Tag Archives: felici

FO Friday: Dark Side Vanilla Socks (Take Two)

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Just a little cheery rainbow to cap off the week. I finished my Dark Side Vanilla Socks (Take Two) and got them washed and ends woven in.

Pattern: 72 stitch vanilla sock made from machine cranked sock snake

Needles: US 0s

Yarn: Knit Picks Felice in Dark Side and Cascade Heritage Sock in Grey

My stripes are reversed and the toes are a little squared off. But the socks are soft and warm and the perfect rainbow to brighten up any shelter in place order.

The next question is…what should my next socks be??

Happy Knitting

Weaving Fail

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I was trying to be a good knitter and give future Rachelle a leg up on finishing these socks. I decided to weave in the end on my Dark Side Vanilla Socks (Take Two) before starting the heels. I am making these from a sock machine cranked sock tube, so there are a LOT of ends to weave in from the contrast heels, toes and cuffs.

I was working with the sock turned inside out and when I turned them right side out I had a d’oh moment. I had accidentally dipped my needle in too far and grabbed a stitch from the sock. After a couple of curse words I turned the sock inside out again and PICKED OUT MY CAREFULLY WOVEN IN ENDS. It took 30 minutes because the universe was teaching me a lesson.

I very carefully re-wove in the ends after I released the extra stitch. It looks much better now! It was a total weaving fail but at least one I could correct. I think these socks are ready for their afterthought heels now!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Dark Side Socks (Take Two)

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I was digging around in my craft room looking for some progress keepers and I came across a sock project bag that I had shoved to the back of a shelf. To my delight, I found that it contained my second pair of Knit Picks Felici socks in the Dark Side colorway.

I had knit up the first pair for my friend in Portland when I went to visit last November. And then in the chaos of the holidays these just got forgotten. The two small tubes both had toes knit into them so all they need are cuffs and heels. I decided to get these fired back up.

The stripes are in reverse order because of how I split the tubes (aka sock snakes) but I really don’t mind. I will just be happy to have a short-ish pair of socks to add to my drawer. Though I think I have wrapped my brain around how to avoid this in the future if I want.

I worked one evening on them and made some decent progress on the first cuff. Maybe these will be my spring time present to myself?

Happy Knitting!

FO Friday: Dark Side Vanilla Socks

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I have a FO and they are just about the wackiest pair of socks I have every knit. My Dark Side Vanilla Socks are done and ready for their recipient!

Pattern: 72 stitch vanilla sock made from a sock snake/tube

Needles: US 0s

Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in Dark Side and Cascade Heritage Sock in Grey

These socks are one full 50 gram skein of the Felici  split between two socks and then roughly 25 grams of the Cascade sock. I definitely didn’t split these evenly and one leg ended up longer than the other. You can see that one set of cuff ribbing is about double the other one. So the socks are now equal in total length but not in ribbing. I’m rolling with it.

And as pointed out so very eloquently in the comments of a previous post. The stripes are reversed because I knit toes from both ends of the sock snake so when I split in the middle they became opposites. And you can totally see that because the red and purple stripes are exactly opposite one another in each sock.

These delicious socks are bound for Portland Oregon as a gift for a dear friend whom I plan to visit this fall. I have a quick weekend trip up my sleeve to celebrate my recently acquired status as 35 years old. She is a dear friend and VERY knit worthly. Not to mention she is letting me crash for free in her house, so it’s only fair!

And I still have the other 50 gram sock snake in this color to deal with. I need to decide if they will be socks for me or another quick gift pair for Christmas….decisions decisions…..

A Present for My Eyes

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My mother is amazing at a lot of things. And shopping for a bargain is one of her most finely honed skills. She was in Joanns with some quilting friends and spied an Ottlite in the clearance section. This is a RARE occurance and she was intrigued. She asked an associate and they told her it was a old “design” that they were told to clearance because a new appearance/look was coming in. So she got a CRAZY good deal on this light and presented it to me for my birthday.

I decided to put it to good use weaving in the ends on my Dark Side Vanilla socks last night. I just plugged it in next to the couch and went to work! My 35 year old eyes LOVED it. It was so easy to see the dark colors and catch the purl ridges. I may never be able to go back to regular light. I might have hugged my mother extra hard for this one!

