Home At Last

I'm home. And so are my socks! What you see above are my lovely Sockapalooza socks, knitted with affection by Fatimah over at The Knit Factor. Nice, eh? She used Fearless Fibers sock yarn in Midnight Passion and the pattern is Pembrokeshire Pathways by Brenda Dayne. Don't they kind of remind you of the socks I knitted for my pal? The pattern is different (there are cables in between the lace holes) and it's a different yarn, but still kind of in the same family. Thanks Fatimah, they're awesome.

And yes, I'm finally back from vacation, just in time to see the leaves start to turn on my trees. I must say, there's been much summer lovin' in blogland, but I'm glad to see this summer over. It's been a tough one. I'll elaborate as to why another day, maybe tomorrow, as I don't want to take away from the glory of my sock post.

Sockapalooza, I Hardly Knew Ye

Well, the knitting part of my Sockapalooza experience is over, over, over. Yesterday I finished stitching up the toe of my pal's second sock. So all I have to do is wash them (obviously, since I'm wearing them in these pictures -- I do have respect for my pal's personal hygiene), pack them up and wait a month to send them. Since my pal seems to appreciate a good yarn more than a super complex pattern, I think she'll like them. Anyway, here are the specs:


Go With The Flow Socks by Evelyn A. Clark (from Favourite Socks and the Spring 2005 Interweave Knits)
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Mixed Berries
Needle: U.S. #1 DPNs
Mods: I skipped the lacy cuff and just did a 2 by 2 rib cuff.

So, I think these will work well. My pal's feet are slightly longer than mine and much wider, so I made the socks about an inch and a half longer than I would have for myself. The foot is incredibly stretchy, so I think that extra inch will accommodate the width of her foot as the sock stretches. Shepherd Sock was, as always, a pleasure to work with and while there was a little bit of pooling, I think these two socks make a good match. The pattern was fun, but mindless enough to work on while watching TV or sitting outside of Ruby's pre-school class waiting. All in all, a super success!


So, what now? Well, my Ravelry page has the Charade socks listed as a WIP, but I haven't even wound the yarn yet. On an impulse I signed up for Mystery Stole 3, so I sped to Make 1 yesterday to pick up some white lace-weight yarn. Right now I'm swatching. I'm thinking that I'll probably never wear an intricate white lace stole, but I'm looking forward to the challenge. Expect much frustration, since I've never done any lace more complicated than fancy socks. Hello charts!

We're Halfway There

One down, one to go. Last night I managed to complete my first Sockapalooza sock and I'm lucky that my sock pal's feet are bigger than mine, because if this thing fit me properly, I'd probably be keeping it. It is, as previously reported, a Go With The Flow sock from Interweave's Favourite Socks book (and the magazine before that). I hate to sound like a broken record, but I apologize for the lousy photo -- not only am I still using my parents' awful old camera that insists on flashing all the time, but there's no natural light here as it's been raining something fierce (this city's weather is very dramatic). I guess this all means that by the time the second sock is finished and I have my regular camera back there will be a much more breathtaking reveal. Because I assume if you're still reading this, you're the type who finds socks breathtaking.

Anyway, I've heard so many horror stories about Lorna's Laces variegated sock yarn and pooling and all that, but I think these ones look pretty good. Variegated yarns all tend to get kind of goofy around the gusset area, but I can live with that and I'm sure my pal can too.

While there's still a month and a half before these socks are due to be sent off, I'm glad I started early. I haven't been getting a lot done these days and with a couple other swap things on the go, I may not be finished as far ahead as I'd dreamed. Stay tuned for progress on sock #2.

Going Against The Flow

Howdy to those visiting from Sockapalooza and regards to regular readers as well. So, I'm sure you're all waiting to hear what happened after the great Go With The Flow Vs. Undulating Rib debate of last week. Okay, maybe not, but I'll tell you anyway. My sock pal will be getting a pair of...

