Tag: socks

Miles of Yarn
My Knitting Life

Miles of Yarn

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I had a wind-a-thon today with yarn that has been staring me in the face for a while. School has been overwhelming yet fulfilling: great kids and lots of work. (I’m convinced that politicians have no idea what they ask teachers to do every day, but that is a topic for someone else’s blog!)

I wound over 1.6 miles of yarn. That sounds ridiculous, but I will knit this yarn in the remainder of winter and spring! (If you go to the bottom of your Ravelry projects, you can see how many miles of yarn you’ve knit—hilarious!)

My little wall of choices! These skeins are always staring at me!

Here’s what I wound:
Magpie Fibers Nest, a 100% Corriedale Sport weight in a dusky lavender (from handworkslc.com )
Miss Babs Estrellita Sparkled Sock yarn, part of the SSYC Joyful Jubilee Knit Kit, purchased at Simply Socks Yarn Company.
Several mini-skeins to use for cuffs, heels, and toes, including the colorway “Jupiter.” All 3 of these mini-skeins are from Emma’s Yarn Practically Perfect Sock Smalls.

NEST Corriedale
Estrellita
Emma’s Yarn Minis

Next I wound some Lichen and Lace Sock (no link, but check out the shop on Etsy) along with some Mirasol Hachito.

Lichen and Lace Sock
Mirasol Hachito

Finally, I wound some BackCountry Knitter Sock Yarn called Magpie (local dyer, not currently in production), Greenwood Fiberworks Gold Dust Yarn in Natural, along with a skein of Malabrigo’s Mecha Thereza.

Backcountry
Greenwood
Malabrigo

Final photo is all the wound balls, ready to grab and become a new project! Much of what I purchased is from small, local yarn shops or local dyers. They are my go-to choice for spending money. I appreciate their hustle and dedication to fiber arts!

Socks? Hats?
My Knitting Life

Knitting lately:

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The top row of pictures are projects (all hats!) that I knit from my stash. My stash is dwindling!

Barley hat knit from Baah Yarn LaJolla “Singin’ the Blues”
Barley hat from Mrs. Crosby’s Satchel “Northern Parula” and Biches & Buches Le Petit Silk Mohair “Beige“
A hat pattern I’m currently working on, knit in Brooklyn Tweed’s Shelter “Sweatshirt”
My happy accident hat that was the prototype of the hat above knit in Malabrigo Rios “Camaleón“
A Valentine’s sock set from Freckled Whimsy Serendipity “Charming”
I squeaked a 2nd pair of socks out of a sock set by adding more pink for the heel and toe after using the remaining mini-skein on the cuff

The bottom row projects are all items I’ve finished from recent yarn purchases. With a dwindling stash and a few projects on long-term hold, maybe I should do some more yarn shopping?!

Helical Knitted Socks
My Knitting Life

Helical Knitted Socks

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I have partial yarn skeins, like, many partial yarn skeins (truth be told, a small tub of sock yarn). Do you have this problem too? I think about donating those partial skeins, selling them on eBay, or knitting another scrappy blanket (see this post: End of an Era), but I just keep telling myself that I can find something to do with them. Here’s one option I’ve come up with: Helical Socks.

Kind of a mess but gonna be a sweet pair of shortie socks!

Here’s what I started with: 25 grams of red Cascade Heritage Sock yarn, and 17 grams of Beach Bunny Yarns World Traveler (leftover from this project: Vacation Knitting). I am using the red for the cuff and heel (and maybe the toe if there is enough?)

Sock #2

I started sock #1 and knit through mid-instep. Then I decided to start sock #2 by knitting from the other end of the balls because I’m not sure I’ve got quite enough for two entire socks. (Don’t worry…I have other yarn that can finish the toes of these socks!) It’s kind of messy knitting from two ends of two balls so I can’t take it to meetings or knit in the car, etc. As I take knitting breaks, I carefully lay it out so I can pick it back up again without many tangles.

See where the white yarn starts just below the heel? That’s where I started the “Helical” knitting.

Not sure what Helical knitting is? Need a tutorial? Click here: Helical Knitting Video and thank Jen of Arnall-Culliford Knitwear for her great Year of Techniques Tutorial!

Free Knitting Patterns · Free Sock Patterns · My Knitting Life

48 Stitch Sock Pattern

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Sport Weight Socks

Two posts ago, I wrote about my brother requesting five pairs of socks this year. I made fun of him a little, because, seriously, he doesn’t know the time and effort put into just one pair of socks, let alone multiple pairs! I knitted one pair of fingering weight socks for him (thumbnail photo below) and delivered them to him after a day spent on planes. Oh, we also raided our snowbird dad’s sock drawer (with permission!) because Dad spends winters in Florida–brother gained about 6 pairs of handknit socks in this fashion.

Then, THEN, my brother told me a few important details about the socks that he wants. He said he only wears the socks to bed, making me think I could get away with knitting sport weight socks for him since he won’t have to worry about fitting thicker socks and his feet into his shoes. He also said he doesn’t need the legs of the socks to be as long. Bingo! Now I can knit a few more pairs for him at a larger gauge and almost fulfill his wish of 5 new pairs this year.

48 Stitch Sock Pattern

48 Stitch Sock PatternDownload
Let the yarn do the design work!

BONUS PAIR! I had two skeins—slightly different colorways—of this sport weight yarn, realized if I combined the leftovers, I would have enough for another pair of socks. Yes, I did! I used a helical knitting technique with the socks below. Maybe one day I’ll write up a pattern for a helical sock.