Happy Knitting!!

First Fire

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Kansas has seemed to skip fall and go straight into winter. We had snow on Halloween for Pete’s sake! I batted my eyelashes at my husband and last night he built a fire for me. My house is chaotic and messy but the kids are asleep and I have knitting and a mesmerizing fire.

I worked on the cuffs to the Dark Side vanilla socks that I separated the other day. Nothing too exciting, just good solid progress on a very meditative project. I even inserted the needles for the first heel so it would be ready and waiting after the second cuff.

Happy Knitting!!

Don’t Drink And Seperate

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So earlier this week I managed to measure and start to insert needles so I could cut in afterthought cuffs on my Dark Side Vanilla socks. Well yesterday was my birthday and I had a glass or two of some very fine Rose with my dinner. And somehow it seemed like a great idea to then cut my knitting.

I might have made a small miscalculation when deciding the exact middle of my socks. One sock is noticeably shorter than the other. Like by four or five rows. I think my plan is to just add the extra needed rows in cuff portion so that the overall sock length is the same between the two.

One idiosyncrasy I noticed is that the black stripes mostly line up but the color stripes are not even close. Probably because of the way I knit toes from the opposite ends of the stripe sequence. I am the boss of my knitting and I have decided I like all of the above because its quirky like me!

Happy Knitting!!

Finding The Middle

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I decided to go ahead and add in the cuffs to my Dark Side Vanilla Socks even if I’m not sure when I will add the heels for my friend. From toe to toe I have 22 inches of sock tube. The plan is to find and pick up rows of stitches on either side of 11 inches and then cut the tube apart. The fund part is that the 11 inch mark falls in one of the black stripes….yay.

I managed to get the first side picked up. And then I had to take a break for my eyes sake. It was kind of terrible and made my eyes strain quite a bit. As I trudge closer to 35, tomorrow is my birthday, I find that I need better and better light to see the darker yarns.

But these socks are so worth it! Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Cheery Vanilla Socks

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My Cheery Vanilla Socks got their last heel installed and I have all the ends woven but not clipped. Happy Finished Object Friday to all!!

Pattern: My own toe up vanilla “recipe” for  72 stitches with an afterthought heel

Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in Cheer. I used about 305 yards or 70 grams of yarn to make these. (I have a US 9.5 to 10 foot, the struggle is real you guys….)

Needles: US 0

Mods: I made shorties this time that land just above my shoe line.

They are snug without being tight. They seem to stay on my feet as I made sure to make my heel deep enough this time. Prior attempts with shorties left with socks that liked to slip off my heel and down into my shoe. Surprisingly they match pretty darn well. I honestly can’t remember if I tried to do that on purpose or it was a happy accident. I’ll take it either way.

These still need a good wash to get the martini scent out and even out some of the stitches. Oh, and I’m noticing that the heels don’t match exactly. Maybe I can use this to designate a left and a right sock?

I’ve been puttering around with these socks since August 2018 so I felt pretty chuffed to clear my needles and have a pair of socks to add to my drawer. And the yarn has been in my stash since 2015 so that feels good as well. I like to see some of my older but yet still loved yarn see its full potential.

Happy Knitting!!

Dark Side Toes

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I finished toe twinsies on my Dark Side Vanilla Socks. This sock snake aka sock tube is one of the 50 gram skeins of Knit Picks Felici in their Dark Side color way. I just unpicked the waste yarn on either end and knit two toes. For the toes i’m using some stash Cascade Heritage sock yarn in grey.

My plan now is to measure and find the middle and then knit two grey ribbed cuffs. This should maximize the use of the yarn. Theoretically after that I can measure and cut in afterthought heels.

I’m traveling soon to see an old dear friend. We are having a girls weekend with wine and yoga pants. Oh, and doggie snuggles as she has two senior dogs who are excellent couch companions. But I digress, I’m thinking of bringing the two socks (heel-less) and presenting them to her as a gift. I can then measure her feet and place the heels while I am there for a custom fit.

Does that sound like a genius idea or a recipe for stressful deadline disaster?