June 23, 2011

Eunice in Eriu

Pattern: Eunice from Cookie A's Sock Innovation
Yarn: Gaia's Colours Pales sock yarn in colorway "Eriu"

Finished at my LYS's stitch night last night!

June 6, 2011

FO: BMW socks








This is a project that was a long time in the making. Soon after I got hired at my fish job, my new boss, a BMW fan, asked for socks with a BMW logo on them. No problem, I said, I like a challenge.

Well, that was a year ago. I had a hard time getting going with this because for all of last summer, I had no interest in knitting socks. I finally got my sock mojo back late in the fall but these socks still didn't interest me.

Then I got busy with knitting all the Cookie A socks. I was back to being happy about knitting socks. I mentioned to a friend how I was having a hard time conceiving of the logo in a knit pattern. She whipped it up for me on her computer and suddenly my project seemed easier.

I discovered, in this process, that I *hate* intarsia. The yarns I used had different gauges and I had to have two strands of the blue yarn, hanging on bobbins, as well as the white and black carried along in the back. I decided to knit the logo sections in flaps, do a K2P2 flap in the back, and then seam the flaps together.

The end result was pretty satisfactory. It's not my best work, but I had gotten to the point where I was just so sick of the thing that I just wanted it done.

I finished them this morning and now I have one less burden on my mind. Now I have four Cookie A socks to finish (the first half of each pair is in my LYS on display), with the irony that I am soon moving from frigid Ucluelet to balmy North Carolina, and will have little need for socks for much of the year.

May 31, 2011

Noro BFF

I set myself the task of knitting a whole bunch of Cookie A socks before she came to Tofino for the Knits by the Sea retreat in April. I was able to complete four socks and was halfway through the first of this pair by the time the retreat arrived. The other four socks (singles at this point) are on display at the yarn shop. This is the pattern BFF from the Knit.Sock.Love. book. This pair took exactly one ball of Noro sock yarn, which surprised and pleased me.

I was surprised by this because there are only 300 and something yards of yarn on the ball. But I knit using 2.25mm needles, and having found that Cookie's socks knit up on the large size, I knit the Extra Small size of the sock. I have a size nine wide foot, and these are *still* a bit big on me, but they will make great boot socks.

I have to admit defeat here, I know know there is no way I will get twelve pairs of socks done for July. But I might get a few more pairs finished in the next month, which might bring my total to five or six...

April 30, 2011

last post blowout!

This will be my last post here on 12 socks, since I have finished with the 12 pair. So I figured I go out with a bang!
Here are the latest socks off my needles these last few weeks. (I guess that takes me a bit over the required 12 pair, but there is no such things as too many handknitted socks.... EVER)
For my DS and me I made some "leftover socks". I had a wee bit leftover of various sock yarns and made them into striped socks for him and me...




Then I made a pair of socks for my DH. I made him a pair like this 6 years ago and he loved them. Sadly the washer ate one sock and so he requested a new ones. Nothing would make me happier! So here they are. I charted the skull myself. My DD wants a some just like it (only the skull has to be pink) and those are the ones I'm knitting on now...

I also made a pair for a friend of ours. DH said her fave colour is blue (turns out it is red-orange...) She still liked the socks though.
I love the way they came out and HAVE to make myself some like these...
what do you all think?




 Here are two more socks in brown, for the same person that got the blue pair.. out of the softest yarn ever: baby alpaca!
 All these socks have been knitted without a pattern.

This takes (more then) care of June and July and hence completes the circle.So I will be making room here for the next generation of 12 sock-ers. Can't wait to see what they are up to.
If you like you can keep up with me on my own blog though... Rambling Designs. Hope to see you there!
All that's left to say is: 

Sock on my peeps!

March 10, 2011

Monkey socks for ME!!!!


I've finished another pair of socks call them February socks!!! They are Cookie A's Monkey socks and another of the free patterns on Ravelry!!

I have knitted them up in Jelliebean Yarns A Perfect Shade of Autumn (one of my splodge the colour anywhere dyeing days which I'm really pleased with the results!!!)

Now onto March and Beyond!!!

March 9, 2011

Another one done!

*sings*
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
May socks? Check!

Here they are :)
LOVE the pattern stitch! I found it in Big book of knitting stitch patterns on p. 44. it's called clasped rolls. HAVE to use it for socks for me now!
Stats:
Needles size US4 (3.5 mm)
Yarn: vintage 100% wool in piggy-pink! Weeee weeeee! :D
Pattern: none.
Nitty gritty: toe up, short row heel. Super fun to knit!

February 26, 2011

April Socks

Ok here they are! A pair for my sweet son! :)
Super simple super fast, on size US7 needles. And since they were that fast and easy I have decided to only count them as half a sock. The other half of the April socks will be made up of some "Stutzn" as we call them in Bavaria! I made those for my husband beginning of February. They are very traditional half-socks worn in Bavaria.
Pics
First my son's socks:
Then the ones for my hubby:
There you have it! Off to make more socks!