My Knitting Life

Vacation Knitting

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We flew the coop for Spring Break in a desperate attempt to feel more normal. We boarded a plane and went to visit kid #1 and hubby (and 2 doggies)…for once I only packed two knitting projects, a shawl and a pair of socks.

Souvenir Shawl knit with World Traveler by Beach Bunny Yarns

This shawl was a great traveling companion, easy and fast, especially on a size 6 (US) needle. It’s a great reminder of our family trip to Florida last summer! I dropped the kids off at the jet ski place (don’t worry, they’re adults LOL) and drove about 7 minutes to an awesome LYS in Ormond Beach, Florida, called She Sells Yarn. I’m always pleasantly surprised to find yarn shops in warm places. It was an hour well-spent—“spent” being the operative word!

The other project I brought was sock knitting for my brother. The last time I spoke with him on the phone he offhandedly said, “Hey, I need 5 more pairs of socks.” Ah, the uninformed comments and requests of non-knitters. I told him he could expect exactly two pairs this year, nothing fancy, no cables, twisted stitches, etc. So he’s getting (with love) plain pairs of socks.

No Frills Dude Sock
Cascade Heritage Sock Yarn and a 68 stitch leg, very similar to my Free on Ravelry 72-Stitch Sock Pattern

This is always my go-to sock yarn, lots of colors and long-wearing.

Knitting Patterns For Sale · My Knitting Life · My Sock Philosophy

Pattern Reknit

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I had a three balls of Fixation left and I knitted 3 more pairs of Goodbye Summer Socks. Of course I sent two away before I took photos…one for daughter’s birthday, another for coworker who was recovering from medical treatment. Here’s the one that I did take pictures of:

Have you tried it yet? Got a spare ball of Fixation or DK yarn hanging around? Go over and get the pattern on Ravelry. It’s only $1.00!

My Knitting Life · Non-Knitting Projects

Making in the Quiet Days

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I’ve been knitting through these quiet days, but I haven’t finished as many things as I thought I might. Yes, there has been knitting in the evenings, but also sewing, stitching, and general peaceful projects to try my hand at.

First, I’ll mention that I bought an embroidered wool skirt at a second hand store (4 years ago?!), not because I wanted the skirt, but because I wanted to turn it into something else. I finally settled on turning the skirt into a bucket bag. Wow! That’s a change, huh? Check out the pictures:

From $7.99 skirt…

To bucket bag!

OK, so I cheated and bought some leather handles from Amazon ($15) even though it took a week for Amazon to ship because everyone was obsessing about toilet paper in March.

I knitted some socks too. Two pairs. From 100 grams of the main yarn. To squeak out two pairs, I used some contrasting yarn for the cuff, heels, and toes for the larger pair. I just made a stockinette stitch leg and used the Arne and Carlos afterthought heel to show off the yarn and to just get this yarn out of my stash! Someone at church passed this yarn on to me. Thanks!

The pair on left is top down and 64 stitches; the pair on the right is toe up and 68 stitches.

I hope you have found some peaceful quiet times during this pandemic to relax and work with your hands!

Free Knitting Patterns · Free Sock Patterns · My Knitting Life

Chilly November Legwarmers

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So. Cold. Here.

The last part of October gave us temperatures in the teens and twenties! Time to pick up the knitting game a little bit more to stay warm. I came up with these leg-warmers with cables and ribbing, both of which help to keep the leg-warmers in place. They’re a fast knit because there is very little shaping. AND if you know how to cable without a cable needle, you’ll get warm legs even more quickly! Enjoy this free pattern, but remember to abide by the rules of copyright.

chilly november legwarmers

My Knitting Life

Two things…new things

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I want red socks. That’s one thing. Every time I go to my handknit sock basket, I notice that I don’t have any red socks. And I need some. Desperately.

Another thing: I wanted to try the FlexiFlips double pointed, needles so I ordered some.

I started knitting on the size 3.00mm (US Size 2) using Heritage Sock yarn (a personal favorite for plain colored socks), but that yarn was too thin on this size needle, and the fabric was fairly floppy (alliteration intended). Then I remembered that Patons Kroy seems to be a thicker yarn, slightly heavier than fingering, but maybe not quite a sportweight. So, yeah, I ordered some of that too. It’s really working well with these needles!

Therefore, this February, in addition to banging out a sweater (maybe more on that next week), I am knitting red socks (Thing 1) on my new FlexiFlips needles (Thing 2).

The pattern I’m using is Octoberfest Socken by Susan Dittrich. Check it out on Ravelry…for free!

Free Knitting Patterns · Free Sock Patterns

Diamond Array Socks

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About 15 years ago, I came to the happy realization that I was equally comfortable with purling as with knitting. I’m not sure why it took so long. But I remember as a child I would always finish with a purl row if knitting stockinette stitch, so that the next time I picked up the project, I would do so willingly because I would be on a knit row. Every project was subject to this rule. Hated purling. Doesn’t everyone, at first?

Brick Pic

But lately I’ve begun to realize how beautiful the knit stitch looks as it travels along in a field of purl stitches. Texture. One of the features that makes this craft of “knitting” so beautiful. Perhaps I should call myself a “purler” instead of a “knitter”!

So, here’s my latest free pattern offering, Diamond Array Sock Pattern, with a cute but true little story at the beginning.