Tag Archives: socks

Big Bang Update

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My Big Bang Vanilla Sock has been growing quietly in the dark.

This is my post-bedtime knitting in the dark while the temperamental PB sleeps in the bassinet next to me. She still has finely tuned baby radar and can tell when she’s alone in the bedroom. Instead of feeling frustrated I take this as an opportunity to knit or honestly….go to sleep too. Babies are exhausting.

This TurtlePurl yarn has an interesting striping sequence. It’s two different two color stripe blocks each separated by a single red stripe. The colors emerge and are a complete surprise to me when I get this out in the daylight. I bought this yarn for the cute name and to be truthful, wasn’t entirely sold on the colors after I started knitting. But they are growing on me.

I have a TON of yarn in this sock set. I’m going to see how long I can stand knitting a plain tube. I am shooting for tall socks but I don’t think I will use up all the yarn. I don’t want to have to figure in calf shaping or too many increases over my standard mid-calf sock recipe. Time will tell!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Big Bang Vanilla Socks

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My needles felt very naked after I finished the Electric Mayhem socks. And I totally NEEDED another self-striping project. My brain was just craving that popcorn knitting of “just one more stripe” type of project.

So I pulled some Turtlepurl Yarns Striped Turtle toes yarn from my stash in the Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock colorway. That is a reference to one of my favorite shows, the Big Bang Theory. And the dyer had already split the 100 grams into two matching 50 gram skeins. I got this wound up and cast on my usual 68 stitch toe up vanilla sock on US 1 needles. I plan to knit tubes again and add afterthought heels later. Based on the yarn….I’m thinking solid red heels. But I’ll see how the tubes turn out first.

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Electric Mayhem Socks

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My nighttime bedside knitting has proved very fruitful! My Electric Mayhem Socks are in the finished pile!

Pattern: My own 68 stitch toe up vanilla sock with afterthought heel

Yarn: KnitCircus Greatest of East in Electric Mayhem colorway and some generic black sock yarn from Joann’s for the heel.

Needles: US 1 nine inch circular

I managed to use up almost every inch of the 75 grams of this gradient set. I have a tiny ball of the yellow left to save for repairs if needed in the future!

This self-striping gradient was SUPER addictive. Even in the dark I couldn’t see the colors shifting and it was always really cool to see what had appeared when I looked in the morning. The yarn is also substantial and yet soft. I would totally knit this base again!

My one possible hiccup was the heels. They heels were worked on separate occasions (in the light) and I took notes. But they are completely obvious they are two different sized heels! One is larger than the other. It doesn’t appear based on a cursory wearing that it affects the fit. But I should get a better idea when they get a full work out in the fall. I have a bunch left of the black yarn. It wouldn’t be terrible if I had to pull out and re-knit the smaller heel. I guess that’s the bonus of afterthought heels right?

Happy Knitting!!

Knitting and Napping

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My Electric Mayhem socks are all done except the heels! Thus they have moved from nighttime bedside knitting to full on daylight knitting. As brave as I am….I’m not going to knit fingering weight sock yarn in black in the dark, lol

PB has been on hand for the heels. These heels were ready about the same time the 4 week growth spurt hit. So PB has needed a little extra attention and tummy to tummy time from mommy. Luckily I have found a relatively comfortable and ergonomic position to knit while snuggling a baby.

We both stayed warm and cozy listening to music or podcasts while the heels grew and grew.

And sometimes you just have to stop and enjoy the baby snuggles before they are gone!

Happy Knitting!!

Electric Mayhem Progress

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My Electric Mayhem socks are now two complete tubes waiting for heels!

I have been using these as my bedside knitting. I can knit in the dark while PB sleeps and I hide for some self care time. I love my family and boy howdy are my kids loved by some many people…but I have had visitors at my house pretty much non-stop since the week we came home from the hospital. And that’s just a lot for a sleep deprived mom of two. These socks have been very therapeutic for me. I get some alone time and make progress on some pretty amazing socks.

I measured and cut in for my afterthought heels on both socks. By popular vote in my house….I have listened to the masses and chosen to stick with the black sock yarn from Joanns for my heels. I briefly flirted with purple heels but ultimately came back around to black. Now I just need some uninterrupted knitting time (with light) to knit both heels and I’ll have a FO!

