Monthly Archives: May 2022

Cast On: Celebrate The Night Socks

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Since my Stark Effect Socks were done, I felt like diving right back into the self striping sock yarn pool. I may have a decent stash of it, lol. I pulled a sock kit from The Cozy Knitter, a Canadian dyer, and started a new pair of socks.

This is her Celebrate The Night colorway on her 80/20 merino and nylon base. The sock set came with a purple mini and I did decide to use that for heels, toes and cuffs. I am fairly confident this will come out as a muted rainbow. So very on theme for what I have been knitting lately!

I am hoping this will be good for my upcoming travel knitting needs. Happy Knitting!!

That Was Quick

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I had some merino blend fiber jump on and off my wheel very quickly last week. I had four ounces a merino, bamboo and sparkle blend that I bought from The Shepherds Mill when I took spinning lessons.

I weighed and split the fiber in half so that I could work from two bobbins. This fiber just spun so smooth and quickly. I think the singles rested longer than it took for me to actually spin them. I did my go-to 2-ply and ended up with this skein.

It it is a little overspun and is twisting back on itself. But I think a good bath and a solid thwack should set this just fine. I think this will turn out to be a thick and thin worsted? I’ll do a final weight and measure after its dry.

Happy Spinning!!

FO Friday: Stark Effect Socks

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I did manage to clean my craft area just enough to find a plastic tapestry needle. Not my first choice but it got the job done and my Stark Effect Socks are complete!

Pattern: My own 68 stitch toe up vanilla sock “recipe”

Yarn: String Theory Colorwork Inertia Self Striping in the Stark Effect Colorway

Needles: US 1

Mods: none

They turned out fantastic and a great fit on my foot. As with all my afterthought heels I add in extra plain rounds to the heel to accommodate my high instep.

They are also almost a perfect match. Which I totally managed and did on purpose. It does mean I have to tiny balls of yarn left that aren’t in color sequence. I will still find something to do with them, probably my memory blanket?

In the meantime, I’m off to pick out my next sock project! Happy Knitting!!

All But The Heels

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Thanks to some TV show binging my Stark Effect Socks are complete save for the Kitchener on the toes!

The good news is that I’m getting fairly proficient at grafting. The bad news, I can’t find any of my tapestry needles so I need to either clean or buy more, lol!

These socks have just brought me so much joy to watch the bright colors pop. I did in the end decide to use the rainbow yarn for the heels. Probably would have looked cooler with black but I couldn’t be bothered to put in that effort. I just want these socks on my feet!

Happy Knitting!

Deliciously Chocolate

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My beautiful natural chocolate Romney yarn is complete! This….I’m SUPER proud of!

I ended with two worsted to slightly heavy worsted skeins of 2-ply. After washing it plumped up to be 396 total yards and 213 grams. Roughly half in each skein so not a bad job on my part for the dividing!

After seeing this finished and putting it next to my other natural color Hand-spun…..I might be close to a sweaters lot of heavy worsted if I work stripes. And that excites me! They only caveat is that it’s not all the same fiber content. It’s all non-super wash but many different breeds of sheep. I might have to research my idea before I go to far down the rabbit hole…

Happy Knitting!!

Washed And Thwacked

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I am OBSESSED with this handspun. I gave it a wash and thwack yesterday and set near my dehumidifier to dry. And this morning, these are two gloriously dry skeins.

It is a very well balanced yarn that hangs fairly straight. I have just under 200 grams total in yarn. I need run it through my yardage counter to see what I ended up with. The yarn did plump up quite a bit with washing so this might be a heavy worsted. And I’m still super proud of that! Stay tuned for finished yarn photos 🙂

Happy Spinning!!

I Think They Glow In The Dark

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Jellybean was was watching my finish my sock tube last night and he exclaimed “Mom, I think those glow in the dark!” And so we went outside where it was dusk….and he’s not wrong! Even in low light these puppies stood out from the grass.

Next up is to install heels and the socks will be done. I kinda want to do solid black heels, but I don’t know I have the yarn for it. I might have to just use the same self striping and manage where I start in the color sequence.

I need to ponder a minute on it perhaps. Happy Knitting!!

I Think I Accidentally Made Worsted Weight Yarn

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It took me a minute to get all my plying done. Had a few fits and starts, but I now have two pretty bobbins!

I did a quick wraps per inch gauge on these….and y’all this might be a true worsted with spots of a heavy worsted. This is the finest I have spun and plied thus far! I need to give this yarn a bath and see if it plumps up any. I am kinda excited to see what this turns out to be!

Happy Spinning!!

Knitting In The Park

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Motherhood means stealing stitches where you can. PB and Jellybean are finally old enough to play fairly independently at the park. So to celebrate seeing the sun for the first time in a week we hit the local playground. I had a large iced coffee and my Stark Effect Socks.

I made super good progress on sock number two. I am through the full tube and almost done with the ribbing. I need one more black stripe and then to knit and cast off in the dark purple. I have been knitting for 12 ish years and it never ceases to amaze me how fast self-striping yarn feels like it knits up.

Happy Knitting!!

Plying All The Romney

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My spinning mojo has really caught fire. After starting some singles out of 100% Romney last week, I spent all day Saturday playing outside with the kids and finishing the singles. I let them rest overnight and played the “mother’s day card” so I could drink wine and ply my yarn.

I really enjoy using my tensioned Kate. It helps prevent overspinning and having the singles fold back on themselves. The wine doesn’t hurt either!

Happy Spinning!!