First up were these socks in yarn I bought (and loved) 3 years ago.

I special-ordered the bump from glblf and got it Navajo plied from Plied Together after I fell in love with a pair of socks in my Friends feed.  If it wasn’t for the Personal Mystery Sock Yarn Club I still wouldn’t have started these.  Since they’re handspun they’re a bit thicker than regular sock yarn so they’re knitting up quickly.

Then I CO these socks out of Gnome Acres House Gnome in the Berry Gnomey colorway.

Pink, purple, white and a splash of blue.  Love them.  They feel so thin after working on the handspun socks.

And then to keep in interesting I started a pair of mittens.

These are the Wood Hollow mittens out of some Cascade 220.  I have mixed feelings about the yarn – the color is great but it’s a quatro colorway and I think the speckliness takes away from the cables a bit.

I’m through the ribbing on mitten #2 and hope to be done this weekend.

So that’s it – three new projects from stash yarn to fill my beginning of year knitting.  I only finished 3 projects in 2014 and that bothers me – I want more to show for it – so I’m making more deliberate decisions with my WIPs.

What projects did you start?

I’ll catch you on the purl side.

This is what our house looks like today…

 drywall dust.  everywhere.

 those windows will be over the kitchen sink.  yes we have no kitchen right now.

why yes that *is* a refridgerator in our living room

and here’s the temporary door the contractors installed so the girls can safely roam the second floor

We decided a few years ago to live in this house until we retired and so we’re making it exactly (ok, mostly) what we want.  It’s a 1920s Colonial so it’s a big job – we’re on the third dumpster.  It’ll be awesome when it’s done (in two more months) but for now we’re cooking on our patio and living on the second floor.

I just keep telling myself – October will be awesome.

That doesn’t mean there’s been no knitting, but it’s definitely lessened.

I’m happy to report some yarn acquisition has occurred

And my inspiration

Moda on the left and Orange on the right.  We named her Nova when we adopted her but the names sounded too similar and they both just answered to both.  Orange suits her anyway.

I’m planning socks out of the tabby yarn and a hitchhiker out of the tuxedo yarn.

I’m starting with the socks and I organized a little KAL for them in the My Sister’s Knitter group on ravelry.

Late every fall I lament that I didn’t make Little Pumpkin socks so this time I decided some public peer pressure might do the trick.  I was happily surprised by the number of people who also had them on their to-knit list but never made them.  Maybe we’ll have lots of new Little Pumpkins this fall?

Are you in that group too?  C’mon and join us!  They’re knit top-down but I think I’m going to do mine toe-up.  We’ll see – I’m winding the yarn and casting on today.

If you want to join the KAL just join the group on rav and post to the thread.  Simple and it’s fun to see all the peer pressure progress pics.

I’ll catch you on the purl side.

Finally – an FO in 2014.  I’ve knitted a ton this year but haven’t been able to concentrate on anything.   So when the desire to finish these socks popped up last weekend I ran with it.

I started these socks back in February so you might need a refresher.

It started out as this yarn.

15 Colour Rainbow by Fab Funky Fibres in her 75% superwash merino, 25% nylon base

I knit the first sock (also in February)

Knit part of the second sock…and there it sat.  For months.  Until last weekend.

The knitting was simple – my standard toe-up on 2.25mm over 66 sts.  At the suggestion of a blog reader I used the Crystal Socklet afterthought heel (LOVE IT!).

The “hardest” part was keeping track of the stripes on sock 1 so I could match them for sock 2.

After finishing the first sock I was disappointed at how short they were.  I’d never knitted an afterthought heel so I wasn’t sure how long to make them.  Had I had more experience I would have made them longer.

And that would have been a mistake.

One of the lessons this sock taught be was just how much yarn I used up matching the stripes.  Fifteen colors sure makes for a lot of waste.  After I finished sock #2 I knew I wouldn’t have had enough to do much more.  Maybe 2 more stripes on the leg but that’s it.  So we’ll chalk that up to dumb luck.

I also worked the heel over more than half the sts – I did 3 more on each side.  While they do fit I don’t think it’s necessary given the extra shaping this heel has – you decrease at different rates as you get closer to the end of the heel and the decreases are done in a 4-point spiral.  No biggie though – it’ll just be that much quicker next time.

But let’s not focus on the things I’d do differently next time.  Because people – I FINISHED A PAIR OF SOCKS.

Just in time for summer.

I’ll catch you on the purl side…

So I did, and cast on a couple new projects.

First up are the Loki socks in Bitsy Knits Sock82me.  The stitch definition is great but the 8 ply yarn is a little splitty.  Not the best combo for twisted stitches but I love the colors.

