OTN August 31, 2012

Wow!  Can you believe it- the year/summer has just flown by.   Almost time to wear all these new socks.

I have just finished a sock made from Stroll yarn from KnitPicks.  I have made several pair of socks from this kind of yarn and have liked it but this time I was pretty disappointed.  There were 3 different areas where the yarn was pieced-never happened before with this brand of yarn.  I have not started the second sock and hope I don't find the same.  I will send a message to the company to let them know what I experienced.

The color is Sunset Multi but I call it Butterscotch.  Parts of the sock look striped and part looks solid.  If you look carefully at the solid part, it is actually stripped but the colors don't vary enough to be noticeable.

I also started a new pair of socks that will be a birthday gift for one of my quilting buddies.  She loves green and wears lots of neutrals.  I think this HULK yarn from www.sarahbrowndesign.com is perfect for her.

I tried adding a pattern to the leg area but it did not show enough to be worth the extra time.  I am really

happy with the way this one is coming out.  I like the color randomly dispersed.

Check out everyone else's needle work at Patchwork Times.

On the Needles August 24, 2012

I didn't get a chance to post last week but I did enjoy seeing all your posts and projects.

I last posted a beginning of my first toe up socks.  I zipped right along doing the instep and then darn-I realized I left the instructions at home.  So here they sit waiting for us to return home from the cool rainy mountains back to the scorching heat of Phoenix.  We will be home for a few days early next week so I am looking forward to getting back to these socks.

Luckily, I had other yarn with me so I have another pair almost complete.  They are part bamboo and soooooo very soft.  The yarn is a little difficult to work with as it is easy to split the strands apart.

The skein photo shows the colors most accurately.

I also have some other yarn here so I can start another pair as soon as I do the last few rows and close the toe on the second sock.  When the weather clears for a while, I hope to get a better photo of these socks.

Check out the other posts at Patchwork Times.

On and Off the Needles August 10, 2012

I finished the socks for my quilting friend, Joanne.  I had one complete last month and needed her to try it on before I finished the other one.  I will see her tonight for our monthly Friday Night Quilters meeting and they are ready to go home with her.  I used Knit Picks Stroll yarn in Parlor Multi.  It knits up nicely and wears well.

I used the Simple Skyp pattern, free on Ravelry.  The pattern is not very visible but I am hoping it will show up more after a few washings.  I already washed them once in the machine in a net bag with a color catcher in the bag.  There was no color on the color catcher.  I did dry them flat on a towel

I am finally starting a toe up project.  I am using this book.

I used the figure eight cast on-pretty easy.  The only problem with this book is that it is all about technique.  They do not give the stitch number needed by size or stitches per inch or needle size.  I started the socks using a #1 needle, smaller then I am used to.  I used the number of stitches given in their example which is supposed to fit MOST women.  Well, I have small feet and after about 4 inches, I could see that the sock would be too large-I like them snug.  So I unknitted most of my work and started with less stitches BUT foolishly changed to larger needles #3.  What was I thinking???  So now I have unknitted again and gone back to the smaller needles.

I wish I had read Judy L's hint about using waste yarn so you can just rip out instead of unknitting.

Judy L says :For those who have never had to use one, a life line is some kind of waste yarn (it’s the orange string you see in the picture) that is pulled through a row as that row is knitted.  Then if I have to rip out, I can rip back to there and the waste yarn stops that row from being ripped.  I can then pick up those stitches and go from there.

So, it is a little start but I think they will be fun socks.  The yarn is Chocofetti from play at life fiber arts on ETSY.

Check out the other needles too!

On the Needles August 3, 2012

Another pair of socks!!!  I finished the Regia 4 color socks.  It is 75% wool and 25% polyester.  This is the first time I have used this yarn.  I saw socks made from it on an earlier On the Needles report but don't remember whose it was.   Whoever you are THANK YOU.

 Check out the other projects at Judy L's Patchwork Times