I've started to add some photos of the socks I knit. Along the top of this page are some tabs separating the socks by size (sort of). I'm using the Yarn Craft Council's standards to classify them by size. Any feedback on how to organize and show these off is greatly appreciated!

 

Still have one to go.

PB&W by BBK, the only one I'll put wool socks on for in the summer. She is missed.

Two words.

Shingles. Flu.

That's what has been happening since I wrote last. Shingles for the second time, thankyouverymuch, and a nasty flu that wasn't Covid, thankfully. Just now I'm kind of sort of digging myself back up and into the light of real life, so soon I'll be up and running as intended.

Of course I have been knitting and spinning anyway.

This is the first 50g of some Nest Fibre Studio nestlets. Spun on Eeloize, the Electric Eel Nano, plied on a Snyder spindle.

 

Some miniature mitten  ornaments for insta-gratification goodness.

 

Then a start on a merino batt from Yara Fibers spun on my sheep spindle from Snyder. 

Being accountable to myself.

 OK, all previous plans and promises are scrapped. Here's the new status:

• start each day by taking care of the dog(s);
• follow up with some form of exercise for myself every other day (don't let more than two days go by without doing this);
• clean on non-exercise days;
  
• spend at least 2 hours working on developing my designs, dyeing yarn, or developing my online presence;
• break the "work" (HA!) with another dog walk;
• then the fun knitting/spinning/crocheting happens.

Obvious exception: Sock Madness or other knitting on a deadline overrides all other knitting, but nothing gets in the way of dogs or exercise.

I got this.

Introducing the new foster puppy, Barbu, and the Tour de Sock kick off!

Yesterday was a big day. First the Tour de Sock kicked off at 8:30am, and knitters around the world pressed refresh a bazillion times in order to get going with our first pattern, Twists & Turns by Adrienne Fong.

I have to say - I always like her patterns. I've knit a few over the years and have consistently been impressed by the clarity of her instructions and always by the final product.

I'm using DROPS Fabel, of course, in a dark purple colour which doesn't seem to photograph well...

Pretty lace! That's the progress I made before the most exciting part of my day happened yesterday - the arrival of the new foster puppy!

Meet Barbuche. Also seemingly named Horatio as of last week. I'm not sure what the story is there, but I'm calling him Barbu:

He's a twelve year old Bichon from Gerdy's Rescue, the best, most incredible rescue organization I've ever heard of. Barbu was at the SPCA, where he had 8 teeth and some bone removed from his jaw a couple of days ago. He's not in the best of moods now, as he refuses to take his pain meds (I'll win in the end!) and hasn't eaten since he got here, but I figure he just needs some time to adjust. He also has a big patch of fur missing on his back, likely from a bad flea infestation (which is gone now) or possibly from a metabolic condition that has yet to be diagnosed. He's a sweet adorable dear, fully housetrained, and gets along well with my furbabies. We're going to have a good time.

Order done!

Well, the yarn order came in on the 23rd of May, and I've been knitting up a storm. All socks for the order are done, and look great if I do say so myself...

RoseHiver's Hold Your Seahorses and Water for the Elephants:

Sandra Jäger's reindeer socks:

And Maria Simonsen's Elgsokker (modified for fingering weight yarn, with only one moose and a striped foot):

See how those last ones are a nice crisp grey with blue? Yeah... Well, something happened when I soaked them (which I always do so I can block them into shape and make the stitches behave themselves), and now the grey is a mottled pale blue. I am NOT impressed.

Up to this point I have been very pleased with DROPS Fabel, and I still am, as this accident was entirely my fault. I've soaked hundreds of socks, and this is the first time I've had a problem with the colour running... But it's also the first time I forgot a pair of socks in the water for two days. I hope their new owner won't be too disappointed!

But all in all, it's been a great time. The patterns were fantastic, and I'm definitely madly in love with the red/turquoise colour combo.

Itching for Yarn

It has been a slow knitting week, due largely in part to the fact that the yarn I ordered from Nordic Mart on May 3rd still hasn't shipped out. The yarn I need to finish the commissions. The commissions that are due on June 6th...

However, there is a good update on that. I finally emailed them last night, and got a response (close to midnight!) letting me know that they will expedite my order. So now I just have to hope it gets to cross the border without a hold-up. I wish I had written sooner.

I won't have too much left to knit for the order, so I think I'll be ok if the yarn gets here reasonably soon. Only the second socks for two pair are needed (in addition to the toes of  the first socks, but that shouldn't take long at all).

On to the update then, weenie though it is.

I've knit as far as I can on the Hold Your Seahorses until more orange arrives, and am partially through the toe decreases. There is a possibility that I'll run out of navy on the second sock, but I hope to be able to pick some up locally if need be. I'll reverse the colours too, which may help.

Look at how adorable the seahorse is (pre-blocked, so he'll only get better)!

I cast on the fourth and last pair for this order, Reindeer Socks by Sandra Jäger. I love the colours, and think I want to remake my whole world in turquoise and red. The second sock will be with the colours reversed, and for a change I have all the yarn I need on hand. Of course, this is the pair that isn't due along with the other three, but I hope to have it finished anyway.

