Just One More Stripe

I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of self striping yarn. My current pair of self striping socks leaves me just wanting “one more stripe before I stop”.


I even went so far as to knit past the heel placement and has to tink back three rows! You can just see my waist yarn peaking at the top. I’m in love with String Theory Colorworks and their striping genius. I love how the brights pop against the navy!

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Halloween Leftovers Cowl

Guys….it’s done!


I made a fingering weight cowl in less than a week! That is in large part to some long conference calls and some grandparent/Jellybean time that let me knit. But I’m stoked!!


I finished this up at my dad’s regional football game. Very fitting setting for the Pigskin Party KAL, no? I even used my Berry Colorful Yarnings leftovers to score bonus sponsor points in the KAL!!


For project specifics and a basic pattern, find my Rav notes here. I’m going to bask in my knitty accomplishment…


Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Manic Panic Cowl

Hello November!!

I saw on the Ravelry boards for the Down Cellar Studio Pigskin Party KAL that the November interception involved self striping yarn…..but not socks! Well I went digging in my stash for some of those lingering single skeins of self striping sock yarn. What better way to stash bust and earn extra KAL points. After careful consideration I pulled a skein of Knit Picks Felici in the Sweetheart color. A really nice mix of pinks that I chose because it made me happy.

I perused my Rav favorites and rediscovered the Manic Panic Coke by Sarah Core. It’s a simple cowl worked with slipped stitches that should help my stripe repeats really shine. I opted to work the small size that called for 333 stitches. And I ended up using size 7 needle because that’s what I had in wood needles at the correct length. I managed to cast on after bedtime with Jellybean and get a few rows in.


Boy is that a lot of stitches. It’s very bunched up but I made sure not to twist. I made one small mod already. I cast on as called for in the patten but after that I worked two rows of garter stitch before starting the slipped stitch patterning. I really just felt like defining the edge before establishing the pattern. Plus it helped me make sure my cast On was neat and not twisted. 

To count for extra points in the KAL I need to finish this by November 30. So this may replace my purse project of vanilla socks so I can get some good knitting time into this!

Happy Knitting!!

A Very Berry Finish

I have a new snuggly pair of socks!

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Very Berry Vanilla Socks

Pattern: DVD – Simple Toe Up Socks by Denise Bell

Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in Mixed Berries

Needles: 1 US

Mods: None, worked pattern over 68 stitches

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I fell in love with these colors and these socks became hard to put down. I can’t believe I started these at Christmas! The afterthought heel was much easier on the second sock. I’m not sure if I like the fit on my foot. But I need to give these a good trial before I decide.

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Now on to my next pair!

Happy Knitting!

WIP Wednesday: Very Berry Vanilla Socks

Some recent windshield time coupled with lots of Grandparents time for Jellybean has meant I’ve gotten some knitting done!

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My Very Berry Socks are moving along swimmingly. I’m loosely following the DVD – Simple Toe Up Sock pattern. I’ve reached the after thought heel on sock #1 and very close on sock #2. You may notice that I’m knitting two at a time. For Christmas I got a second 8″ sock circular. And I’m in love!

One thing about these socks….the skeins are different dye lots I picked up from another knitters destash. So I purposely started them at different color stripes. They are almost mirror images of each other. I hope this will help hide the fact the colors don’t match exactly. Fingers crossed….

WIP Wednesday: Very Berry Vanilla Socks

After I cast off the last pair of vanilla socks I had the itch to cast on another pair. I dug around in my stash for some more Knit Picks Felici self-striping yarn and came up with two skeins of Mixed Berry. Then I hunted through my Rav queue and found DVD – Simple Toe Up Socks .

So onto the needles they went. I quickly realized I need to change the pattern….

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The toe increases at 2 stitches per round just don’t cut it for my man-like toes. So to the frog pond I went. I used a 4 stitch increase per round and got this…

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Much better! I’m working both socks at once, just on separate sets of circulars. So I actually have two toes made. On to the foot sections I go. This pattern uses an afterthought heel and I’m excited to learn this method!

Ps. Happy New Year to all 😉

FO Friday: Toe Up Vanilla Socks

I have conquered my socks! What a great way to wrap up my #sockswithsarah year!

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I used size 1US dpns and 8″ 1US circulars. I loosely followed this pattern and adapted to fit my gauge and yarn weight. I used almost two whole skeins of Knit Picks Felici fingering weight in Aquarium.

I’m really sad that this yarn is discontinued because it knit up like a dream! Except for some laddering in the foot sections I’m pretty happy with these. I wore them to work on Christmas Eve and they kept my toes nice and toasty!!

Happy Knitting

Almost…..

I have one complete sock!!

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And since I knit two at a time on two separate sets of circulars the second sock is almost to the cuff! The first fits like a dream but has some issues with ladders on the foot section. I’m chalking it up to a learning experience and will fix on my next pair. My “give a sh#t” level with a three month old to take care of is just not that high, lol. They function as socks just fine!

Have you ever just moved on from an imperfect knitting project?

On Being Inside Out

In my last few #sockswithsarah sock updates I’ve had a few curious questions about the fact that my socks are knitting inside out. And I would I would share why. Two things:

1: I like working in what I think of “modified magic loop”. In other words I have two dpns that I use like two circulars or one extra long circular. I then have a third needle to work the active yarn. And normally the socks are right side out and the active stitches to be knit would be on the needle closest to my body.

2: I have very long fingers. And now I have developed pregnancy induced carpal tunnel in my hands/wrists. I couldn’t stand to work very long on my socks.

My local yarn shop owner overheard my problem awhile back. She had a nifty suggestion….turn the darned thing inside out!  

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This allows the active stitches to be knit to be on the back needle. I’m still knitting…no purling. But the slight difference in distance allows my hands to relax more and my fingers to be less cramped. I’ve had almost zero carpal tunnel since switching styles. And when I’m done….I just have to turn the socks inside out 🙂

Not sure if this makes sense. Not sure if it’s a knitting thing or just something weird that works for me. But I had enough comments I wanted to share with the world. Sorry if the photo doesn’t help me elaborate the point….I’m about to turn the heel after completing the gussets.

Has anyone else every done something a little different to solve a knitting problem?