Go With The Flow socks! I'll admit it, I was leaning towards these ones anyway because I love simple lace patterns and I love the stretchy-ness of ribby socks. Also as pretty as the Undulating Rib socks are, I was freaked out that the pattern calls for U.S. #4 needles for ultra fine yarn. To me that's just crazy. But, so many of you spoke up on behalf of the Undulating Ribs that I actually started knitting one of each (I suppose some would call this swatching). I couldn't bear using a #4 so I went down to a #3, but the weave was still just too loose for my liking and it would have been too small if I dared to go down to a #2. So, here you have it: Go With The Flow.

I do really like this pattern. A lot of lacy socks don't have the give that I like so much (especially when knitting for an unfamiliar foot), but there's a rib built in here that does the trick. The Lorna's Laces is pooling a wee bit, but in fairly uniform diagonal stripes, so I don't think it's fatal. I'm pretty much done the leg now, hoping to move onto the heel tonight if I don't fall asleep immediately after putting Ruby to bed. Everyone's been sick around here, so that's a distinct possibility.

Moving on, what I've gained this week in socks, I've lost in trees. Check out the view from my window this morning:

Actually, this doesn't do my 7:30 a.m. view justice, as a lot of the snow had melted before I got the camera out. Yes, it freakin' snowed here last night. And it broke my tree. My tree. Is broken. This really breaks my heart. I'm hoping that if we cut that branch off the old girl will survive... does anyone know if she's going to need any extra care and what I can possibly do to help her make it through this injury?

Should I Rib Or Should I Flow

I'm a girl who likes the idea of community. I spent much of my day conferring with other mothers about various issues involving the womenfolk and it made me feel good. I also am way into this Sockapalooza Pligg thing: what a great little community. And nothing gives a girl an ego boost like strangers interested in her socks!

Anyway, if you haven't seen the yarn I chose for my pal, it's here. Now it's time to pick a pattern. I'm dedicated to doing something from Favourite Socks since I bought the thing ages ago and haven't knit a single pair of socks. I know the variegated Lorna's Laces yarn would overwhelm a pattern with too elaborate a lace pattern like Embossed Leaves or Waving Lace, so I want to do something with a smaller all-over repeat. Here are my candidates:

Go With The Flow Socks by Evelyn A. Clark. An easy, but very pretty textural lace pattern. It's also stretchy, so it'll be more likely to fit the foot of a stranger (no Cinderella glass slippers here, thank you very much). I think it'll look nice with a variegated yarn and the heel and toe aren't too wacky or square or pointy looking.

Or...

Undulating Rib Socks by Ann Budd. Again, it's a rib, so there should be some stretch. Not as open or lacey, but a very interesting texture. And perhaps more conducive to the variegated yarn.

So, I think I know which one I'm leaning towards (though I've tried to remain objective here). Any thoughts out there? Any of you who've knit either of these and have something to say?

Socking It To The Palooza

Yikes, sorry for the weird post title -- it's been a long day. I don't know if I mentioned it, but I'm participating in this year's Sockapalooza sock swap. A lot of those Sockapaloozers are pretty hot to trot -- if you check the Pligg, many of them are well on their way to completing their socks. Feeling like a slacker, I ventured out to buy my yarn today.

They had nice crop of sock yarn down at Make 1, but despite my pull towards the Opal, I felt the need to go with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock again. Here's why: the last two pairs of socks I made were with this yarn so I'm very comfortable with the gauge and having to tweak for my partner's foot size. Also, some people in blogland have expressed a difficulty coming across the stuff in their own LYS, so I wanted to share the LL love. Plus I just like the stuff.

My partner expressed an interest in earth tones and a disinterest in anything that looks like baby yarn, so I chose Mixed Berries, which I'm afraid looks much brighter in ball form as it did as hanks. Unfortunately, they were down to only one hank in the colours that would have been perfect. so I'm hoping the brown in the berry will temper the purples. But, the yarn should suit my tastes a bit too right? Any good gift does.

Anyway, I'll have to choose a pattern (probably something from Favourite Socks) and then I'll start 'er up. I'm a little nervous knitting for a foot I don't know. Wish me luck.