February 16, 2011

My 12 socks so far

Hey all I signed up AGES ago, but have finally gotten round to posting about all the socks I have made since starting the project!!!




















Ian's Socks! (Jelliebean Yarns - Tardiss and Marine Life Yarns)




















Chris's Socks in Marine life Jelliebean Yarns





















Frank's Socks in Autumn woodland Jelliebean Yarns





















Dad's Socks made from yummy Wendy Happy yarn!!



















My Fab welly boot socks!! In the Scrumptious Fyberspates yarn!!




















Mum's fab Welly boot socks in the lovely Natural Dye studion DK Dazzle





















Granny's Socks in Jelliebean Yarns Peach Melba!!

Phew!!!!

so I'm caught up.....

7 pairs of socks!!!!

Which is probably about right for when I signed up!!!

I've just been too busy knitting the socks to blog them!!! That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!!

I'm now working on the Monkey socks (free rav download) in Jelliebean Yarns A Perfect Shade of Autumn!

Ooo and Jelliebean yarns is half me and half Jen and available here!

February 15, 2011

March

Now they are done. My sweety is super happy and I am on to the next pair!
YAYYY!



Stats:
Yarn: Kiwi , from Nicole's store
Needles: US size1
Pattern: plain vanilla
Nitty gritty: Toe up, short row heel.

August socks? February socks?

I don't know what to call them. Since I started the #12socks project back in July, I have only completed one pair of socks (yet started five pairs). I was totally uninterested in knitting socks throughout the fall, in favor of other things that appealed to me. Well, as of Saturday, I finished three large-ish knitting projects in one fell swoop, freeing up much knitting time to get back into socks. I *must* get back into socks because

1) I want more socks!
2) Cookie A is coming to lead a sock retreat in Tofino in April
3) I'm way behind on this 12 Socks challenge
4) I have lots of sock yarn I want to bust through
5) I received Sock Innovation for Christmas, rounding out my Cookie A pattern book collection (2). 

My plan of attack is to knit seven single socks in advance of the retreat, which is now less than seven weeks away. Seven different Cookie A socks, seven different yarns. I'll offer up all these socks for display at the yarn shop so people can see what Cookie A designs are like and what the yarn looks like knit up! I'll knit their partners after the retreat and have seven new pairs of socks in the house just in time for summer flip-flop wearing weather. I'm rambling... on to the main feature.

This is a pair of toe-up plain vanilla socks out of Austermann Step. It has aloe and jojoba in the yarn for extra added softness. My husband has narrow heels, so the short row heel was the perfect thing. The socks I have knit for him in the past have been on the roomy side, so I'm getting closer to getting it right (I only started doing socks a year ago).


The self-striping of this yarn lined itself up just right, they are symmetrically balanced!

January 26, 2011

Since I'm at it, or: February socks

Since I had time I thought why  not go ahead and get done with February's socks as well... I only bought one skein of this yarn, so short socks it was.

The end.. I'm done.. the next pair of socks going on my neeldes will be for DH.
This pair got done late last night. Woot woot.

Here are some pictures of my pair:


 The above is DD fave picture! LOL

Stats:
Yarn: Serenity by Debrorah Norville from Premier yarns in the Aquamarine colourway. This yarn is Super Soft!! I love it!
Needles: Size US2
Pattern: I found the chevron pattern in "Super Stitches Knitting" By Karen Hemingway, p.212/213
Nitty gritty: Toe up, short row heel, jadda jadda...

January 23, 2011

January socks

The first sock of this pair was at the heel when I last worked on it. Then I put it away until late today. I finally said I really should finish these January socks.
Said it, popped on my headphones and an audio-book and started working. I would have been glad just to finish the first sock today.... I knitted away.
Once the first sock was done however, the book was far from finished and I was really enjoying it so far (not so much the voice reading it and the inflections it gave the characters, but the story was quite neat).
I thought: let me just cast on the second and finish the toe today.
The toe was done in no time.... well I figured, the further I can get to day the less I have to knit tomorrow... let me get to the heel... by the time I realized it, the heel was turned and I was on to knit the shaft. Before I knew it I was binding off!
I think this was my personal best. For socks in a womans' size 7/7.5 .
These socks are for my daughter. She picked short ones, since she prefers them for around the house. Of course that helped tremendously to get them done quickly! LOL
Well, here they are now: January socks done and over with...
Stats:
Pattern: obviously just straight up k2p2...not much to it...
Yarn: Red Heats Heart and sole in mellow stripe (it has aloe in it and my fingers are a bit itchy now, since I am a little allergic to aloe, but  not terribly)
Needles: US size 2
Well, six down, six more to go!