Knitting Poolside

For our recent vacation travel, I also took my Victorian Mauve sock with me. I used this as poolside time killer as I made sure PB didn’t die on the toddler slides.

I think I managed to add roughly an inch of sock over two days of poolside knitting? I did end up getting in the pool with the kiddos so my knitting time was limited. But any progress counts!

Side note: I tried to be the cool mom for Jellybean and I regret all my life choices. I did all the slides and stair climbing he asked for. Every cell in my body is sore and he better know how much I love him! Legitimately made a Target run mid vacation to buy ibuprofen and icy hot, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

A Victorian Mauve Toe

I had the kiddos help me hand wind my La Bien Aimee skein of BFL sock so that I could get the first toe of my Victorian Mauve sock.

With my toe up socks, I use DPNs to do a magic 8 cast on and then work across those two needles until I get to my total number of stitches. Then I switch over to my nine inch circular to work up the foot.

This is my first time working with a BFL sock yarn that is as fine/thin as this one is. I would categorize this as a light fingering weight instead of regular fingering. Should make a really light but warm finished fabric. I did make one small mistake with an errant yarn over that created a hole. I couldn’t be bothered to rip back so I’ll just sew it closed later, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Victorian Mauve Socks

I finished up my last Celebrate the Night socks and I couldn’t stand my sock needles getting too cold, so I pulled some recent yarn from my Hill Country Weavers purchase. This is a skein of BFL Tough Love Sock from La Bien Aimee. It’s just so pretty!!!

The plan is to work my “recipe” of 68 stich toe up vanilla sock with gusset heel that works well for this tonal/variegated yarn. Of course my first step is going to be wind up the skein, lol.

Happy Sock Knitting!!

FO Friday: Celebrate The Night Socks

I caught some hours in the natural daylight and managed to get my second afterthought heel installed in my Celebrate the Night socks. I was even a good knitter and have all the ends woven in!

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

Needles: US 1s

Yarn: Cozy Knitter Sock Set in “Celebrate The Night”

I used 265 yards or 72 grams of the 115 gram sock set. So I have plenty of leftovers to add to my memory blanket and other scrap projects. I am pretty happy with the overall fit. I did increase four stitches in the upper leg to add ease for my calves.

Now I just need to figure out what my next cast on for socks is going to be! Happy Knitting!!

One Night To Celebrate

I finally installed the heel on my Celebrate the Night sock that I finished on my last plane travel. Turned out pretty snazzy and I even managed to luck out and have the heel fall in-between two color stripes!

For the record, these are Jellybean’s feet. This boy is growing like a weed on Miracle Gro and his feet are quickly catching up to mine. The socks are just a hair too long and not skinny enough for him. But give him another year and I bet we have the same size feet.

Now I just need to get the second sock finished up. I have the second tube done but I need some focus and good light in order to pick up stitches for the afterthought heel. My eyes are inching closer to 40 and black yarn isn’t my friend anymore!

Happy Friday and Happy Knitting!!

Conference Knitting

I finished my first Celebrate The Night sock tube on the plane, which meant sock number two is all I had left for session knitting. In my hotel I got the self striping added to the solid toe I already had started.

Day one was a blur and I didn’t get much added. But three stripes isn’t anything to sneeze at. Day two and three made made more substantial progress. I finished the first repeat of stripes and I’m halfway through the second.

I didn’t get any funny looks and a few people stopped to talk and ask questions. It was nice to have something in my hands to offset the social anxiety of being around 6,100 people in a post-COVID world.

The trip was a much needed break from a chaotic work schedule and from being a 24/7 mom. I met up with some work friends and coworkers and we might have lit up Texas a tiny bit. I was a soul recharging trip, even with the heat index of 110!

Happy Knitting!!

Stripes On A Plane

I recently had the opportunity travel for a work conference. I decided to take my Celebrate The Night socks with me as my travel knitting. I had kind of a long way around to get from Kansas to Texas so I was flying for 10 hours. I managed A LOT of stripes.

By the time I touched down in Texas, I had a finished cuff on sock number one. Felt really good! I purposely used my nine inch wooden circular needles and left my DPNs in my checked bag to avoid security questions. I decided the afterthought heel was best left for my return home.

Stay tuned for my conference update and a last minute yarn shop trip. Happy Knitting!!

Another Set Of Stripes

My latest vanilla socks have made a surprisingly lot of progress. I was keeping my Celebrate The Night socks for travel knitting but I can’t stop working on them!

I just completed the second progression of the stripes. Turns out my assumption was correct and these are muted rainbow with black to break up the colors. I like it, its rainbow but doesn’t slap you in the face like my Stark Effect socks.

I think I am going to complete a third progression of the colors with four increases worked in evenly. Then I’ll add the cuff in contrast color. Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Celebrate The Night Socks

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!!

FO Friday: Stark Effect Socks

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!!