Sockapalooza!

There's nothing quite like a nice pair of hand knit socks.  They just feel so much better on the feet than their commercially manufactured counterparts.  They're also great knitting projects for so many reasons:

• They don't use much yarn, so you can splurge on something nice if your budget allows
• It's a small project that's easy to carry around with you
• Since it's a small project, it doesn't take months to complete
• Ever try to work on a cardigan or a blanket in the middle of summer?
• They're socks!

Here are a few that I've made lately, with the most recent project first.

These are from a Doctor Who-themed pattern called Bowties Are Cool and were designed by Mandie Harrington.

Bowties Are Cool.  So are fezzes

I had originally hand dyed some yarn for these, but the tonal changes got in the way of the teensy bow tie pattern so I opted for a couple of skeins of Premier Yarns Serenity Sock (on sale, natch).  The stitch repeat was easy to memorize, and was simple without being tedious.  I didn't do as many repeats as called for in the pattern and they're still a bit longer than I like, but they're really comfy and bow ties are cool! 


The next pair was made with some hand dyed yarn, which I wrote about here.  I made them for Pat, who dyed the yarn and promptly handed it off to me.  The pattern is Eunice, from Sock Innovation by Cookie A.  It was a challenging (in a good way) pattern, including a 7 stitch cable that had stitches going every which way, but I think the result is gorgeous.  I might just have to make a pair of these for myself at some point.

Eunice Socks for Pat

These were made for my mom.  She picked out the Malabrigo sock yarn in Rayon Vert.  I adore working with this yarn!  The pattern is another Ravelry download.  The designer is Kristi Geraci, and the pattern is called Belle Vitini.

Mom's Belle Vitini Socks

Finally, here is another pair of socks with a Doctor Who theme.  These are mine all mine.  Yay!

Don't Blink!

Raveler Maire Martin designed these Weeping Angel socks.  I made a couple of modifications, starting with a twisted rib for the cuff.  I also extended the feather pattern down the foot to the point where the toe decreases begin.  I really like how the toes echo the heel motif, which you can kind of see here: 

This pattern had an interesting heel construction, employing a series of increases rather than knitting a heel flap and then picking up stitches for the gusset.

I'm really pleased with this pair.  They're soft and comfortable, the color works with lots of my wardrobe, and the lace pattern is lovely. 

Best part?  They're DOCTOR WHO themed!

My preferred method for knitting socks is two at a time on two circulars (saves me from the dreaded second sock syndrome).  It seems I usually select top down patterns, although that's not a conscious decision. 

How do you like to knit your socks?

WIPs and FOs

As I'm trying to discipline myself to post more regularly, here are a few recent projects.

I picked up this gorgeous Malabrigo Sock yarn from the Twist: Yarns of Intrigue booth at the Southern California Handweavers' Guild Weaving and Fiber Festival a couple of years ago.

The colorway is Persia, and it's a soft, squooshy variegated yarn with colors that range from sidewalk grey, through several shades of blue, to black.

I finally used it to make a pair of gloves - and I have enough yarn left over to make something else!  The pattern is Julia Mueller's Knotty, which is available free on Ravelry. 

I made a second pair of gloves for my cousin:

These are made with Sensations Bamboo & Ewe, a wool, nylon, bamboo blend from Jo-Ann.

After gradient dyeing some Lion Brand Sock-Ease with food coloring,

I made a Glam Shells shawl.

This is actually my second Glam Shells.  The designer is Marisa Hernandez, and the pattern is also available as a Ravelry download.  I love this pattern.  It's mostly mindless knitting - perfect for TV or movie watching - but when it's blocked it becomes a light, lacy wrap perfect for a summer evening.

Dyeing for Some Color

It's been such a long time since I last posted, but I'm jumping back in.  Here's a bit of what I've been up to lately:

Gradient Dyed

Immersed in jars set in a water bath

Hand Painted

Most of the yarn dyeing I've done has been with food coloring, although the green and blue skeins in the third photo were dyed with Lanasets.

This next one was also done with Lanasets.  We mixed up a few bits of left over dye solutions at the end of the day and dunked in a couple of hanks of yarn.  I can't really capture the subtle tonal changes in this yarn with my crappy camera and poor photography skills, but the hues range from shades of slate blue to violet to black.  The yarn is a 50% merino, 25% bamboo, 25% nylon blend and it has a nice sheen.

I made a pair of Eunice socks, from Cookie A's Sock Innovation, with this yarn.  The book has some wonderful and challenging patterns from a very talented designer.  Unfortunately, the publisher really dropped the ball on the technical editing.  If you pick up the book (which I recommend because I love Cookie A's designs) be sure to download the errata from Interweave. 

This next yarn was dyed with Wilton's Icing Color.  It's the same base as the previous photo.

I enjoy dyeing yarn more than just about any other crafty project I've ever attempted.  It's kind of like alchemy - mad science meets sorcery.  It's so satisfying to have an idea in mind and seeing that idea become a reality, and also something magical about coming up with something completely unexpected.

