Get Balearique (Socks!)

The Balearique Socks' pattern has just been released!Believe me when I say that I am over the moon. This is the most fun you can have with teeny, tiny cables without driving yourself completely bonkers.

Please note that one gets a bit of (what I consider to be) a break while working the foot of these socks; the twisties get less complicated and are even easily-memorized.

The best part? These are sized for Gentlemen's feet (but easily converted to the Ladies' size by changing needles.) If you've been searching for that perfect pair of fancy socks to make for someone special (even if that person is yourself,) these are the socks for you.

As was mentioned in a previous post, this particular pair has gone off to live with Chris Coco, the inspiration for the socks, himself.

The pattern is available here on Ravelry (now,) and in my Etsy shop (soon.)

Socks take flight

ETA: The socks have made it to their recipient and he loves them! I just heard (literally) this morning and you can too, as Chris mentions them (and me) on Melodica, his weekly online radio show. Listen here: Melodica 19 July 2010 (1st anniversary special) -- the socks and I are mentioned shortly after the 5-minute mark. We're also on his blog.I'm pleased to report that the Balearique Gentleman's Socks were completed(!) and duly posted off to England about a week ago. They should be arriving at their final destination shortly, if they haven't already (fingers crossed.)I hope their recipient is/will be as pleased with them as I am.

As for you, my dear sock enthusiasts, I hope to have the pattern out (featuring both gentlemen's and ladies' sizing, achieved by switching needle sizes,) this week (by 24 July at the latest.)

For a good cause

January rolls on here at Pittsworth Manor -- miserably dark and, while not as cold as it has been lately, still fairly chill. It's great weather for knitting, but not so much for much of anything else.The astute among you will note that that's a sock in the picture, not a mitten. I'm trying to keep up with NaKniMitMo 2010, really I am, but duty calls, and at present I'm one mere pair of L'Amour et la Morte socks (Ravelled) away from being able to send another parcel off to the Antique Beat Boutique.

I should also mention that from now until 31 January 2010, 50% of the proceeds of select SpillyJane Knits patterns will be donated to Médecins Sans Frontières to support their work in Haiti. You can see (and pick up) the patterns on Ravelry here.

Heirloom socks pattern! 200th post!

This is my 200th post. Let's celebrate together with a new sock pattern release! The (newly-renamed) Heirloom socks are now available!Get the pattern here on Ravelry. It will be appearing in my Etsy shop shortly.

These rustic, intricate socks are knit top-down and are available in both Men’s and Women’s sizes, so they can be made to fit practially anyone that you’d like to knit them for!

As the Men’s size was created to fit US Men's shoe sizes 10 and 11 (and the pair I made fit my husband who wears a US Men’s 12,) they will fit the male feet in your life. There just aren’t enough pretty, manly (and pretty manly) socks out there!Oh yes, and they’ll fit you ladies too. You’ll just have to use fingering weight yarn instead of the worsted.

Please note that the gauge differs between the two sizes, as does the yarn weight and needle size:

Women’s Medium:
Yarn: 440 yards (100 g) of fingering weight sock yarn
Needles: 5 dpns in US 3 (3.25 mm)
Gauge: 7 stitches = 1 inch in Stockinette

Men’s Medium:
Yarn: 2 skeins of Patons Classic Wool (223 yards / 100 g) in Cognac
Needles: 5 dpns in US 4 (3.50 mm)
Gauge:5.5 stitches = 1 inch in Stockinette

And to make these critters, you'll going to have to be comfortable with knitting through the back of the loop, cabling, chart reading and knitting in the round.

I'm off to work on the Gauntles pattern. Keep an eye out for that today!

You can't even approach the flava..!

...of my Colognac. Erm, I mean Köln socks. From the front:and from the back:Yes, the socks shown are men's socks. The pattern will also offer woman-sized socks, so fear not.

I polished these off yesterday, while I was working al fresco. I fear that my days of knitting outdoors this year (at least in my area) are sadly numbered. Luckily that means it'll be time to actually wear the things that I've spent all that time making. In fact, I started one such project today, may they be done and wearble very, very soon:This is the relatively early beginning of a pair of fingerless mittens (gauntlets.) Yes, you read that correctly. I am fighting the urge to put fingertips on these critters, at least this time around.

