Some Socks

I've been getting some knitting done but it doesn't look like it because there's just a little progress on a few different things. I do have a couple of things that actually look like there's progress though.
First, one of the Wrought Iron Socks is done.

(I really cannot figure out why some of my pictures post sideways. Even when  change them and save them, they still post the wrong direction. Anyone have an answer?)
Anyway, I really think it turned out well. I can't seem to get in a groove with knitting these socks, I pretty much have to force myself to work on them even though the yarn is lovely and I love how the stitch pattern looks, I just don't want to mess with the little cables I guess.
Here's a close up of the cable, just because I think it looks so amazing.

Ahhh, pretty Twisted stitches.

I'm also making some good progress on the plain socks for the Handsome Hubby.

Still not my colors but I'm enjoying the squishy yarn and the simplicity of the sock. I did actual math to figure out when to start the heel increases, knit Wendy Johnson's Heel Flap heel and started the ribbing right away so when I get halfway through with the yarn, I can just bind off immediately. I liked knitting this heel, it's got an unusual shape though so I don't know how it will wear or feel once the sock is on, time will tell.
I realized the other day though that if I'm going to do any Christmas knitting this year, I should really get going!

A Very Good Mail Day

I guess if you post pictures of your handsome hubby and then link to your blog on Facebook and you are friends with his friends on Facebook too, they will go to your blog and then tell him they saw the pictures of him. He knew I was posting them but I'm not entirely sure he wanted his friends to see them. Oh well, I think he's adorable and that's all that counts right?
On to the actual fiber content. First, I've been knitting like mad on my Skew socks, I really thought I was going to run out of yarn (so much so that I ordered another whole skein from someone's destash)  it hasn't arrived yet but that's okay, I have this much left.
 
And that's after...

I finished them. After I finished the first sock, I weighed the ball (never mind that I didn't weigh it before I started) and I had 1-7/8 ounces left. That's less than half of 4 ounces so I was sure I was going to run out. Since they're an unusual construction, I wasn't sure what to do but find more of the yarn so I did. That's okay, I really love the colors so I can always knit something else when it arrives or destash it if I change my mind.
So, let's jump right into
The Specs:
The Yarn: Vesper Sock Yarn in Witchy Woman which is a Halloween colorway. Lime green, purple and black stripes
The Needles: I used two sizes of DPNs for these socks US 1s (2.25mm) and US 2s (2.75mm)
The Pattern: Skew by Lana Holden from Knitty
The Modifications: Like I said, I knit the foot on size 1s and switched to size 2s when I started the heel parts to make them fit my feet. Otherwise the heel was too tight and the leg would not have fit either.
The Notes: My gauge changed on the second sock after I switched to the heel and larger needles so the tops are not identical even though the feet are. I'm not sure why it changed but it did and I love them anyway.

I just love how the heels look together but it's really, really hard to take a picture of your own heels. Did you know that?

Since I finished these lovely socks, I decided to start some more. Plain, plain plain this time.

This yarn was a gift from a friend without a tag so I'm not sure what it is and it's certainly not my favorite colors but he needs some more hand knit socks for this winter so it will work. They're very soft and squishy so I can deal with the colors. These are plain so I can do other things while I work on them. Like read or not go crazy. With 12-inch long feet, there's a lot of knitting that goes into socks for the hubby.

I also went a little bit crazy with destash purchases this last week and things have started arriving.

Today was a very good mail day. (Please note that two of those items are from the Gritty Knits Merino of the month club and the Gritty Knits Nom of the month club so I really only have 3 destash purchases there.)

If you'd like more information about any of them, check out my Ravelry stash, I'll be uploading them all today.

Handsome Hubby Handwarmers

If you are friends with me on Ravelry you may have noticed that I started a new project yesterday. I called it Handsome Hubby Handwarmers. There's a reason for that.


Here he is. My nerdy guy. (Notice the Captain America T-shirt) He sits in an area at work where cold air blows on him so he's been wearing his jacket while at work. I offered to make him some handwarmers to keep him from freezing his hands while working. He has enough trouble with dryness and splitting hands in the winter. He agreed if a "manly" color of yarn could be found in my stash. How little he knows about the stash.

I dug out this blue worsted-weight yarn that I had previously dyed blue with my friend Lisa. It was meant to make something for him as a matter of fact. I started these yesterday morning and finished them this morning. They're a very fast knit.
So, here are The Specs:
The Yarn: Fisherman's Wool dyed "Superman Blue" by myself and my friend Lisa
The Needles: US 7 (4.50mm) DPNs
The Pattern: Dashing by Cheryl Niamath. (A Knitty pattern)
The Modifications: None, I actually knit these to pattern. Wait! No, I only knit 10 rounds after the thumb rather than 18.
The Notes: These have mirrored cables so you can tell which hand they go to but they're similar enough to be interchangeable. I've knit this pattern several times before and I still like it. I have a pair and I knit them for my stepsister at one time too.

