Languidly Knitting

Socktober’s not over for another 45 minutes according to my clock (Central Daylight Time). I’m sliding in under the wire here…

Scrunched Monkeys! It’s very ’80s, I think.

This is how the sock starts off when I put it on.

I actually finished these about two weeks ago, but put them through the wash before pictures because I wore them for nearly two days. Love these socks!

Monkey by Cookie A
Source: Knitty
Yarn: Zen String Serendipity Fingering in “Reflection” (September 2007 Sock Club color)
Needles: KnitPicks 32″ 2.25mm (US 1) circular
Notes/Thoughts: I love, love, love them. The color is not one I would normally have picked for myself (like cotton candy, according to Devon), but that’s what a sock club is for. The yarn itself is fantastic: beautifully soft, yet sturdy.

Oh, and I said I was going to give these to my boyfriend’s mom? I changed my mind. Hee, hee. It turns out she doesn’t like all pastels (only certain peaches and yellows), so they’re mine, all mine! I’ll churn out a different pair for her in December, with more appropriate colors.

Ingredients: $3 fitted sheet from Wal-Mart, mattress we haven’t yet had hauled away, a plastic bin, towels, 2-24″ wires, 100 T-pins, Eucalan, warm water, and an knitted lace shawl

The rest speaks for itself, pretty much.

Excuse me while I dry (excuse the flash, too).

Icarus, in its finished glory.

Details, details.

The funny thing is that I probably could’ve gotten away without blocking it, since this is how I wear it:

Head cropped out because I look like I have a double chin in pictures…ugh.

Here are the stats, if you’d like to know–
Icarus by Miriam Felton
Source: Interweave Knits Summer 2006 or The Best of Interweave Knits
Yarn: Lane Borgosesia Baruffa Cashwool in medium gray #41142
Needles: KnitPicks 32″ circular 3.0mm (US 2.5)
Notes/Thoughts: I knit it on slightly smaller needles and made it smaller than called for in the pattern. It is quite clear in telling you how to do so, should you wish to. Mim rocks! I’d knit another of her patterns anytime.

It’s a lovely pattern, and perfect for the weather right now–it’s not cold enough to bust out the heavy duty stuff.

It took me far too long to finish these, but finished they finally are:

Just in time for fall.

River Rapids Socks by Sock Bug
Source: Sock Bug site (check the right sidebar)
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in #27 “Black Purl”
Needles: Knit Picks 32″ circular 2.0mm (US 0)
Notes/Thoughts: The pattern was easy enough. The yarn was pleasant enough (and didn’t pool too horribly). All in all, these were good enough, they just didn’t blow me away (which is why I took a month and a half to complete them). It might just be that the yarn stripes work towards obscuring the pattern, thereby canceling out my extra work in executing it. But hey, another pair of socks for winter!

Yeah, pooling…

First off, thank you to Zyllah (Jen) for telling me that I could probably recover my entries by using the Google cache. Imagine a Guinness commercial: “Brilliant!” Pretty much everything is back. If it’s not, it means I was too lazy/didn’t care.

By the way, check out Zyllah’s blog, especially her dyeing experiments. I especially like Elphaba. (Wicked, anyone?)

Secondly:

It has a purple theme.

All I did was send a hank of Fleece Artist merino to her, and Kitty sent me this. A lavender grow kit, lavender body butter, a packet of tea. I was speechless when I opened the package. (Check out Kitty’s blog for her amazing FOs, especially Coachella.)

After seeing the contents of my mail, my boyfriend whined, half joking, “Why doesn’t anybody send me presents?”

I don’t know, but I think hand knitted socks make up for it:

This was the best I could do, he wouldn’t sit still very long.

Gentleman’s Socks in Railway Stitch by Nancy Bush
Source: Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: 2 balls of Regia Tweed 4-ply in #2, a bit of Regia Solid 4-ply in #2140
Needles: KnitPicks 32″ circular 2.0mm (US 0)
Notes/Thoughts: I ignored the calf shaping and cast on fewer stitches. Some day I will knit a Nancy Bush pattern like she wrote it, but not today.

Oh, and I’m a dummy for not checking dye lots when I bought the Regia Tweed on a whim. There’s a slight color difference, but the bigger difference is that I seemed to have knit a lot looser with the second sock and differently dye lotted yarn, so one sock is bigger. (Maybe I can shrink it in the dryer.)

But in the end, he likes anything I knit for him, and that’s what matters. Also, I think these socks are quite charming, with the striped heels and toes. So I’m happy with the final product too.

Oh, Sock Pal, I do hope you like your socks.

Bright, happy colors!

Sock Pal Socks, in a plain pattern from my head
Yarn: Perchance to Knit… Sock in “Breezy”
Needles: Susan Bates 7″ double-points, size 2.0mm (US 0)
Notes/Thoughts: The pattern is this: 1×1 twisted rib cuff, slipped stitch heel flap (with slipped stitches purled through the back loop to match the cuff), round heel, flat toe.

These socks were so pain-free that I almost felt guilty. I didn’t have to rip back ever (except at the very beginning, when I thought these would turn into Pomatomus). Easy, breezy, like the colorway namesake. I hope that when my sock pal wears them, it translates.

If my sock pal sees this (eventually): I washed these in Eucalan after I took them off my feet. They turned the water blue-green. Just warning you.