05.22.09
Posted in socks, yarn at 1:07 am by pauline
I’ve finished my March ‘09 BMFA Sock Club socks! I love everything about this kit. The dyer notes, the pattern, the yarn and the little knick-knacks that they usually send along to entertain us.
This time, the sock is Rogue Roses, designed by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the Yarn Harlot herself. The main design feature of this sock are the little roses that swirl around the leg and down to the toes. In my haste to get things going, I made the roses by picking up the top part of the stitch rather than poking the needle all the way through the fabric and picking up the yarn on the inside of the sock. I didn’t realize my error until I was half way through with the second sock, when I saw a You-Tube video on how it should be done. From a distance, it is hard to tell the difference but the correct roses look a little neater. I finished the rest of the sock with the roses done the way it was intended to be done… hence these socks are Rogue-”ish” Roses.
I made them in size small and gave them to my niece, also named Stephanie, for her birthday. Here she is modeling them.
These socks were fun to knit and making those roses are very addictive. The fabric is not very stretchy so be sure to measure the circumference of your foot before deciding on which size to knit. They were a little snug going on over the heel but fit perfectly once they were on.
Pattern: Rogue Roses by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee from BMFA Rockin’ Sock Club 2009
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Medium Weight – Gertrude Skein colorway
Needles: US size 1.5 2.5mm Addi Turbo Circular
Size: small
Started: March 30, 2009
Finished: May 16, 2009
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03.10.09
Posted in FO sightings, accessories, baby stuff, hats, yarn at 4:10 am by pauline
Last December I made my grandson a Turn A Square hat but every time it was placed on his head, he would rip it right off. A few days ago, for some unknown reason, he decided that it is now OK to wear a hat.
Here he is at the zoo with his hat to keep his sweet head warm!
Looking a black alligator (or is it crocodile?)
Looking for the next exhibit
Something to keep in mind: Knitting hats for a toddler can be a risky proposition. They may or may not ever be worn. But if they ever do wear them, it makes it all worthwhile! Sigh…
Pattern: Turn A Square by Jared Flood
Size: scaled down to toddler size – 15 inches in diameter and 7 inches tall.
Yarn: I didn’t have any worsted self striping yarn so I used three different colors of Knitpicks Swish Worsted – black, gray, and squirrel
Needles: US size 6 circular.
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12.19.08
Posted in FO sightings, baby stuff, socks, yarn at 3:40 pm by pauline
Now that the weather is getting a little cooler… even in sunny southern California, I made some socks for Emmett from some leftover Fiberfiend corn yarn( from which I am making a pair of Velma socks) . The pattern is a modified version of SpinalCat’s Rudy sock. The yarn is made from the corn husk, the part of the corn that usually goes to waste.
It’s so quick and fun to make toddler socks!
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm)
Cast On: 48 stiches.
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09.30.08
Posted in BobaKnit, Ravelympics2008, accessories, lace, shawls, stoles, and wraps, socks, yarn at 11:51 am by pauline
With thanks to Janice, I got my Ravelympics pin. It is larger than all my other knitting pins and quite impressive.
For wip wrestling, I finished my Anniversary Mystery Shawl. I used up almost exactly 2 skeins of Blue Moon Silkie Sock.
It’s a smallish shawl but i like it a lot. Katie modeled it for me on what must’ve been the hotest day of the year.
Started: July 12, 2008
Finished: August 18, 2008.
Needles: US size 6
My other Ravelympics project was a pair of Gumdrops socks which is one of the Blue Moon Rockin’ Sock Club patterns. I used FiberFiend Soft and Sturdy sock yarn in the Amethyst colorway. The yarn is very soft and a pleasure to work with.
Started: August 19, 2008
Finished August 25, 2008
Needles: US Size 1.5 (2.5mm ) Addi Turbo Lace Needles
Size: small
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08.30.08
Posted in socks, yarn at 11:03 am by pauline
On Elaine’s recent trip to New York, she brought me back some sock yarn! It is Silky Sock by The Great Adirondack Yarn Company. It must be the softest sock yarn I’ve ever used.
The colorway on the top is called Mango and the one on the bottom is called Blossom. They will become sister socks for us. Here’s Elaine’s Blossom sock in progress:
I should be able to get them done this weekend so that she can wear them to her Kindergarten classroom!
Pattern: Serendipity by Adrienne Fong
Needles: Addi Turbo Lace – size 1.5
Yarn: Great Adirondack Yarn Company, Silky Sock, Blossom colorway
Started: August 26, 2008
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04.03.08
Posted in socks, yarn at 10:42 am by pauline
Well, it ’s already April, but here they are, my March socks!
It’s Mingus, by Cookie. The yarn is Dream In Color Smooshy, Cocoa Kiss colorway. After I finished them, I weighed them and they came in at 60 grams. I guess it’s all the lacy goodness that runs throughout the whole thing! I have 55 grams of yarn left over, almost enough to do the whole thing over again! (not that I will)
The pattern is full of the Cookie sock genius. I was drawn to it by the meandering ridges and the lacy panels. It was a pleasure to knit.
