Run, run, run

The one thing I can't stand about this time of year is the constant feeling of rush. I'm rushing to get presents whether they are knit up by me or bought. The world is in a rush around me. Tons of people out there running around mowing over anyone in their way. It tends to make me feel tired and disappointed. Whatever you celebrate this time of year, all I can say is please enjoy, stay safe and be kind.

13 Socks

Yep, thirteen socks. 'But socks come in pairs', you say. Let me break it down...
I have funny shaped feet so not all socks fit the way I'd like them to. I have wide, short, high arched feet with cankles. Thus beginning the quest to fine a perfect sock pattern.

First pair of socks:

This was the first pair I ever knitted. Pattern is Nutkin by Beth LaPensee. Good start but I knew nothing about gauge so I kinda shot from the hip on these. They ended up being very tight but the right length. They now belong to a coworker who has narrow feet and fit her perfectly. I'm glad they got a good home.







Second pair of socks:

I decided that if I wanted to continue to knit socks, I need some help. I went out and bought Teach Yourself Visually Sock Knitting by Laura Chau. First pattern I knitted out of it was the Worsted Boot Socks. I hand dyed some yarn with Kool Aid and had no real plans for it, so it became socks. This pair fit much better mainly due to the ribbing pattern. But worsted socks are a little unrealistic for every day wear.






Third pair of socks:

This was a mystery KAL I found while perusing new patterns on Ravelry. It's Punica by Rachel Coopey. I did a little scouting in to Rachel's other designs so I knew what I was getting in to before I committed to this sock. This one fits well but I wish I would have used different yarn. A solid color would have brought out the design better.



Fourth pair of socks:

By this pair, I felt I was skilled enough to try making a pair without a pattern. I measured my foot, gauged and devised what I needed to do to make these fit perfectly. I also wanted them to match. And I wanted to try an afterthought heel. It mostly worked. I worked them toe up matching adding the afterthought heel at the end with the black yarn I used for the toe and cuff. Kitchener with black yarn sucks and if you look closely, you'll see that the stitches are taut at top of my arch.



Fifth pair of socks:

These you'll recognize from an earlier post. They are the Dodge and Parry Socks by Heather Sebastian. I did these as a KAL for October. I stayed true to the pattern so of course they are tight around the arches. They will look nice on the person I'm giving them to for X-Mas, though.




Sixth pair of socks:

Woohoo! I love these! It's my own design based off of what I learned from the previous socks. Toe up, add a small gusset for the high arch, short row heel and a longer cuff. I'm gonna use this formula for my next plain-jane socks.

Well that's twelve. Where the hell does the thirteenth sock come in? 

Here...

Cheers!

An Update!?

Yes, an update. The Knit-A-Longs are finished and the results are great. The Leethal Mystery Shawl KAL was a wonderful experience with a lovely outcome. Meet Neon Nights!

I love this shawl. I put it in use right away since the cold has hit us. The shawl did turn out a little smaller than I hoped but it still sits on my shoulders nicely. And since it came out smaller, I have quite a bit of yarn left over. I'm going to use that in combination with some Cascade 220 to make another Leethal creation, the Betiko. I'm kind of hesitant about using a single plied yarn mixed with plied yarn but we'll see how it turns out.

I also finished the KISS Mock KAL.  These lovelies are a future X-Mas gift for a friend of mine. It's a poor picture so you can't see the ribbing design running down the front and back of the sock. While this was a fun KAL, I grew impatient with waiting for the clues to come out.
I usually have a sock going at all times because it's such a portable project so I started Brainless by Yarnissima. I'm using some nameless yarn that I over dyed red. I'm trying to customize it to my short, wide, high arched feet and I'm loving the outcome so far.

Enough of the KAL's and on to the other things I've finished. I have been messing around with Fightin' Words by Annie Watts for quite a while. I knew from the beginning that I was going to knit these but doddled on buying the yarn. Annie suggests to use KnitPicks Palette. Palette comes with a huge color selection and with the help of the Husband, I settled on green and purple based on the Hulk. They are perfect. When I work stranded designs I tend to knit rather tight so I went up a needle size. I will be producing another pair for a friend for X-Mas. One mitt will be in the same color's as these and the other will be in black and yellow. Batman vs. Joker!

That's it for now. Hopefully I won't procrastinate posting again for too long!

The KALs

So we all know that I was on board to do the Leethal KAL and that's going well... after frogging about 3 or 4 times in the beginning. I love Lee and her nontraditional way of knitting but sometimes when I start one of her patterns, I have a hard time switching gears.Just telling my brain that yes, I can knit it that way. Anyhow, once I got on track, it went great. Here is my first clue:

 















I like it and I'm super stoked to see where this is gonna go.

Being that it is now Socktober, I felt I needed to add another beautiful pair of socks to my drawer. At least I hope they will be beautiful since its a mystery KAL and I have no idea what they will look like. It's called the Keep It Simple Mystery Sock Knit-a-long October 2012 (KISS Mock October 2012). The socks are a top down heel flap construction. I didn't bother taking a picture as only 13 rows of the cuff are done. I'm using some wonderful Malabrigo Sock in the Tuner colorway. Maybe you'll get a picture next time :P

Time is NOT on my side!

Yeah, I know. It's been almost a year since I started this blog thing. Apparently I'm not the commitment type. But wonderful things have happened in this span of time. I've knit many of beautiful things, cultivating my meager knitting skills. I've picked up spinning, completing my first yarn. Last, I've found a knitting group, which I've learned is an asset in my knitting world.

OK, rather than try to examine all the things I've done in the last almost-year, lets focus on things to come. For the month of October, I will be doing the Leethal Mystery Shawl KAL. I'm super excited about this as I am for all things Leethal. I love how she structures her knits and how her colors always seem to pop.

The yarn I have chosen is one ball of KnitPicks Chroma Worsted in Roller Skate and three balls of  Full Circle Worsted in Quarry. I didn't want to have to work too hard during this project so the color changing Chroma was picked to give the shawl a little color. We'll just have to wait and see...