Rockin' Socks

I know I am not alone when I say that I love hand knit socks. However, I hate how long it seems to take me to knit them. While others crank them out in what seems like hours it takes me months. To add insult to injury I have small feet and like my socks tight so I am knitting smaller socks than a lot of these sock stars. But like they say good things come to those who wait.


I am calling these my Rock Candy socks because that is the name of the colorway. The pattern is the Mystery Sock KAL from Socktoberfest 2009. Yes I started these in October and didn't finish them until March. Now to be fair, I did put them aside for Christmas knitting and then I had my Circle Cloth obsession at the start of 2010 so that took up time that could have been used to knit on these. I probably could have had these finished in a month had I tried. I LOVE these socks. I have been wearing them all day and they are very comfy. The pattern was interesting but not so challenging that I couldn't knit on them during knit night or March Madness games (Go Spartans!!!).

The yarn is Sock Ease from Lion Brand and I must say that I am impressed. The yarn was really nice to work with and feels really good on my feet. This added to the fact that it only cost $10 makes me very happy. Yes I love more expensive yarns but I am 1) cheap and 2) on a very tight budget right now. I wish the color selection was better (there are a few really fugly colorways) but all in all I recommend the yarn and will use it again. Details as always are here and here. Until next time ....

It's October Again?!

I keep meaning to post but time gets away from me. I can not believe that it is October already. Before we know it we will be celebrating Christmas and ringing in 2010. Even though I haven't been writing I have been knitting.

I finished my first Summertime Sock last week. I am already ready to turn the heel of the second sock. I do find it ironic that these are almost finished just in time for 30 degree weather (in the mornings at least) but I am really trying not to think about that.

Once these are finished I plan on casting on for the 2009 Mystery Sock KAL. I think this is a great way to celebrate Socktoberfest. I will save the details for my next post. Until next time ....

Another one bites the dust....

Another finished object for me! This has to be a record - 3 finished projects in the same month. I finally finished my Socktoberfest socks. These are my Holland Socks, so named because I bought the yarn on our "babymoon" trip to Holland last summer.

The yarn is Regia Kaffe Fasset and I loved it. I love the colors and the yarn is nice to knit with. I have enough left over to make a pair of anklets. Details as always on the FO blog and on Ravelry.

Since every post needs a cute baby in it here is a picture of my fellas.

They were watching Sprout. Aren't they cute? Until next time ....

A Love/Hate Relationship

I have been plugging away on my Holland Socks. I am two rounds away from turning the heel. The pattern is very easy to memorize and I am really liking it. I am doing the basic version because I did not want to follow a chart right now. I also love how the yarn is working up.



So where does the hate part come in? Well I am a tight knitter and my hands are killing me after a week of working only on this sock. The pinkie on my left hand is the worst. I am not used to knitting on such small needles so I keep a death grip on them. I do try to relax but a few minutes later I am strangling them again. Now I know why it took me so long to finish my fruity pebbles socks. For the next few days I will be taking a break from the sock to work on Clark's sweater or my dishcloth and hope my hands, especially that pinkie, feel better. Until next time ....

WIP 'em out Saturday

I currently have three WIPs on the needles. With the amount of knitting time I have these days they will be finished sometime when Clark goes to kindergarten! So here are some progress pictures.

First up what I am calling my Holland socks. This is the Through the Loops mystery sock KAL pattern. I just finished the cuff. I am going to do the basic version of the leg since I do not have the brain power right now to follow the cable chart. The yarn is Regia's Kaffee Fassett line that I bought in Holland back in July.











Next, I have the Every Day, Any Day dishcloth from the Monthly Dishcloth KAL group. The yarn is Sugar 'n Cream in Strawberry. This pattern in interesting since you do a reverse YO and then on the next row you purl it through the back loop. Not the hardest pattern but you do need to pay attention.











Finally, I am calling this the Clark sweater. The pattern is Daisy by the Yarn Harlot from Knitty. I am doing the plain version in the 6-12 month size. The yarn is Lion Brand Microspun in Turquoise. I would love for him to wear this in the photo I will take for our Christmas card but I am not sure if it will be finished in time.











I need to get knitting since the baby is with his Daddy - they went to Grandma's house - and I have some alone time. Until next time ....

I Heart October

October is quickly becoming my second favorite month of the year (behind my birthday month of June of course). I love that the weather turns colder so I can wear sweaters, the changing leaves, football, donuts and apple cider. I love Halloween also. Carving pumpkins, roasting the seeds, scary movies on tv, seeing the cute kids dressed up and of course the candy. I always feel the need to start many projects once October rolls around.

Of course this means that I have to start something for Socktoberfest. I was only going to start the Charade socks with my left over yarn from the Fruity Pebbles socks. However, today on Margene's blog I read about the Mystery Sock KAL on Ravelry. Well I love a good mystery so I will also be casting on for these socks at knitting group tonight. This is going to be an interesting month. Until next time ....