The yarn has just enough pinks in it and the oranges are a nice departure for me.  And now that I’ve started the main leg pattern, the intricate stitching is a welcome change.  My recent socks have all been vanilla varieties and I think it’s not been enough to keep my attention.

Next up is Joji’s Imagine When in Spinning Fates Lorelei in the colorway Twilight.  The yarn was a gift from Andi and I’m in love – purples, blues and total softness.

The tidy picots add just that little bit of feminity without being too much.  Plus they make it easy to track where I’m at in the repeat.  I love patterns that are self documenting and don’t require umpteen stitch markers to keep track.  I’m close to being done with the first section and can’t wait to add in the short rows of the next section.

I frogged Sprig and started Ease in the Mad Tosh Merino DK instead.  I love Sprig but I finally admitted the loosely spun single was not a great match.

I’m a bit concerned about the neckline size but I need to knit more to be able to assess.  I keep telling myself that I can always address it by knitting the cowl neck a bit tighter.  I do think it’ll be cushy and warm.

I also started the Brimson wrap in Brooks Farm Mas Acero.  I’ve done the edging and started the cables but I’ve admitted the yarn is just not the right match for the pattern.  The varying shades in the yarn and the lack of stretch in the silk and rayon aren’t doing this pattern justice, plus I had to fight to make the cables.  Oh and it was curling like crazy.  There’s gotta be a better yarn choice for this beautiful wrap.

I’m also trucking along on several pairs of socks, and (of course) daydreaming about starting a bunch of new ones.

And yes, it’s Sunday morning and I have no idea which WIP I’m going to work on today.  Do you ever have days like that?

I’ll catch you on the purl side.

Here’s what I’ve learned:

• Fine-tuning the fit is easier when knitting the sock top-down.  You can easily add a few more rounds on the leg but you can’t do that on the foot.
• The Crystal Socklet heel is awesome!  Its shape is much more anatomically-correct with its 4 point spiral decreases and changing rate of the decreases.  Thank you Rycrafty for the fabulous recommendation.
• If possible, don’t put the waste yarn in a dark stripe.  It was a miracle that I didn’t drop any stitches when picking out the waste yarn.
• Approximating leg length is hard because you can’t try the sock on until you work the heel.  I estimated the leg with another handknit sock but it’s a bit shorter than I’d like – not unwearably short but it could definitely be longer.  Next pair.
• Working with very long color repeats – in my case 15 colors of stripes – creates more waste if you want to match up the heels.  Just something to keep in mind if you’re neurotic like I am.

With all that I learned, I still think my first afterthought heel came out great.  The yarn is doing all the work.  How can you not love 15 Colour Rainbow?
I’m glad to be finding inspiration with self-striping yarns because you may remember all the self-striping yarn I have in my stash.  And no, your eyes don’t deceive you – I forgot to include 15 Colour Rainbow in the pic.

Now to CO for sock #2.  I’m halfway through my first pair for the Rock the Socks KAL.  Yeah!

I’ll catch you on the purl side.

I bought this yarn back in October and thought I’d wind it up and knit on it while at Rhinebeck.  But then I didn’t and so it sat waiting for some inspiration.  I became obsessed with it Friday night and CO a pair – my first pair! – of afterthought heel socks yesterday.

I blame Janet because she posted her plans to start a new sock every month. You guys know any plans that involve casting on more projects is right up my alley.  My sock of the month will be a bit different than Janet’s though.  I’m planning to:

• cast on a new sock project each month
• finish knitting one sock from any of my sock WIPs each month – that’s one sock, not one pair
• treat myself to some new sock yarn after I finish a few pairs.  The “few” is decidedly non-specific.

Since people are all about the socks this year always, I started the Rock the Socks KAL in the My Sister’s Knitter KAL group on Ravelry.  I love seeing other people’s progress and the encouragement they all give.  Plus a bit of peer pressure is always a good thing.  Come on over and join us!

I’m having a blast knitting this sock.  The short color repeats make me want to knit just one more stripe and the yarn is incredibly soft for a 75% merino 25% nylon blend.

As I mentioned I’m doing an afterthought heel on these – I don’t want to interrupt the awesome stripes.  This will be my first afterthought heel though so I did a bunch of reading about how to get a better fit.  A couple things I plan to do:

• Work the heel over 60% of the sts.  My sock is 66 sts I’ll be doing the heel over 39
• Once I pickup the heel sts, work 4 rnds plain before starting the decs

My hope is that these two things will create a deeper heel that’s closer to the way a heel flap fits.  If you have other suggestions please leave a comment – I’d love to hear them.

Oh and I really want the stripes to match so I measured the length of the lavender yarn before casting on.  Sometimes I don’t care if they match but this time I want matchy matchy.

I’ll catch you on the purl side.

