? I was glad he pointed this project out, because the yarn was the perfect choice for the shawl I have been wanting to knit for his mother!

Sadly, she is allergic to wool, but this soft, shiny cotton is perfect for highlighting the stockinette and lace stitches in the Shaelyn pattern, don’t you think? It was so hard to leave the store with only four items…there were so many lovely skeins I wanted to adopt! It would be so easy to walk out there with tons of yarn to have on hand, you know, ‘just in case’…but I was very good and only bought what was needed. Off to cast on my Shaelyn!

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eye of partridge

I decided to change it up a bit and try an eye of partridge heel on the May socks…I love how smooth it is! Do any of you know if this heel is more durable than the slip-stitch heel? Which is your favorite heel to knit?

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adjusting…

It has taken me a few days to adjust to the new job and being out of the house all day…and as much as I miss the hours of knitting every day, I am really excited about being out in the ‘real world’ again.

Dressing up each morning has been a lot of fun, and I love that I get to take an elevator up to my office…

…I also love coming home at the end of the day, putting back on my beloved jeans and t-shirts, and spending some quiet time in the evenings with my knitting. Tell me – what have you been up to this week? I want to know what you are all working on!

{p.s. have you seen Dona’s shawl and Ivana’s cabled socks? What beautiful knits!}

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a year of socks: april

Here they are – my first improvised sock pattern! I managed to finish them by 8:30pm on the last day of April – after all, a deadline is a deadline!

And even though the pattern ended up being similar to one that already existed, I’m still pleased with the fact that I came up with this one all on my own.

The pattern is simple: pretty diagonal lace panels separated by a two-stitch seeded rib. It was easy to memorize, but the fact that each round was different kept it interesting.

I worked a standard heel, and kept the bottom of the foot and the toe in plain old stockinette.

For the cuff, I worked a beaded-rib stitch, which I think adds a charmingly old-fashioned touch:

It’s not super-tight around the leg either, which is nice. This Quince & Co. Tern yarn was a dream to knit with! It’s a gorgeous blend of American wool and tussah silk, and is so soft and squishy for a fingering-weight yarn. I will most definitely be using it again!

Since there is a similar version of this sock out there already, I wouldn’t feel comfortable posting the pattern. If you’d like to knit a similar sock, you should check out Wendy’s toe-up version. The cuff and the ribbing are different, but the overall effect is the same.

Here are the details:

• Pattern: Improvised
• Yarn: Quince & Co. Tern, 2 skeins in 142/Oyster
• Needles: Size US 0/2.0mm dpns.

Also, I have some news for you all: after over 8 years of being a stay-at-home Mom, I am heading back into the workforce on Monday! I am both very nervous and very excited about this new phase in my life, but also slightly worried that I’m going to go through some serious. knitting. withdrawal. Maybe I’ll pack some sock knitting along with my lunch each morning for a little lunch-time knitting.

So, have a great weekend everyone…and keep your fingers crossed!

{p.s. And no, this does not mean I’m going to stop blogging. I love all of my knitting friends way too much!}

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june sock yarn

Since I am always thinking about my next project, I went to my LYS to pick out some sock yarn for the month of June.

This is Knit One Crochet Two’s Crock-O-Dye fingering yarn – 416 yards in a wool, nylon, silk blend. I love the watery shades of blue, green and white…To me, this yarn is all blue skies, beach glass, and fluffy white clouds – the perfect summer day! I am thinking of knitting some hedgerows with it, but I thought I’d ask you guys: which pattern would you knit with this yarn? I’d love to hear your ideas!

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may socks.

My May socks are on the needles! I so badly wanted to use my new Addi needles, but alas, I could not get gauge. So size 0/2mm. dpns. it is. This is my second attempt at writing a sock pattern – here’s hoping it is a little more successful than the first attempt.

A quick word about this Fibre Company Canopy Fingering yarn – love. I’ve only knit 16 rounds with it so far, but the hand and sheen of this yarn is just gorgeous! The girls over at Kelbourne Woolens are so lucky they get to play with this all day!

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nearly there!

The heel flap is finished…all that’s left is the turning of the heel, the gusset, the foot and the toe. I should be able to finish that by Saturday, right?

Luckily, I have all of today and tomorrow to dedicate to this little sock. It looks like rain today, which means it’s the perfect day to settle in with a movie and my knitting.

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april socks update…

One down…

…one to go! I’ll probably alternate a pattern repeat of sock lace, with a pattern repeat on the lace shawl, just to keep things interesting!

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