Last Weekend's Dyeing Project

I had a skein of Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool that I divided into three smaller hanks so I could play with some icing color.

I intended to do a gradient dye with this one, but my blue broke on one end, giving me a spot of pink/purple (damn you, Red #3).  When my husband saw the skein, he said, "It would look cool if you could get some more of those purple bits on it."  So, I twisted the skein to preserve some of the lighter areas of blue and immersed the skein in a new dye bath. 

The next two skeins I did in the crock pot and poured color on.  I think I may run the last one through another dye bath to deepen the color a bit.

HGA Convergence

Yesterday was the last day of the Handweavers Guild of America Convergence at the Long Beach Convention Center and we made it there in time for the last two hours of the conference.  There were some interesting garments on view in the exhibition hall, but no photography was allowed in there so I have none to share.

We did have plenty of time to stroll through the marketplace, where there were all sorts of fiber related items available, from looms and spinning wheels to roving and yarn.  Apologies for the blurry photo, but I had to include a shot of these beautiful colorways:

Hello, Malabrigo!

I even got a couple of gorgeous skeins of Malabrigo Rios.  The colorway is Piedras.  Thanks to my lovely mom for the second skein.  I absolutely love Malabrigo yarns.  Their colors are so rich and have such depth.  This is my first batch of Rios; I look forward to working with it.

After the Convergence we headed over to Shoreline Village in search of refreshment.

Wine, beer, and appetizers at Parkers' Lighthouse -- a perfect way to end the afternoon!

What I Dyed Yesterday

I had so much fun dyeing with food colors yesterday. I used a skein of Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool, which I divided into 3 skeins of about 155 yards each, reserving the rest for mini skeins.

The first reminded me of a nebula and since I'm a "Cancer," I'm calling it Crab Nebula. I used Wilton'sWilton’s icing color in Royal Blue and Aster Mauve, Lemon-Lime Kool-Aid, and a mystery green that was a mixture of Kool-Aid and food color drops.



This one was done with Magenta Wilton’s gel and Wilton’s icing color on Royal Blue and Aster Mauve.



The third, Lily Pond, used Wilton’s Buttercup Yellow and Royal Blue, and green food color drops. I originally intended to overdye the twisted skein with a darker green but I really like the way the blue broke and gave me hints of purple and pink so I’m leaving it as is.



I'm heading out to the Handweavers Guild of America Convergence shortly so no time to dye more yarn today.

More Fun with Food Color

I took a day off work so I decided to play with yarn and food coloring.  Currently, there is a skein of yarn in my crock pot and another soaking in a bath of Eucalan before I hang it to dry.  Pictures of those later.

First, I experimented with a couple of micro skeins.  Each is only about 10-15 yards.  I used a combination of Wilton's icing colors and gels and Kool-Aid on these.  Both were painted then steamed.  The blue-green was painted with Buttercup Yellow and Royal Blue Wilton's and Lemon-Lime Kool-Aid, steamed and cooled.  Then I twisted the skein, dipped it in a jar of mystery green,  and steamed it.

I'm not too sure how I feel about the yellow-pink-purple one.  I've decided to call it Tears of a Clown because I think it looks like Circus Circus exploded.

After drying and re-skeining my color experiments I'm very happy with the blue-green, which I'm calling Mossy.  The Tears of a Clown is growing on me.

Birthday Yarn!

My mom and I celebrated (or tried to ignore) birthdays last week and on Saturday we headed to Abuelita's.  Mom got me this beautiful Madelinetosh Merino Light as a birthday gift. 

This one is Cousteau.  I absolutely adore this color way and would have gotten two of these if there'd been another skein:

This is the Moss color way.  The green is actually a more subdued olive (closer to the top photo).  Madelinetosh yarns have such beautiful colors.  I just want them all!

Fun with Kool-Aid

I decided to do a bit of Kool-Aid dyeing today.  This is some Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool.  I used Black Cherry Kool-Aid with a couple of drops of blue food coloring for the main bit and a mix of Cherry, Grape and Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade for the purple.  After nuking that for a bit I poured some pink lemonade to tone down the orange in the Black Cherry.

Here's some that I did yesterday.  The red/purple is some Paton's Kroy Sock yarn that I've had in my stash for a while.  I did a similar blend as for the Fishermen's wool, although the first dye bath didn't saturate the yarn fully so I had to re-dye it.  Unfortunately, my ties weren't secure so when I went to pick up the hank it fell apart and I had a nasty pile of yarn barf.  About an hour and a half later I had it reskeined and ready to dye again.  I'm really happy with how it came out.

This is some Stitch Nation Full o' Sheep.  I used Pina Pineapple and Lemonade for the yellow, Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade for the aqua and the green was a 2:1 mix of Lemon-Lime and Orange.  I'm torn between leaving this as is or over dyeing it to get a bit more saturation.  Think I'll live with it for a week and then decide what to do.