Frankly, what astounds me more than the fact that I am actually purposefully knitting things without fingertips is that I'm not yet totally burnt-out on all this twisted-stitch knitting. It can get intense at times, that's for sure.

Owlmittens came out last night!

They're out! The Owlmittens are out! Yes, these are the mitteny equivalents of my Owlsocks -- remember those?Your copy of the 5-page .pdf is waiting for you right over here on Ravelry! Watch for the pattern to turn up in my Esty shop later this afternoon.The best part? The pattern comes with instructions and charts to make the Owlmittens as fingerless Owlmittens -- these are owls for all seasons!

And now for all that Owly info:

Size: Women’s Medium (or any hand that is 8” in circumference.)

Gauge: 9 stitches = 1 inch (2.5 cm) in Stockinette st.

Yarn: One ball of Knit Picks’ Palette (231yd / 50g) in each of the following colours: Camel Heather (Main Colour -- MC,) and Autumn Heather (Contrast Colour – CC.) Alternately, any other fingering yarn in these colours or colours of your choice may be used. A 15” piece of waste yarn of the same weight in a contrasting colour to hold the thumb stitches is also required.

Needles: One set of five (5) double pointed needles in US 1 (2.25 mm) or size necessary to obtain gauge.

Notions: A stitch marker to mark beginning of round (optional,) and a sewing needle to weave in ends.

Skills Needed: Increasing and decreasing, knitting in the round, stranded knitting, twisted stitches, and chart reading.

That's it! Enjoy the owls...the ROBOTS are next!

Knit your veggies!

As promised, the Carrots and Beets socks are ready for mass consumption! You can pick (hee) your own copy up either here on Ravelry or here in my Etsy shop.Who wants to wear their veggies? These socks feature a cute carrot and beet motif and would be a great addition to any vegetable lover’s (or chef's or vegan's or botanist's or vegetable gardener’s or taproot enthusiast's, etc...) sock collection!

Size: Women’s Medium (or any foot/leg that is 8” in circumference.)

Gauge: 8 stitches = 1 inch (2.5 cm) in Stockinette st.

Yarn: 2 skeins of Knit Picks Gloss (220 yd / 50 g) in Porcini (Main Colour – MC) and 1 skein each of the following Contrast Colours: 1 skein of Knit Picks Essential Kettle Dyed (231yd / 50g) in Grasshopper Kettle (Contrast Colour A – CA,) 1 skein of Knit Picks Essential (231 yd / 50) in Pumpkin (Contrast Colour B– CB,) 1 skein of Knit Picks Gloss (220 yd / 50 g) in Parsley (Contrast Colour D – CD,) and 1 skein of Knit Picks Essential Kettle Dyed (220 yd / 50g) in Bourdeaux Kettle (Contrast Colour E – CE) or any other comparable fingering weight yarns in colours that complement each other.

Needles: One set of five (5) double pointed needles in US 2 (2.75 mm) or size necessary to obtain gauge.

Notions: A stitch marker to mark beginning of round (optional,) and a sewing needle to weave in ends.

Skills Needed: Increasing and decreasing, knitting in the round, stranded knitting, twisted stitches, and chart reading.

Have fun with the veggies!

Saturday night's alright for...

Found: an odd, quickly scribbled MS Paint doodle in my ancient flickr account.
The weird part? It's still more relevant than ever. Oh, the universe provides.

In other less cryptic news, there is a new sock / sock pattern in the works. I regret to admit that production of said sock seems to have stalled...but let's just see what this week has to offer, shall we? We might be pleasantly surprised, and you just might see a sock that you might like to knit.

The new free pattern: Pittsworth

They're out!Pittsworth (Ravelry link) is a new, free sock pattern to comemmorate my move into Pittsworth Manor. Pick them up here on Ravelry, or here if you're not a Ravelry user.

Cables work their way down these socks from cuff to toe, and have lots of fun in the process. They might look technique heavy, but they’re not! There’s just enough pattern there to keep one interested, and the foot’s chart is easily memorized.The pattern is a 5 page .pdf with large, bright pictures and colour coded (!) charts.

These are kind of a sequel to the Naive socks (Ravelry link). I promise that you will like the write-up (and the heel) much, much better! It’s also a sort of prequel to Bavarois (Ravelry link), should you want to play with more fancy cabling.

