Tag Archives: socks

A Tale of Three Socks

Posted on by under Fiber Friday

Toe-up socks knit in Estelle Sock Twins by Deborah CookeSocks, socks, socks. I need socks this fall and have been casting them on for myself, but my efforts have been disappointing. Here’s the first one – I’m sufficiently unimpressed by it that it doesn’t have a partner yet.

The yarn is Estelle’s Sock Twins and I bought it because of the gradient colour. This colourway is called Sunset. It’s packaged with two balls like the one shown – the second (obviously) has been knitted into that sock. I knit it toe-up because I wanted to use the whole gradient. I cast on with the yellow in the middle of the ball, then began alternating stripes with the navy from the other end.

I didn’t love the yarn as it was splitty. And I remembered that I really don’t enjoy knitting socks toe-up. (Actually, what I like about knitting socks is that I don’t have to think about my familiar pattern. In contrast, I have to follow the instructions for toe-up socks.) I knit the sock first without stripes and didn’t love how it looked, so I frogged it back and started again. The pattern I was using had a short-row heel, which I didn’t love either, so I frogged it back after I’d turned that heel. I feel like I’ve already knitted a pair of socks in this yarn and I probably have.

Because I did four rows of yellow before starting the navy, it worked out that the heel would be navy instead of yellow. Hmm. I’m not sure I love that.

Now I have to decide whether to make the second sock the same, or the other way around, with a navy toe and yellow-orange heel.

Cuff-down socks knit in Fleece Artist Cottage Socks by Deborah CookeIn the meantime, I treated myself to a skein of nice squishy Fleece Artist yarn. This is my usual cuff-down sock pattern, the one I have memorized. The yarn is Cottage Sock and the colourway is Vintage. I love Fleece Artist yarns and colours—the hardest thing is always making a choice!—and even better, they’re in Canada. (This isn’t the 100-mile yarn diet because the Maritimes are farther away from me than that, but it’s still kind of buying local.) The colourway did a spiralling pooling thing, but since both socks are the same, I’m good with that. I love these socks!

I also indulged in some sock yarn from Biscotte Yarns in Quebec. Mini-Metamorph is a gradient-dyed sock yarn, which comes in two balls, much like the Sock Twins above. The colours are gorgeous—you can see them on their website here. I ordered Tropical Lavender. The yarn is squishy soft.

My plan was to knit this pattern, the Meta-Morph sock, which has a chevron pattern. I kept mucking up the pattern stitch and having to pick it back, only to discover that after I turned the heel, the sock was too snug for me. I wish I’d taken a picture. It was a pretty sock. It just didn’t fit me.

Sock knit in Biscotte Yarns Mini-Metamorph by Deborah CookeYou know what happened next. I frogged it back and cast on again in my usual cuff-down pattern. I added a stripe, an unbalanced one this time to try to keep the contrast high for the whole sock. I guessed when to turn the heel, hoping to use most or all of the yarn, but it’s clear now that I turned too soon for that. I’m not frogging it again. I’ll just figure out what to do with the yummy leftover (red) bit.

Here’s the first sock:

I have the same question again: should I make a matching pair, or should I knit the second one in reverse? It would start with deep red with purple stripes which would look good. Hmm.

At least I have one new pair of finished socks!

New Socks for Me

Posted on by under Fiber Friday

I finished a pair of socks this week. Not only are these for me, but I like them a lot.

Socks knit of Diamond Sock Yarn by Deborah Cooke

This is my usual pattern. The yarn is Diamond Luxury Collection Foot Loose, which I had in my stash from half a zillion years ago and discontinued. It’s in a red mix colourway. (This pic makes the socks look more pink than they are in real life.) The blend is 90% merino and 10% nylon, and is quite soft. When I was knitting, I thought it might be too soft and worried a bit about how the socks would wear, but they did some magic with the twist – now that the yarn is knitted up, it feels sturdy but yet still soft. It’s also superwash, but doesn’t have that superwash feel.

Here’s hoping they wear well!

Next week, I’ll show you some hats I’ve been knitting.

What’s on your needles right now?