Here they are on my new sock blockers from Blue Moon. I can’t believe I’ve gone for this long without sock blockers. I finally got around to using the “bank error” coupon from 2007.
The best part is that I get to wear them!!!!
Pattern: Mingus by Cookie A.
Needles: US size 1 Knit Picks Circular Bamboo 2.25 MM
Size: Small – cast on 64 stitches
Yarn: Dream in Color – Smooshy – Cocoa Kiss – purchased from Purlescence
Started: Feb 14, 2008
Finished: April 2, 2008
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03.14.08
Posted in accessories, scarves, shawls, stoles, and wraps, yarn at 1:40 am by pauline
Last Sunday, we switched back to Daylight Savings Time. It meant losing an hour of sleep, but it also meant an extra hour of photographic opportunities in the afternoon and evening!
I convinced Katie to come straight home from work to model my Clapotis scarf!
It’s knit from two skeins of Fiber Fiend’s brilliantly hand-dyed Superwash Merino Sock Yarn. I made it 5 “ladders” wide and 25 “ladders” long.
When the scarf was a little more than half-way done, I blocked it so that Margit can display it at her Fiber Fiend booth at Stitches West. This scarf helped me (as well as many others at Stitches, I’m sure) realize the possibilites of sock yarn beyond socks. This doesn’t mean that I won’t knit any more socks but hey, I’ve got way more sock yarn stash that I have a need for socks.
The colors looked so different once it was wound up in a ball and then knitted up into a scarf.
Here is the finished scarf before I re-blocked it to get it out of its half-blocked half-unblocked state. The left is unblocked and the right is is blocked.
It wasn’t hard to decide that I wanted to block the scarf even though Kate Gibert, the pattern’s author, prefers it unblocked. Blocking in this case really showed off the colors in the yarn.
Hmm… just a few more months of scarf weather but much more daylight to come!
Materials:
US Size 4 needles
Approximately 430 Yards of Heavy Weight Sock Yarn
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02.01.08
Posted in socks, yarn at 2:12 pm by pauline
Teenuh mentioned that January was going by too fast. But here I am in February… I managed to let January slip by without a single entry! So, I will try to be better this month.
I’ve finished up my gift knitting and I’m back to my Lenore socks.
I started the first sock back in October on size 0 needles. It hibernated as a cuff until a few weeks ago. Before I started on the heel, I tried it on and found it a little tight but I kept going, hoping the the best. After I finished the heel and gusset, I tried it on again and decided that I can’t live with socks that will be that hard to get on! So I frogged the whole thing and reknit it with my new Addi Lace size 1.5 (2.5mm) needles. The fit is perfect and I’m almost done with the leg of the second one!
The pattern is very easy to knit once you get past the lace cuff, where you have to pay attention and have good lighting. The yarn is so beautiful. My theory is that many sock knitters like dark socks but since they are so hard to photograph, you don’t see many pictures of them.
Kit from Rockin’ Sock Club October 2007
Pattern: Lenore by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Yarn: BMFA STR lightweight, Colorway: Lenore
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08.19.07
Posted in socks, yarn at 10:16 pm by pauline
My BMFA Tide Pool Monkey socks are done! They looked so beautiful this morning that couldn’t resist taking a boat load of pictures.
This is the medium weight prize yarn I received from the Blue Moon Sock Club contest. The colors are much like what you see in my pictures. Even though the BMFA medium weight yarn is somewhat heavier than the light weight yarn, the socks fit into my clogs pretty much with the same ease. It really was a pleasure to knit with this yarn.
I did slipped stitch heels instead of the stockinette ones and I used the Channel Island cast-on from Knitting Ganseys. Other than those two changes, I followed the pattern exactly and the fit is perfect.
The Monkey pattern is very easy to memorize and easy to follow. Even though it would be a good pattern for any beginning lace knitter, the resulting design looks very intricate.
Started: May 31, 2007 (In the light of the last blue moon)
Completed: August 17, 2007
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts medium weight Tide Pool colorway
Needles: Addi Turbo circular 2.5 mm
Cast on: 64 stitches
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06.25.07
Posted in socks, yarn at 9:01 pm by pauline
Since The Yarn Harlot blogged about her Monkeys today, I thought that I too can blog about mine! Of course mine aren’t anywhere near completion but I can at least in my humble way emulate and acknowlege some of my heroes.
Thank you Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin’ Sock Club for the beautiful contest prize yarn: Socks That Rock – Tide Pool colorway – medium weight. Oh my gosh, these colors actually look like they come from a tide pool.
Thank you Cookie for this great pattern, for sharing your knitterly genius, and for your patience.
Thank you Stephanie, Yarn Harlot, for your inspiration and for tireless blogging day in and day out, keeping us company wherever we are.
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