Possessed to Knit

Wayward Sock

Here is my completed right sock from the February installment of the Cookie A sock club.  The yarn is Richness of Martens fingering (75% fine superwash merino/15% cashmere) by Alisha Goes Around in the Genevieve colorway.  This yarn is absolutely divine as is the pattern. I am using my 2.5 mm Addi Lace Turbo needles and though the leg fits fine, the foot feels a little big.  I should have used a smaller needle for the sole, but that really breaks up the knitting for me. 

I inadvertently did not check the updated version of the pattern and ended up unknitting 30 rounds so I could decrease 4 more sts after the heel (I should have checked on the number of sts for the toe before I reached the toe) which did improve the fit.  The toe is a bit square even after I moved one stitch from each edge over the corner stitches and I grafted the toe in the ribbing pattern.  It does look much nicer on and it is a lot of fun to knit.  We have already received our April yarn and patterns which is inspiring me to complete this lovely pair.

Cookie kindly includes two of her wonderful patterns to choose from, one more simple and the other more challenging.  Of course, I go for the more challenging patterns.  One modification I did make was to do an eye of partridge stitch heel instead of the ribbed heel as I prefer the look of the eye of partridge stitch.

Punk Rock Socks Completed

Here are my latest socks in Knit Picks Stroll Handpainted yarn in the Punky colorway.  I have found the Norwegian purl to tighten up my ribbing quite a bit so for these socks I used a 2.25 mm Addi Turbo 40" circular needle for all but the heels and toes where I went down to size 2.00 mm.  The slightly larger needle works well for 72 sts (my prefered sock stitch count) and the short row heel which is a bit smaller than a flap heel.

I knitted k2, p2 rib for 72 rounds followed by 20 rounds of stockinette, a short row heel down to 12 sts, and then 80 rounds to a traditional toe.  I have been finding holes in the toes of some of my handknit socks and hopefully, I will not have that problem with this pair of socks. 

Cupcake Fiber Company Handspun Yarn

This is a 6 ounce skein of 3-ply sock yarn spun from Cupcake Fiber Company's Superwash Merino/Nylon batts in the Parasol colorway.  This fiber was absolutely delightful to spin.  The batts are divided into six 1 ounce "cupcakes".  I spun two ounces at a ratio of 1:17 on three bobbins on my Walnut Lendrum spinning wheel.  I used the plying head at the fastest 1:9 ratio and treadled a lot to add enough plying twist.  It turned out after I washed the skein that there were some underplied sections.  I put the skein back on the swift and added more plying twist.  I washed the skein and I was much happier with the resulting yarn.

The color deepened beautifully with spinning as the batts were lighter shade of lilac.  This 3-ply yarn is 16 to 20 wpi and will make a fantastic pair of socks.  I have Cookie A's Nebula pattern in mind for this sock yarn project.   

Handspun Socks Completed

These socks are knit with the 4-ply yarn I spun from 4 oz of Fat Cat Knits Merino Superwash Top in the Just Dance colorway that I bought at last year's MSWF.  I tried to keep the colors together, very challenging when making a 4-ply yarn.  I ended up with just over 270 yds of yarn and made my friend, Denise, these socks for her upcoming birthday. 

I spun the singles and plied the yarn very tightly so these socks are not very soft.  Hopefully, they will last better than my other handspun socks that ended up with a hole in the toe.  I used my 2.25 mm Addi Turbo needles for all but the heels and toes where I used my 2.00 mm Addi Turbo needles.  I knitted these socks toe-up and increased every row to 32 sts and then every other row to 60 sts after casting on 16 sts with the Turkish cast-on.  Now we just need some cooler weather for Denise to wear her new socks.