 

A Tale of Two Skeins

Posted on by under Fiber Friday, Knitting Etc.

It’s Fibre Friday and today’s post could have been called Second Sock Syndrome. Second sock syndrome refers to the a knitter’s tendency to make the first sock then not quite get around to making the other. It’s a lot like Second Book Syndrome, which writers are said to experience – the first book is written in a glorious rush, making the process look so easy, then the second one is fraught with problems, and sometimes doesn’t get completed.

I’m having an issue with a pair of socks.

They’re knee socks, or they will be when they’re done. I’m not sure why I’m fascinated by knee socks and always want to knit them. I don’t ever wear them when they’re finished. I just like the idea of knee socks, the funkier the better. Here’s a pair I knit in Noro Kureyon a few years ago.

Ha! I just looked at my Ravelry project page. I finished these in 2009!!! And they’ve yet to be worn. They sleep, neatly folded, in my sock drawer. This isn’t because I don’t like them. I love them! I just never wear them. And I loved knitting them, too, which maybe is why I cast on another pair.

This newest pair of knee socks are knit from handpainted yarn, so they’re making a kind of a spiral stripe on their own. It’s actually the pooling of the colourway, not a stripe, per se. The yarn is Fleece Artist Trail Socks, a yummy scrummy yarn in beautiful colors, and the colorway is Hercules. I bought two skeins, because well, knee socks. One skein contains 305 yards, which is enough for a pair of regular socks but not enough for knee socks.

My Ravelry project page says I started these in 2015. The first one was knit quickly, then things went awry. Here’s why:

Fleece Artist knee socks knit by Deborah Cooke

It doesn’t even look like I’ve used the same colourway for the second sock, does it? I thought the issue was where I started in the cast-on, but I’ve done it again and it’s still not right. The second sock has languished, because I’ve been perplexed. Then last week, I wondered if the YARN was different between the skeins. I know that Fleece Artist doesn’t have dye lots and that each skein is unique, but I’ve never had two that were so very different.

I decided to have a closer look. Here, I’ve laid out a single colour repeat from one skein beside that of the second skein.

Fleece Artist skeins

So, there’s a little bit of difference but not that much. It must be where I cast on.

I was thinking I would live with this and had kept knitting, but it’s driving me crazy. I’m going to frog both socks and make two pairs of regular socks instead, one pair from each skein. Then, they’ll match each other and I’ll be happier.

Have you had any projects you needed to restart lately?

Socks and a Scarf

Posted on by under Fiber Friday

I’ve been travelling a bit lately so we haven’t had a Fibre Friday. Today’s the day!

First up, I finished a pair of very bright socks, knit in Patons Kroy Stripes. The colourway is Sunburst Stripes. I used two balls and just barely got the pair out of that – I thought I’d have to buy a third ball for the toes!
Socks knit by Deborah Cooke in Patons Kroy Stripes

They’re brighter than what I usually wear, but they’re socks – and they’ll be cheerful in the winter.

I’ve also finished a scarf knit without a pattern. I had this thick-and-thin yarn in my stash – I found it in the mill ends at Spinrite, which means there’s no label. I liked the colours, though, and thought there was enough for a scarf. It’s more like a cowl, but I really like how it knit up in garter stitch.

Scarf knit in mystery thick-and-thin yarn by Deborah Cooke

I knit it diagonally. Where you can see the end at the bottom, I cast on three stitches. I increased once stitch at each edge on every right side row (and knit every wrong side row) until I thought the point was wide enough. After that, I increased on the lead edge of every right side row, and finished each right side row with K2tog, K1. I continued to knit the wrong side rows. In this picture, I’m just at the point of starting the decreases for the other end.

In this picture, I’m just at the point of starting the decreases for the other end.  (Yes, I weighed the first point, then knit until the remaining wool weighed just a few grams more than that.) From here, I decrease at both ends of each right side row until there are just three stitches left, then cast off. I haven’t decided whether to leave it as a short scarf that I can wrap across the front of my throat, or I should join it into a cowl – either by grafting the ends together or adding some loops and buttons. What do you think?