I think he likes them and we had some fun with this photo shoot. Hopefully they'll keep his fingers warm at work too.

Purple Progress

I've been really focused with my knitting lately. I think I'm over my startitis and I've been working hard to get some of these projects done. First, the first of the Wrought Iron Socks is past the heel flap. These are toe-up with a traditional flap heel. I did an eye of partridge rather than a slip stitch heel on these, otherwise I haven't made any changes.

This picture doesn't show the patterning very well but it's as close as I've gotten to the actual color of the yarn. It's sort of sear-your-eyes-out purple and I absolutely adore it!

You can see the pattern much better in this photo. I'm really happy with the way these are turning out and I just need to keep moving with them.
I also dug out my skew sock and fixed it. I don't remember if I mentioned it but I was having some trouble with them. I started knitting them on size 0 needles. I realized partway up the foot (these are also toe-up) that they were not going to fit because the stitches on the bias stretch differently than straight knitting. I ripped it out, it wasn't a huge deal at that point and I started again on size 1 needles (2.25 mm). It was looking wonderful, fit my foot just fine and I made my way up to the point where you need to do the heel. If you have looked at this pattern you know the whole thing is an unusual construction and it was very fun figuring it all out. I, however, got past the heel and tried on the sock. It didn't fit through the heel. Too tight. I put it on timeout until I figured out what to do. It's my first time knitting this sock and I wasn't sure about adding more stitches because then the counts listed in pattern wouldn't be right so I ultimately decided to rip back (after a grafted section even) and switch to size 2 (2.75mm) needles before the heel increases and graft. I stuck with the size 2s to make sure it would fit through the leg as well.

(I cannot figure out why this picture insists on posting sideways. Very annoying) I really like how it came out! I love the look of the heel and the whole thing is so interesting and fun! The yarn is Vesper self-striping sock yarn in Witchy Woman. You can't really tell but it's neon green, black and purple stripes. The purple looks so blue in every picture I take.
I'm not thrilled with how loose the fabric on size 2s seems so I'm hoping the yarn will bloom a bit when it's blocked so it will seem less loose and holey. Overall I really like it though. I have cast on the second sock but I think I'm going to run out of yarn. I have less than half of it left so I'm scouring Ravelry to find more to make sure I can finish these socks. In the meantime I'll just keep on knitting until I run out.

Super Sock Splendor

I fell down a little bit and cast on some things. I've been so careful lately about working on finishing things first and it just didn't work this week.


First, I cast on some lovely Georgia on my Mind socks

This is from Three Irish Girls Adorn sock in the color Lucerne, I got it from a destash and I was so in love with the color it didn't make it into the stash. I just set it near my knitting seat and I couldn't resist it anymore. These will become my purse socks, my skew socks have a bit of a problem so I am giving them a time out. That makes me feel vindicated about starting these.
Then, I'm in the Solid Socks group and this month's color is purple. Since purple is my favorite color and I just happened to have a semi-solid in stash in an amazing purple, I decided to cast on these.

The pattern is Wrought Iron socks from Wendy Johnson's book Toe-up Socks for Every Body. I'm really liking it so far but I haven't really found my groove yet. The chart is 38 rows and so, I haven't made it through one chart repeat yet, I think that will help. I just need to sit down and focus a bit. I think it's just lovely so far though. The yarn is the lovely nom by Gritty Knits it's a club colorway but I forgot to enter it in my Rav stash so I can't remember which month it came from. The color is Royal Purple though and it's a very difficult color to photograph. This one is probably the closest I have gotten so far.

I actually don't feel too bad about starting these socks since I finished some.
These are the Vine Lace Socks from Socks, Socks, Socks.

Let's get right into the Specs shall we?
The Specs:
The Needles: US Size 1 DPNs (2.25mm)
The Yarn: Merino Bamboo yarn dyed by my friend Lisa in the Sugarplums colorway (she's not currently dyeing so I can't link to her but she's planning to start up again soon!)
The Pattern: Vine Lace Socks by Kathy Garguilo from the book Socks, Socks, Socks
The Notes: While I think the yarn is amazingly gorgeous and the pattern really shows it off, I really struggled with this seemingly simple pattern. The chart is small and seems easy to follow but I found myself ripping and reknitting a lot. The way the yarnovers, ssks and k2togs move made it more difficult to make sure you were in the right part of the chart than I would have thought.

They took a good long break but eventually, I persevered and finished them up. I think they'll become some of my favorite socks but I'm not sure that I would knit this pattern again.
Either way I have some lovely new socks finished and some lovely new ones on the needles too.