And now that this is finished and posted...I'm off to work on another new sock.

The owls are out!

As promised, the Owlsocks pattern has just been released.Pick it up here on Ravelry or here, in my Etsy shop. I'll pop one of those cute little peectures over my sidebar for your future clicking pleasure.Maybe you'd like to learn a little bit more about the Owlsocks? Here goes:

Do you like owls? Do you like socks? We may have a found a perfect match!

Stately owls perch on these unique large-motif (but not intarsia) colourwork socks. The soles are striped so that the owl motif can be comfortably worked across the instep and the foot. Also, stripey socks are fun! Who can say no to stripey-soled socks?

Use as many or as few colours as you like for your socks! This would be a great way to use up odd bits of sock yarn.

The pattern is a clear, concise, 5-page .pdf file with large charts and images, which I will send via your PayPal email address as soon as I possibly can after I receive payment.

Size: Women’s Medium (or any foot/leg that is 8” in circumference.)

Gauge: 8 stitches = 1 inch (2.5 cm) in Stockinette st.

Yarn: 2 skeins of each of Elann Sock It To Me Essential 4 Ply (229 yd / 50 g) in Butternut (colourway 7918) (Main Colour – MC) and Olive (colourway 46335) (Contrast Colour – CC), or any other comparable fingering weight yarns in a comparable weightthat complement each other.

Needles: One set of five (5) double pointed needles in US 2 (2.75 mm) or size necessary to obtain gauge.

Notions: A stitch marker to mark beginning of round (optional,) and a sewing needle to weave in ends.

Skills Needed: Increasing and decreasing, knitting in the round, stranded knitting, twisted stitches, and chart reading.

Enjoy the owls!

With any luck...

...the owls will come out tonight! Or tomorrow, at the very latest.
The actual pattern is more or less complete! Progress continues on the actual sock. Once it's finished and proper pictures are taken, I'll release the owls.

Whooo is it?

Who, who is it?
Who, who is it?
Who, who is it?
Who, who is it?
What is it?
What is it?
What is it?
What is it?
Oh.....Baby it's you!
~ "Who is it?," Talking Heads


This is the Something from yesterday. It's the beginning of my brand new Owlsocks sock pattern! I was hoping to have more of it done before I showed you but something's come up. All of a sudden I find myself in the middle of putting together a new pattern shipment for The Loopy Ewe and now I'm attached to my compy. So now I'm trying to knit on a sock, take pictures, print patterns and update the blog all at once! Fun!

Expect to see more of the Owlsocks soon!

Swedish Fish Socks -- catch and RELEASE!

It's true -- the pattern for the Swedish Fish socks has been released into the wild!Grab it here on Ravelry, or here in my Etsy shop!

And in case you'd like to know a little bit more about this fishy footwear, here's some more info:

Little fishes swim back and forth on these fun, unique socks. These are the perfect (and cutest) introduction to colourwork socks if you’ve never tried them before!

Use as many or as few colours as you like for your socks! This would be a great way to use up odd bits of sock yarn.

The pattern is a clear, concise, 4-page .pdf file with large charts and images.

Size: Women’s Medium (or any foot/leg that is 8” in circumference.)

Gauge: 8 stitches = 1 inch (2.5 cm) in Stockinette st.

Yarn: 2 skeins of Knit Picks Gloss (231yd / 50 g) in Dolphin (Main Colour – MC) and 2 skeins of Knit Picks Essential Kettle Dyed (231 yd / 50 g) in Bordeaux Kettle (Contrast Colour – CC), or any other comparable fingering weight yarns in a comparable weightthat compliment each other.

Needles: One set of five (5) double pointed needles in US 2 (2.75 mm) or size necessary to obtain gauge.

Notions: A stitch marker to mark beginning of round (optional,) and a sewing needle to weave in ends.

Skills Needed: Increasing and decreasing, knitting in the round, stranded knitting, twisted stitches, and chart reading.

Have fun with the fishies!

Watch out for those fish

Just a quick post before the weekend explodes and I get totally sidetracked. The Swedish Fish sock is finished! Check it on out!I'll be starting on the pattern today. You will be notified as soon as it's ready (by the end of this weekend, maybe? We'll see!)