Sometimes I even scare myself.

It's true! Just look:

Another new sock!

This is Yukari. What's special about her is that an entire pair can be knit with one skein of Colinette Jitterbug. Those of you who are familiar with this yarn probably know that is slightly lacking in the yardage department. When it comes to sock-knitting, this can mean one of three things:

1. very, very pricey sock-knitting (two skeins at $20+ each is not going to happen,)

2. very, very suspenseful sock-knititng (one skein might be enough,)

3. toe-up socks (I tried this once -- and it worked wonderfully -- but I nearly came unhinged in the process.)

After my first intense (but ultimately successful) run-in with Jitterbug I had mentally resolved to not get involved with this yarn every again. Somehow, though (and this is probably my fault,) I ended up with another skein (in Summer Berries, for the curious.) It's been hanging out in the stash for a couple of months, and the other day I decided that its Time had come.

What ended up happening was a wide-ribbed sock with seed-stitch panels alternating with a classic scallop lace motif. Sure, the seed stitch might get a little lost at times, but the texture is still there. In this colouway, the overall effect is nothing less than lush. I would love to see what this looks like in a semi-solid (or solid) yarn.

Colour aside, this is a quick (and easily-memorized) knit, which would be ideal as an on-the-move project.

Yukari's already been added to Ravelry right over here. The pattern will be turning up in a couple of days.

Flannery sock pattern now available!

Yes, I can hardly believe it myself. Two patterns written in one week?! It's true -- Flannery is now available and ready to go whenever you (and your needles) are.

It's just occurred to me now that you haven't been formally introduced to Flannery. Allow me...

A sock inspired by the South, Flannery is eleganty rustic, featuring a wide knot cable and seed stitch rib.

The pattern is easily worked and memorized and is easily sized-up, making it a great fancy sock for men.

Here's a little bit more about her:

Size: Women’s Medium (or any foot/leg that is 8” in circumference.) The socks can be easily sized up by adding additional purled stitches between the cable and the twist stich rib.

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

Yarn: 440 yards of fingering weight yarn, preferably a solid or semi-solid colourway, to best show off the pattern. To make a pair of socks as shown here use 2 skeins of Elann Sock It To Me 4 Ply in Nutmeg (229 yards / 50 g per sock.)

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: Knitting in the round, basic cabling, twisted stitches, chart reading and grafting.

To purchase: If you are a Ravelry user, please use the "buy now" button under Kethry's picture in the sidebar to the right to pay via PayPal to receive an expiring link to download the pattern instantly.

If you are not on Ravelry, when you send payment of $6 USD via PayPal to janetree (at) gmail (dot) com I will promptly personally send you a copy of the pattern to your email as provided (within 8 hours
but most likely immediately.)

This is a great project for knitters who want to try (or practice) working with cables since it knits up quickly and is easy to memorize. With those long stretches between cabling rounds, this could be the perfect sock to knit in transit.

As always, enjoy! I'll be here should you need me.

Kethry pattern now available!

Kethry is finally ready for mass consumption! The pattern is a clear, concise, 4-page .pdf file with large charts and images.
Here are some other important things you might like to know about Kethry:

Size: Women’s Medium (or any foot/leg that is 8” in circumference,) or slightly larger. The lace pattern is very stretchy.

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

Yarn: 440 yards of fingering weight yarn, preferably a solid or semi-solid colourway, to best show off the pattern. To make a pair of socks as shown here use 2 skeins of Knit Picks Essential in Grass (231 yards / 50 g per sock.)

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: Knitting in the round, lace, twisted stitches, chart reading and grafting. No cabling skills are required in the making of this sock.

To purchase: If you are a Ravelry user, please use the "buy now" button under Kethry's picture in the sidebar to the right to pay via PayPal to receive an expiring link to download the pattern instantly.

If you are not on Ravelry, when you send payment of $6 USD via PayPal to janetree (at) gmail (dot) com I will promptly personally send you a copy of the pattern to your email as provided (within 8 hours
but most likely immediately.)

I would encourage all beginner-intermediate / intermediate sock knitters to give this pattern a try as it is far more complicated looking than it actually is to knit. Sam is already knitting her own Kethry and it's looking great.

Enjoy!

New Socks: Kethry.

This has been in the lurch for some time now, but today I finally finished the first Kethry sock:

This is another sock of my own design, and it's based on a Japanese stitch pattern. It features lace and faux cabling and looks much more difficult than it actually is. It's not -- trust me!

The pattern will be available sooner rather than later, and it's already on Ravelry here: Kethry.

Feel free to message me on Ravelry or comment here should you require any additional sock-related information.

Finishing School.

Today I managed to finish the first of my non-fingerless Regina Mitts:

I'm pleased with the way they're turning out so far. I can't help but wonder if I couldn't have managed to squeeze another half-rep of the berry pattern at the top of the mitt. Maybe I'll give it a shot when I whip up mitten no. 2, because (you know,) I won't be tired of bobbles and just wanting to get the thing over with already. On that note, I think I'll play it by ear and see how I feel when I get there.

Another fibrey thing of note is my ball of Frankenyarn:

This is 50 grams of my various handspun yarns that have been meticulously chopped into smaller bits and then joined together to make (eventually) One Crazy Sock. There is also 50 grams more of this stuff here to make Another Crazy Sock, but it has not yet been Frankenyarn-ified. If I had to splice together another 24 balls of yarn last night I think I'd have gone a bit funny.

Now all the Frankenyarn needs is a sock pattern to show off its charms. This should be a fun decision. We'll see.

What rut?