Cross your fingers with me that I can get the rest of the yarn within a week or so. I can be a speedy knitter, but I'd rather do without the pressure, thank you very much.

Moose, Elephants and Seahorses, oh my!

Hello Monday, hello blog update!

I'm currently working on a commission of  four pair of colourwork socks, and one is off the needles.

I based these on Elgsokker by Maria Simonsen. The design is in Norwegian (I think), which I don't speak, so I basically just followed the chart and made up the rest of the pattern. They were designed for worsted weight yarn, but I adjusted them for fingering weight, and only used one repeat of the moose pattern on the leg, striping the rest.

Two of the other pair for this order are on the needles. The first is Water for the Elephants by Rose Hiver. I knit a pair of these a few years ago, and it may just be the pattern that made me fall in love with this designer. These are currently on hold, as I ran out of black and am waiting for a resupply.

In the meantime, I've moved on to the third pair: Hold Your Seahorses by Yvette Noel (aka Rose Hiver). This woman is definitely the go-to for gorgeous animal colourwork patterns. It doesn't look like much yet, but just wait...

As a break from colourwork, I worked on one of the socks for Sock Madness and managed to get the first of the pair knit. These are Sweet Nuttins by Adrienne Fong, and have beads on the leg (I opted to leave them off the foot because I'm not sure that would be comfortable). These have a really cute ruffled cuff that involved casting on a bajillion stitches before decreasing, which looks adorable.

And for something completely different, I knit a lily for my mom. The pattern by Heather Broadhurst was published on Knitty way back in 2006 and I finally decided to brave it (I love socks, but tend to shy away from fiddly things). It is extraordinarily clever, and apart from the never ending i-cord stem, was shockingly fun to knit. There may be more of these in the future.

Oopsies!

Well, what do you know - I completely dropped you. I am notorious for falling off tracks, and this seems to be no exception. However, that being said, I just signed up for Tour de Sock again and figured it would be a good time to try some resuscitation.

It's been a year. Lots of knitting, lots of life changes, lots of the same, too. First, here are the remaining 2015 Tour socks I didn't talk about:

 Far Into the Forest by Kirsten Hall

 From a Distance by Meagheen Ryan

 

Nordic Stripes by Tobi Beck

 Ophidia by Hypercycloid Designs 

Touring Bubbles by Karen Buhr

I also participated in Sock Madness (which is still ongoing, and I've knit more than this pair, but the other pictures are, quite frankly, embarassing):

Waimakariri by StringHerder Designs

I worked on a bunch of colourwork items:

 La Mancha's Giants by Yvette Noel

 Angela's Mittens by Yvette Noel

0-789 Christmas socks with pattern by Drops Design

Had company while trying to photograph some projects, as is often the case:

 Micro Monekey by gilraen's knits

 Shazbat by Heidi Nick

Snape's Stockings by Erica Lueder

And even designed a pair of socks, which I have yet to write the pattern for:

See? I should have stuck around, and will put my intentions to it. I need a plan. Not a random "whenever a project is done" plan, but maybe once a week could work. How does Monday sound? Have I suggested this to myself before? Sounds awfully familiar...

Tour de Sock: Round 1 Complete!

In the wee hours of the morning, I bound off the second sock to finish my Virrat for round one of the Tour de Sock. They are magnificent.

The toe was new to me (long-tail cast on joined in the round, with the hole stitched up later), as was the heel (which started with a "reverse riverbed gusset" in the pattern).

After my initial negative reaction to the toe, I have decided that it's just fine, and quite a bit faster to work than other toe-up cast ons I've used in the past. As for the heel, I adore it. It fits beautifully, and I think it will hold up well over the years. At least as well as the standard heel flaps I use on top-down socks.

The bind-off used is the sewn bind-off (Elizabeth Zimmerman's, maybe?), and makes a nice clean edge.

I am smitten. My mom wants these, but I'm going to have some trouble parting with them.

Round 2 begins on June 11th, so I have a few days to make some progress on my Paradiesvogel. I just started the foot of the first sock. I'm using leftover yarn, and may have to get creative for the second sock as there is a distinct possibility that I'll run out before I'm done. Ah well, mis-matched socks can be cool too! And in the meantime, they're just fun to knit, which is the whole point.

Tour de Sock: sock the first

On Wednesday I completed the first sock for the competition, but am only finally getting around to talking about it here now.

Pattern: Virrat

Yarn: Cascade 200 Superwash Sport in periwinkle

Needles: 3mm dpns

I began originally on 2.75mm needles, but once I completed the heel turn I realized I was in trouble. The fabric was too dense, and I was in danger of running out of yarn. So I ripped it all out and started over on 3mm (it's a great thing I'm not on a competitive team!).

Now it's perfect.

The heel construction is very interesting and fits quite well. I may be a toe-up convert after all! More on the details of the pattern once I'm finished both socks.