I think it’s clear that I just need to find more knitting time in my week. I had so much fun getting lots of socks done on vacation (and of course shopping, eating, watching movies, hanging out, etc. Hmmm – maybe I just need to be on vacation all the time?) As promised, here are photos of the completed pairs. These first four are ones that had a sock done and needed the mate. (Except these Duets. With this one, I had just 1/2 of 1 sock done and frogged it back to change the pattern anyway. So that counts for 1 1/2 socks knitted up for that pair, right?) So the Duets – I decided to add the solid color on the top as well as on the heel and toe. What do you think? I kept the instep just plain knitting so that I could see the rows of color. The pattern on the top is basically P2, K5 for 3 rows, and then stick a row of P2, k2tog, yo, k, yo, ssk in there. Very quick and easy. It really is fun to knit with contrasting toes and heels. We have an order of Skinny Duets (her fingering weight) coming in the near future.
The All Things Heather you might remember as my official Frank socks. I think it’s not good that I only finished one for the first challenge, for pete’s sake! But now they’re done and they’re eye-poppin’ bright, aren’t they? This yarn is so soft and comfortable to wear. (Because yes I did need to wear socks out in Colorado in the evenings. I’ll tell you, what is there not to like about that state? Sock wearing, year-round.) The pattern is Penllyn from Wildhorse Farm and I liked it a lot. I may not knit another pair of orange/pink socks (does one need more than one pair like this?) but I’m glad to have them. And really glad to have them done. (Heather is sending more sock yarn to us very soon.) Are you liking the Frank and/or Martha socks that you knit for the Q1 Challenge? And did it encourage you to knit more of the “other” types of colors in the future? I find myself being a bit more bold in my color selections. (Q3 info in Friday’s blog. Time for a new Challenge!)
This pair of socks is out of Crystal Palace’s Panda Cotton in the Jeans colorway. It’s a wonderful yarn – no wool. Just 55% Bamboo, 24% cotton, 21% elastic nylon. It’s so soft on your feet and this one, of all my twinless socks, is one that I really wanted to finish up soon because I knew I’d wear them a lot. That’s how much I like wearing this yarn on my feet. Now I get to pick another Panda Cotton colorway to work on. This yarn IS a bit splitty, but I found that that went away as I got more into the ball. The pattern is another Wildhorse Farm pattern – Savannah Socks. I have made this pattern before and it’s one of my standard favorites. I keep thinking I might do a pair of Panda Cotton socks and pick coordinating yarn for the toes and heels. (Like Strawberry Lime for the socks, and Lime for the heels and toes. Or Fruit Salad with Lacquer Red. Or Mardi Gras with Royal Purple. Or …. well … you get the idea.)
Next, the socks I knit up out of Fiesta Boomerang. Wow – this was great to knit up. It’s a heavier weight. I knit this on 2’s with 48 stitches and each sock literally took just a few hours. (So, really, it’s almost not fair to count them because they went up so fast. But I’m counting them anyway, because a pair of socks is a pair of socks, after all.) The thing that I love about Fiesta – besides how fast it knits up – is their colorways. They have some of the prettiest color combinations around. We have the other half of our first Fiesta order going up in the Sneak Up next week, and you will see more of what I mean. I also really like the “squishiness” of the yarn. It makes it a very comfortable sock to wear. The pattern is one that Loopy friend Josiane from Switzerland sent me and she said I could share it. You can also see how she used it just on the top of the cuff on her Sknitches Breathmint sock in our photo gallery. As soon as I saw that photo go up, I emailed her to ask what the pattern was. It’s: 3 rows of K3, P3, and then one row of: yo, sl1-k2tog-psso, yo, p3. That’s it. Easy but so pretty, don’t you think?
Last, the yarn that cured me of my twinless sock habit. I knit one sock and then immediately cast on and knit the match. I’m so excited to have this Wollmeise in-house and I can’t wait to get it up next week for you to get your hands on. The colors are so deeply saturated and wonderful. (I was so amazed that this didn’t bleed when I washed it. Because of the intensity, I was sure there might be bleeding.) I used another one of my favorite sock patterns – Parting Ways by Heartstrings. There are over 500 yds. in each skein, so you could make kneesocks for someone with very very long feet! I had a lot of yarn left over and I wear a size 11. Or – how fun would it be to make matching socks for a little one? For sure I’m going to make a sock blocker keychain with it. We’ll be getting more Wollmeise in August again because I know it will sell out quickly, despite the large order that I have sitting here. So don’t panic if you miss it the first time – we’ll keep getting it as often as we can!
Now I just wish it was winter and I could be wearing all of these. Somehow, 90+ degree weather and sock-wearing don’t mesh. sigh. Still wondering why we live in St. Louis.
Sheri anyonehaveanytipsonfindingmoreknittingtimeinyourweek?