So much for that rut I was talking about -- these days the inspiration is overwhelming. Suddenly I find myself with not one but two new sock patterns in the works, mittens nipping at my heels and the urge to knit something large and full of holes becoming an almost all-consuming need.

On top of all this, last night found me gathering the rest of my handspun and busily turning other singles into usable yarns. I spent most of today spinning, plying and setting the twist of the last yarns to ensure that I have more than 100g of the stuff ready to go.

It seems another spindle sock is on the way!

Staggering Monkey mods.

It's impossible to improve on (sock) perfection, but sometimes one can tweak it a little. Here's the chart I made when I knit the first of my Staggering Monkeys:


Enjoy the mods! I'd love to see pictures of other Staggering Monkeys should anyone decide to make some.

Monkeys n' Bobbles.

As recently as last week I was wallowing in a knitting rut of unspeakable proportions. Here's the couple of projects that helped me claw my way out of limbo.

First up, my Staggering Monkeys:

Nothing, and I mean nothing can mimic the healing qualities of a couple of skeins of Koigu. This stuff should come with a warning label. Every time I use up my last couple of skeins I somehow manage to convince myself that it's not that great...I tell myself that there are loads and loads of other sock yarns out there and that I can definitely live without it...until more Koigu drops into my hands and the cycle begins anew.

If these Monkeys don't look quite like the average Monkey, there's a reason for that. First off, when I knit my Monkeys (and these are pair no. 3,) I always eliminate the purling and the YOs, replacing them with plain knit stitches and M1L and M1Rs, respectively. This produces a denser fabric and just looks more pleasing to my eye, really. I've also always wondered what would happen if one were to stagger the pattern on every other repeat. The result is twisty, twining paths that form a sort of pattern of diamonds and x's from cuff to toe. I charted out what I did, so if anyone would like to get their hands on it, let me know either in the comments below or on Ravelry.

Next, my Non-fingerless Regina Mitts:

I realize that fingerless mitts have their place, but I have to say I'm more of a finger-fan, myself. After slogging through (at the time of writing) 1700-odd mitten patterns on Ravelry and still not find that a nice, textured, sport-weight mitten that I'd actually want to make, the Regina Mitts caught my eye. The bobbles looked like fun, and I had never worked with them before, so I figures, why not? A little extra knitting around the thumb and fingertips, and I'll have a fancy new pair of mitts in no time flat. That's one day's worth of mitten knittin' in the picture.

The yarn I'm using is Québécoise. Not the softest yarn, by any stretch of the imagination, but it makes a fine pair of rustic mittens. As much as I love fancy yarns, I have a soft spot for the hardworking, simple yarns that allow my stitches to really stand out.

Now, what's actually scaring me is how much I love those bobbles. I never took myself for a Bobble Girl...who knew?

Snowflake Socks, FO.

Yarn: Knit Picks Telemark in Rosemary and Northern Green, 2 balls of each
Needles: Clover Takumi Bamboo dpns, US 2
Pattern: Snowflake Socks by Chrissy Gardiner
Started: January 2008
Finished: January 2008

Notes: My first true FO of 2008, as they were both started and completed in the new year. Also my first colourwork socks -- they won't be my last! I'm already tossing around pattern ideas for colourwork socks of my very own (I know, I should finish The New Mitten first, but I can't help it.)

Since I wasn't getting row gauge with the Telemark I made slight mods to the pattern, which are detailed here.

Fun Fact: All told, I think these socks took me six days to produce. Not that I worked on them non-stop for six consecutive days -- there were breaks here and there -- but I averaged about three days per sock. I think this may be a new personal record.

Three whole days.

I can't believe it either, but look what I finished yesterday:

This gives me hope that the second sock will knit up just as fast, but still I fear the Second Sock Thing a-knockin'. I'm fairly sure that the allure of being able to actually wear these socks will help me overcome this.

Since I'm using Telemark (which is not the recommended yarn,) and since I didn't bother to swatch beforehand (which is just me living dangerously,) I've had to make a few tiny adjustments to my final sock. Luckily, blessedly, I'm getting stitch gauge but not row gauge. This, as I've been told, is not always something to worry about, one merely adds or subtracts rows as needed. So before I forget, and on the off-chance that someone would like to make their own pair of Snowflake Socks in Telemark (two balls of each colour will make one pair of socks,) here's what I did:

Heel Flap: Stopped to turn heel after there were 11 chain sts on either side of the flap rather than the prescribed 14. Ended up picking up 14 sts total on either side (13 sts + m1 to close up gap between gusset and instep) so all the gusset decreases were on track as per the pattern.

Foot: Knit one full rep of snowflake pattern and then knit first 7 rows again rather than knitting the last rep all the way to row 13. Had done as the pattern said and tried it on to find that my toes were already covered. Ripped back to the end of row 7 and prepared to start the toe from there. Knit 1 row in MC and then started toe decs on the very next row, in CC.

Toe: Changed the toe decreases. Realized that my row gauge wasn't going to play nice with the toe as written, so I did the following:

Rnd 1: *k7, ssk, k5*
Rnd 2: k all sts
Rnd 3: *k7, ssk, k4*
Rnd 4: k all sts
Rnd 5: *k7, ssk, k3*
Rnd 6: *k7, ssk, k2*
Rnd 7: *k7, ssk, k1*
Rnd 8: *k7, ssk*
Rnd 9: *k6, k2tog*
Rnd 10: *k5, k2tog*
Rnd 11: *k4, k2tog*
Rnd 12: *k3, k2tog* -- 16 sts rem.
Graft toe, weave in ends.

Ultimately, the toe ended up a bit more stubby than the ones I usually knit, but the fit is fine, so I don't mind too much. Now if only that second sock would knit itself!