Orchid Thief Socks Completed

Here are my completed Dragonfly socks in the Orchid Thief colorway.  For the sock on the left, I used my Chia Goo size 0 circular needles.  They are very nice and do not bend like my size 0 Addi Turbo circular needles.  The first sock was coming out a bit small, so I made a German-style flap heel with the eye-of-partridge stitch and garter stitch edges and it fits my right foot nicely.  For my larger left foot, I used my 2.25 mm purpleheart Darn Pretty Needle dpns.  These socks fit well, but they do bag a little where the ribbing goes into the heel flap.  In the future, I would consider working some plain stockinette (5 - 10 rounds) before starting the heel.  I enjoyed knitting with the Dragonfly sock yarn, it has a nice spring to it.

Wollmeise Schwammerl Socks Completed

Here is Al modeling his new Wollmeise Twin (80% wool/20 % nylon) socks in the Schwammerl (mushroom) colorway.  I used my 2.5 mm (size 1) Addi Turbo 40" circular needles and 72 sts for all but the short-row heels and toes where I used my 2.00 mm (size 0) Addi Turbo 40" circular needles.  The yarn colors puddled a lot, but Al doesn't mind as he likes the camouflage colors.  I have had issues with my 100% merino Wollmeise socks getting holes in the heels and toes and I am hopeful these Wollmeise Twin socks will last longer. 

Stepping Stone Socks Completed

Here are the Stepping Stone socks I knitted for my nephew, Joshua, who turns 7 years old on Sunday.  The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Sport in the Hollyberry colorway, leftover from his mother's Twinflower and the same yarn (but different dye lot) from his Spiderman mittens and hat.  I thought I was using my 2.75 mm Darn Pretty dpns, but it turns out that they were size 2.50 mm dpns.   For the heels and toes, I used 2.25 mm dpns.  I always find myself inspired to knit Joshua something for his winter birthday as he really appreciates my knitting, even at his young age. 

Joshua's Cauchy Socks

Here are the Cauchy socks I knitted for my nephew, Joshua.  I had about 2 ounces of this Fortissima cotton/nylon sock yarn leftover from his Red Rover socks.  After knitting these socks, I had less than a foot of yarn leftover.  I am so glad I had enough yarn to complete these Cauchy socks for him.  I used my 2.25 mm Chiao Goo 40" circular needles and my 2.00 mm Addi Bamboo dpns for the eye of partridge heels and the toes.  They are a little big for him, but he will certainly grow into them.

The pattern wallet on the left was designed and created by Laura M.  I photographed the back of it to show the clever pockets for needles and scissors and the handy zippered section to hold stitch markers and Chibi needles.  The other side holds and entire 8.5" x  11" page very nicely.  I have the Cauchy chart there.  She also attached an elastic band to hold it all together.  Thank you to Laura for this truly wonderful gift! 

Striped Socks Completed

Here are my completed Knitting Fever Indulgence socks.  The yarn is 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon and has aloe added for extra softness.  The short bursts of color made my typical 72 stitch sock especially fun to knit.  I used my size 2.00 mm Blackthorn dpns and found them to be a bit pointy for this yarn.  The needles are very strong and do not bend and I ended up with slightly bigger socks than I get with my other dpns. 

This yarn is very springy and the nylon creates a durable yarn.  A short-row heel is easier for me to replace as I can then do an after-thought heel.  I have found adding more plying twist to some sock yarns keeps the new heel from wearing out again. 

Slytherin Socks Completed

These socks are for Al.  The yarn is a 2-ply superwash wool sock yarn dyed in the Slytherin colorway.  I used 72 sts and 2.5 mm Addi Turbo circulars for socks with size 2.00 mm Addi Turbo circulars for the heels and toes.  Al finds wool socks to be too warm, however, I am optimistic that he will find this 2-ply yarn to be a bit cooler.  I have even tried knitting cotton socks for him and they would not stay up. 

This pair of socks started out to be for Lawrence for his birthday this summer.  I was uncertain of his shoe size and had Al try the first one on and it fit very nicely.  I then started a silk/wool scarf for Lawrence.  I did not want to call him up the few weeks before his birthday and as him his shoe size, where's the surprise in that?  Now Lawrence has another handknit scarf and Al has a pair of wool socks.