Category Archives: Socks

FO Friday: Beach Glass Vanilla Socks

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My Beach Glass Vanilla Socks have hit the FO pile!


Pattern: 62 stitch toe up vanilla sock with gusset heel

Yarn: Mint Rain sport weight sock in Beach Glass color way


I had to start these twice because they were far too big to start with. Even now they don’t have as much negative ease as some of my socks. But they are still wearable. The heels are just a tad loose. See?


I’m still happy with them. The yarn was amaze balls and a strong finisher in my 2016 sock yarn experiment. I would definitely buy more yarn from Mint Rain. The colors are fab and the yarn base is nice to work with. Now on to more socks!

Happy Knitting!

WIP Wednesday: Party Cake Vanilla Socks

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Good Wednesday morning to all! I have a be WIP. I’ll pause for you to absorb the shock….

I felt the need for more vanilla socks in my life and grabbed the Show Me Yarns Bootheel in the party cake peeps color from Knitting in The Heartland and got cracking.


Thanks to some grandparents baby sitting and the new Avengers movie (I’ll spare you my opinion on that) I cruised through the foot of the sock and started the gusset increases! I’m just working my standard 68 stitch toe up vanilla sock on US 1s. 

The speckles are just darn addicting. I can’t put this down! Definitely a winner in my 2016 Sock Yarn Experiment. This dyer has great color sense and the yarn base is pretty easy to work with. I’m smitten 😍

Happy Knitting!

WIP Wednesday: Beach Glass Vanilla Socks

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I might be becoming addicted to sport weight sock yarn….

Thanks to some recent windshield time I’ve finished sock #1 and have a good start on #2. The pooling/flashing is much more pleasing to my eye over 62 stitches than the 68 I started with. Not to mention the fit is much better!

I’m making this pair an honorary member of my 2016 sock yarn experiment and it’s one of my favorites so far. The yarn is Mint Rin Hand Dyed Sport Sock in the beach glass color way. I’ll definitely be getting more of this!

Happy Knitting!

FO Friday: Mandrake Vanilla Socks

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Happy Friday to all! I have a finished cheerful pair of springtime socks to share today!

  
Pattern: Toe Up Vanilla socks with afterthought heel over 68 stitches

Yarn: String Theory Colorworks Continuum in the Mandrake color way

Needles: US 1

  
These were part of my 2016 sock yarn experiment. I really enjoyed this yarn. The colors really popped and the fiber content of merino/cashmere/nylon was just buttery under my fingers! I will totally use this yarn again. And best of all…my stripes match!! I got a little off on the second heel but it’s still very close.

  
My only disappointment was that my afterthought heel was a bit snug. I worked it over 60% of the stitches but it still feels small. We will see how they wear. For now they are going into the drawer for next fall.

Happy Knitting!!

Sock Whoopsie

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I was cruising along on my Beach Glass Vanilla Socks when that all too familiar niggle started in my brain. The whispers were swirling “this is too big” “this is too wide” “this will never fit”.

So I compared it to my finished Mandrake sock and measured with a tape measure just to be sure. And what do you know…I’m like 6-8 stitches too wide for my foot.
  So this happened…

I frogged back to the toe and I’m starting over. Based on that this yarn is sport weight I’m going to work on a 62 stitch foot and an 64 stitch leg. I really like working with the yarn. It will be interesting to see how the pooling changes between the counts and especially how it looks from my first attempt.

Happy Knitting!

Zoom Zoom

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My Mandrake socks are zooming!

 

I’ve had a bit of project ADD of late so a lot of things are getting a little progress. But these have been my purse knitting so they have gotten more than their fair share. Thanks to addicting strips of String Theory Colorworks yarn and a vanilla patter these are flying. I’m almost ready to establish the ribbing at the top of sock number two. After that all that is left is the afterthought heel. I’ll be sad and happy when these are done because they are so cheerful and the cashmere content is sooooo yummy under my fingers.

But one thing I find myself thinking about is the afterthought heel. I’m not finding it as comfortable as I used to. Well at least compared to the last couple socks that had toe up gusset heels. I already do an afterthought heel over 60% of the total stitches and it fits. It can feel a bit tight and not as form fitting as the gusset. Maybe my sock preferences are changing?

Happy Knitting!

WIP Wednesday: Zigzagular Socks

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I finally had the guts to start working the chart for the Zigzagular Socks. I did half of the chart back here and did the second half this week.

I could use some working keeping consistent tension when my cables are moving. You can see above that I’m already getting better. I’m still a cable knoobie but it’s very neat to watch them wave back and forth. And being new to this I still need some quiet to work on these to make sure I’m going the right directions. So this project is relegated to after Jellybean goes to bed. Progress on these might be slow…

Happy Knitting!

FO Friday: Fantastico Vanilla Socks

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Another project for the 12 Months to Christmas KAL with BostonJen of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast is in the books! My Fantastico Vanilla socks are done…

 Pattern: Toe Up Vanilla sock over 68 stitches

Yarn: Regia 6-ply Fantastico

Needles: US 2s

I worked these toe-up with a gusset heal. I got feedback from my husband that this heel fits better across a wide foot. And my dad has is size 13 US wide. I managed to sneakily get my Dad to try these on pretending they were for my hubby. The fit was great and he remarked how soft he thought they were. I’ve given these a good wash and block and tucked away for Christmas. I meant to get my husband to model these for me but once out of sight…out of mind!

These turned out fairly tall and I only used 80% of the skein. Regia is a great yarn to work with and the 10 year guarantee doesn’t hurt. I see a lot more Regia 6-ply socks in my future for the sock worthy men in my life!

Happy Knitting!

Establishing The Pattern

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I’m slowly working on my Zigzagular Socks. I’m converting these to toe up so I’m having to think through the construction and the pattern to wrap my over tired brain cells around that all.

  
I’ve knit the stockinette toe for the right sock and places stitch markers for the pattern section. When I get a minute to concentrate I’m going to try to work through a chart repeat to see how this goes.

I made a series of realizations whilst working the toe increases. A) this yarn is more of a light fingering B) the ideal stitch counts for my foot at this guage fall in between the pattern counts C) my sister’s shoe size fits the 64 stitch count and guage perfectly. So basically my knitting subconscious is telling me these need to be for my sister. I don’t have the warewithall to both follow the chart, work my first cables and modify this to fit my foot. Baby steps….I’ll get the pattern in my fingers/brain first and then do another pair for me. Besides it will knock an item off my Christmas to do list!

Happy Knitting!

WIP Wednesday: Mandrake Vanilla Socks

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I’ve made some reportable progress on my Mandrake Vanilla Socks!

  
The first sock is done. This is a 68 stitch toe up vanilla sock with afterthought heel. I like the afterthought heel for preserving the stripes but I’m not sure it’s the best fit for me depending on my gauge/stitch count. But it works well enough to keep using for now.

  
I’ve started the second sock. When I wound the yarn I made sure to get two matching balls that started with the same stripe. However, I didn’t even use close to 50% of the yarn for the first sock so I’ll have lots of leftovers. But I’m really enjoying the cashmere content in these socks so leftovers would be the worst thing ever!

Happy Knitting!!