These were knit during the Springtime for a friend - the second time I have used knitpicks Moc Croc pattern - complementary to variegated yarn I think. Presented here in Schaeffer's "Anne".
These are STR "Lenore" socks leftover from the '07 membership I believe. Functional, dark, and wintery!
I thought this (blouson on the left - in progress) would be the perfect way to use up the rest of my sport-weight jojoland wool, and while I'm at it, revisit the wearability of the traveler's stockings.
My favorite model from the IK magazine & the Lace Blouson:
Not being "washable" wool, this is my only knitted footwear that has shrunk from washing in a classic wool way...so must be left to dry on sock blockers in order to fit properly; even then the heel slips down under the foot. The socks have worn well, but the design of the traveling stitches has fuzzed up somewhat or "felted' slightly as you can see:
Note the crisp traveling stitches prior to wearing and washing: View image
That being said, I might choose a different wool to make this type of stocking in the future that will felt less and not shrink, and perhaps use this wool for non-sock type items that experience less wear and therefore less washing. But I love the colors and texture for socks, so these do get worn a lot!
I've been wanting to knit these for a few years. This one's going fast... considering reversing colors for the second sockie. What do you think?
These babies took quite a while to finish. I think it's because of the unrelenting 8 row repeat which is patterned every row and requires lots of focus.
Beginning innocently enough with the toe...
and progressing into an interesting heel construction...
ending with a lovely bobble and picot edge:
...
It was worth the effort!
A bright Springy orange!
Begun with the toes:
Detail of lace patterning:
Time: February to March
Pattern can be found here:
http://autoscopia.com/amelia/assets/elfinesocks.pdf
Even the sheepies are only just peaking out over the top! My first toe-up socks - the garter stitch toe and heel are fun :-)
These rockin' socks from the club were originally designed with large reversible cables on the legs, and they were originally knit that way, but as they were way too tight, had to be unraveled. The revision involved continuing the ribbing up a few inches, then switching to k2p2 ribbing for extra snuggness.
From Handknit Holidays, the first stocking took about a year. The second one went faster as I was motivated to finish the pair. Haven't worn them with a skirt yet, but with the rolling factor makes wearing them under pants slightly difficult. Stockings are always so appealing, but not all that practical! There is something so graceful about a long sinewy stocking next to a short sporty sock. Also the temptation to use hand-dyed yarn for so much solid stockinette meant that each skein varied in color slightly, resulting in a pair that doesn't exactly match. Another difficulty is the continuous shaping done "invisibly" in the lace/cable pattern down the back of the leg which requires careful attention, especially over the course of a year!
Using a different yarn than specified resulted in a tighter knit, creating "knee-high" rather than "over-the-knee" stockings. I think that the top coming to just under the knee stays up better, however.
The mini "fish-tail" lace pattern seemed to take forever, but my current obsession with lace and detail is taking me in that direction. The description on the label says that aloe vera and jojoba oil are blended in with the wool - it got me to buy it! The colors are soothing, and after some experimentation, I realized that the stripes did indeed have to match the previous sock. Woo hoo! You may notice the absence of a tiny lavender stripe near the end of one toe - I ran out of yarn in the sequence.
I used Claudia's handpainted yarn, which if you don't know is "Gem Pearl" made by Louet - the two socks are actually the same dye lot (but different skeins)... at first I wasn't sure how I felt about the different color schemes happening here, but have since decided I love them!! They are extrememly comfortable and the colors go with everything.
And the lace pattern makes this delightful wavy occurence which also breaks up the color. Perfect for knitting while sailing out on the open seas...
...and were in fact completed on the Alaska cruise.
Everyone should try knitting with beads at least once... it's fun!
From Rockin' Sock Club 12/06
This may be my favorite sock club pattern so far. It was just immensely fun to knit from the beginning right to the end. Watching to see if the swirls of color would wrap all the way around or just make an interesting "s" shape was part of the intrigue. I love the ruffle, and the color combinations here. And interestingly, I had half hoped that the colors would form stripes like other ones I had seen, but I really got to liking the pooling. Yay pooling!! The "faux" cable lays flat as opposed to real cable, which to me makes it an ideal design for socks.
Using medium weight was initially tricky, because in order to get such a fine gauge, I had to go down to size 00 needles. The end result is a very firm and thick fabric that feels like double-knitting to touch - also the steel needles won't break under the strain of such a strong yarn which is always a good thing. The short row heel is very satisfying to do and fits a low-instep like mine just perfectly. Happy Feet!!
I was completely delighted with the way Lorna's Laces worked on this great (and free) pattern available here:
http://www.knitpicks.com/Projects/itemid_50400220/projects_display
Having selected some of the beautiful Claudia's handpainted yarn, I decided to try it out on a really basic Nancy Bush Vintage socks pattern. It pleased me to see nice little perky stripes forming out of the wound ball of yarn, and I thought the comparison was interesting:
However, the lovely socks ended up TOO BIG! This is not the first time, and it occurred to me that anything using regular gauge sock yarn and casting on more than 60 or 65 is going to fit a larger foot just fine, but not my foot. So my mom has happy feet with these:
I was never able to wear Mom's shoes, but she can wear my socks!
The most challenging thing about the second sock was trying to make it match the first the one. Yes, it matters. I had to re-knit the gusset because the lace decreased too quickly - more guesswork here. Then, I had to re-knit the toe, because it seemed twisted and I couldn't remember where the heel ended and the instep began. Overall the pair ended up more or less symmetrical, I think. I do like the different pooling action on both feet, and the cool diagonal striping on the legs!
My third STR socks! Here is the left one - with "brambling lace meandering down into enraptured cable."