Happy Knitting

Hospital Knitting

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I surprised even myself by sneaking in some hospital knitting after PB arrived.

I made sure my cheery project bag lived near my bedside. If nothing else it was making me happy to know it was there. But lo and behold….I snuck in some stitches!

I put on a couple rows on my Thotful Spot hat. But I found having to follow the stitch pattern for the brim was just a little too much for sleep deprived and medicated brain.

So I switched to the second sock of my Electric Mayhem socks. This plain stockinette in the round was WAAAY more up my alley. I had managed to get the toe cast on and the increases worked before the hospital. Now I fully admit that I didn’t get a ton of knitting done but again it was nice to have it there and at least touch it. It always soothes even the most tiresome day!

Happy Knitting!!

These Socks Are Electric

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My Electric Mayhem Socks are just downright addictive….

I have cruised through three of the five color changes and only have a teeny bit of yarn left. I find myself thinking, I’ll just get to the next color and then I can’t quit. This yarn just makes you look like a knitting genius and absolutely baffles the muggles. Not to mention it helps this knitter get through some interminable meetings and webinars.

I only have a few grams of yarn left. I think the plan will be to finish the green section in stockinette and when I hit the yellow I’ll switch to 2×2 ribbing for the cuff. As I said before, I’m just knitting a tube until I run out of yarn and I’ll just cut in an afterthought heel when it’s all said and done. Easy peasey and no complex thinking required….just what the knitting doctor ordered!

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Strands of Drunken Watermelon

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By pure force of will (and a good bought of pregnancy related insomnia) My Strands of Drunken Watermelon socks are FINISHED!

In full disclosure a good bit of the second sock was knit at 2 am…while eating cereal….and crying for no good reason other than I couldn’t sleep. I’m not sure what kind of karma that knits into this sock…but hot darn I have a FO!

Pattern: Strands of Gold by Linda Garland

Yarn: Miss Babs Hot Shot in Drunken Watermelon

Needles: US 1s

I used roughly 332 yards of yarn for this pair which or 94 grams. I have a nice little ball of leftovers to tuck into my memory blanket and to save a little for any future sock repairs. I was really happy with this yarn. It’s a nice plump 3-ply with great stitch definition. The pattern was a pretty good one. I memorized the pattern really quickly and really didn’t read the pattern after that. Which is evident because I didn’t use the short row heel written in the pattern, lol.

The socks fit pretty well even on my 36 week swollen cankles….so I’m confident the will be ready to fit for fall when hopefully I’m more normal sized. But this finish leaves me with NO SOCKS ON THE NEEDLES. I don’t want to start a bunch of stuff before PB’s arrival but I need at least a vanilla sock for work/purse knitting. Time to go stash diving!!

Happy Knitting!!

Drunken Watermelon Heel

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I managed to meet my goal of working through the Drunken Watermelon heel yesterday!

I do admit this was quite a bit of knitting for me, especially given I am working a 72 stitch sock and gusset increases can feel like FOREVER.  But I’m pleased with my progress and gusset heels just fit me so nicely. Now I only have 13 pattern repeats or 52 rows of leg knitting to get to the ribbing.

Not going to lie, the weather is improving in Kansas and between conference calls and outside playtime for Jellybean……I’m interested to see how far I can get today and tomorrow on this….

Dare I dream that these are a FO by the weekend?

 

WIP Wednesday: Drunken Watermelon Socks

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In a fit of pregnancy nesting I have been steaming through some of my languishing WIPs in my UFO bin. This week’s project is my Drunken Watermelon socks.

Last I shared about this project I was at the progress keeper shown hanging out at the toe. And for this week’s webex and webinar craziness, I worked on this project. I mean it’s just criminal to let Miss Babs yarn sit hibernating for almost a year!

I cruised through the rest of the foot and started the gusset increases. I have set a personal goal to get through the heel by tomorrow. The good news is that I have the first sock to compare to and it’s easy to count my rows/stitches so that I can make equal sized socks!