Mini-Skein Blender Socks

I got through the second color and started the third.  I’m now at the start of the gussets.

I’ll admit that the 2 strands of yarn and swapping of colors isn’t all that.  But I do like the effect.

Paul’s Chicago Bears Socks

I also put several inches on Paul’s Bears socks and I’m ready to start the gussets.  These are supposed to be his 2013 socks but given we’re 3 days away from 2014 I suspect they’ll be a tad late.

Paul’s Pismo Hat

Fortunately though I also started his Pismo hat in 2 shades of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.  I began with a tubular cast on that only took me 4 tries – that cast on is SO fiddly.  And then once I got the cast on right, I knit the first row with the tail.  Awesome.

But now I’m at the last round of the red stripe so it should be easy sailing until the decreases.

I’m calling this Paul’s I Love You This Much hat because I wouldn’t do all that twisted ribbing for just anyone.

And that probably includes myself.

SKA January 2014 plans

I decided to to the SKA knitdown for January – the technique of the month is lace and I love knitting lace socks.  The longer repeats make the knitting go quickly and the results are gorgeous.  I’ve narrowed it down to 4 designs

and 4 stash yarns

I was shocked to discover that I have very little solid sock yarn in my stash.  Enough to get me through a few pairs but they’re all in the pink/red/purple shades with the one lonely skein of orange.

Right now I’m leaning toward Isabella D’Este in the orange.

I have two more cast ons that I didn’t take pics of yet but the dark and dank day is making that impossible so I’ll show you them next time.

I’ll catch you on the purl side.

Shaw Hill

I was concerned about knitting with such a big needle but it’s been fun – and quick progress isn’t hard to be happy about.

The dye has rubbed off on everything it touches though – my hands and the cuffs of my sleeves both turned a bluish-purple.  Luckily the dye came out completely in a laundering with a dose of bleach.

Mini Skein Blender Socks

I stalked the tracking on this one as it made its way across the country.  You do that too, right?

I split the skeins in half so I could use them up fairly equally.  I’m onto the second color now and I feel a mini skein obsession coming on.

Probably best if I knit through this batch first, right?  In case you’re curious, etsy has a bunch of sock weight mini skeins.  I’d like to find a set in colors I don’t normally knit – maybe orange?

I won’t buy more mini skeins.  I won’t buy more mini skeins.

If I knit these fast enough I can buy more, right?

I’ll catch you on the purl side.

9 pairs of socks that I cast on in excitement.

9 pairs of socks that I’d love to wear this fall.

9 pairs of socks that are holding up 9 pairs of circs.

Hmm…maybe that’s why I had to buy 5 more pairs of socks circs a couple months back?  Go figure.

Let’s take a peek at all the beautiful socks.

2009

Bella – I designed these for Knotions and (a la Cookie A) only knit one before publishing the pattern.  I love the look and expected to finish the second one quickly.  But that was in 2009 so we know how that one went.

Tufted Diamonds – Another sock in designed for Knotions.  I feel a little more justified with this UFO though since I knit a full pair of knee highs for the pattern, plus 1.5 crew socks.  Knit in Regia Silk, I’d love to wear these!

Bifrost – I started these for a class I was teaching on 2 socks at a time.  I don’t like knitting 2 socks at a time.  I haven’t touched these since I finished the class.  They’re knit out of the highly sought-after Trekking 100.

2011-12

Broadripple – Knit in the super-soft Knit Picks Felici.  Love the colors!  Hate knitting the pattern.  I haven’t ripped these because I want to find another pattern and rip and re-cast on right away.  If I rip and put it back in my stash I fear it will become “old”.  Ever have that feeling?

Rainbow Stripes – I have 1 sock done and one to the heel.  I don’t love knitting the stripes though.  I just need to sock it up and knit the rest.  These will be some awesome socks.

Bubble Stream – Another beautiful pair of socks.  I’m done with one and cast on for the second.  Three years ago.

2013

Medallion – Beautiful socks.  Hate the yarn – it’s too splitty.  I’ll likely frog these and donate the yarn.  It’s sad because we bought this yarn on our honeymoon but knitting honeymoon yarn that sucks?  Even more sad.

Tara – Beautiful cables.  Awesome yarn for cables.  Old pic – I’m almost through the gussets.  I’m not feeling motivated to work on this right now but I know it’ll come back again.

Happy Socks – In some very Jody shades of pink, purple and a little orange thrown in for variety.  I like having a pair of plain vanillas around to pick up whenever I need.  I last knit on these in the waiting room at the dentist’s a couple weeks ago.

So there you have it – 9 pairs of WIP socks spanning over 4 years.  Any bets how many I’ll finish before the end of the year?  I have my prediction.  It’ll be fun to see how close I come.

I’ll catch you on the purl side.