Monday Monday ... and an FO

Hi there - I was MIA last week, not for any particular reason, just because I didn't get around to it.  It happens.

But here is another Monday, which is also the last one of February, so 2021 is moving right along whether we are ready for it or not.  Not much is new around here, except I do have an FO to show you - the first of this year!

Project: Happy Socks

Pattern:  On the leg, I did Row 1=K2, slip 1; Row 2=knit all around

Yarn:  Sinister Yarns Sinister Sock set, in the colorway Come Seekers Where Our Voices Sound

Needles:  US size 1

Notes: I started these socks on Inauguration Day (hence their name), and admittedly, only worked on them in spurts.  I finished the first sock, and then didn't even start the second for about a week or so.  I think it was a combination of two things: I just wasn't really in the mood, and though I love the way they look, they just didn't keep grabbing my attention.  But I am pleased with the way they turned out, and I put them into the Box o' Knits, which I've created this year for knits that are for gifts, charity, or just whose fates are currently undecided.  The sock set has been in my stash for quite a while, so it was about time it had it's moment of glory!

The photo above shows the brightness of the colors when I took a photo in the daylight with my camera - the photo below was taken on my tablet, using the Pixel app from Google, set on "Night Light" (a setting for indoors, under lower light):

This one shows the specks of color in the yarn better, so I'm showing you both of them.  But I think no matter which one you look at, you can see why they are Happy Socks!  😀

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I'm still knitting away on my sweater, nearly finished with the first sleeve, so the progress is slow but steady.  And yesterday I started a new project, which I'll show you soon.  Now I just need to decide which yarn to choose for my next pair of socks, and whether they'll be for me, or for someone else.  I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Here's hoping you are doing well, and that your week is a good one.  

2018 Knits

Before we get much more into the new year, I wanted to do a summary of what I made during 2018.  I'm pretty pleased with my total, especially when you consider that I couldn't even attempt to knit for the months of October, November, and December.  Realistically, if I hadn't broken my wrist, I think I could have gotten one or two more pairs of socks done - though it still would have been short of twelve pairs for the year!  No problem though, since for me, the Box o' Socks is for fun and a bit of challenge more than anything else.

Anyway, I'm happy with what I was able to accomplish.

Eight pairs of socks

A sweater for me

A sweater for my new great-nephew Oden, who was born in April

A patriotic dishcloth for the 4th of July

A pumpkin hat and an eggplant hat for dear friends, whose babies were originally due in October, but arrived towards the end of July (they are doing really well, btw).

Total:  13 items - I thought it was a lower number, so that's pretty exciting as far as I'm concerned!

FO: Blackbird Socks

Hello!  The beauty of the Internet is that you don't have to listen to me coughing and hacking while trying to type this - trust me, you should appreciate it.  :-)  I'm feeling better, and will be back at work tomorrow.  My dr said that in a perfect world, it would be good to stay put for another week, but she understands my situation, and said just to do the minimum (so I don't get fired!) and go home if I am really struggling.  I'm at home today because we are off for Columbus Day.  Regardless of how you feel about Christopher Columbus, I am grateful every year for a day off.  I guess that's a perfect case of situational ethics.

But I digress.  I am more than grateful for all of your kind words wishing me well.  It's always so nice to know others are thinking of you and giving you a virtual hug. 

Moving on, it's time for an FO post - hooray!!

You may remember this post, where I discussed making a pair of socks for my brother-in-law Patrick on the upcoming occasion of his 70th birthday.  Well, my sister is also turning 70 years old this year, and so she needed an appropriate pair of socks to mark the occasion too.

Project:  Blackbird Socks
Pattern:  Classic Socks for the Family (my go-to vanilla sock pattern)
Yarn:  Must Stash Yarn Must Match Sock Yarn, The White Album, Disc B colorway
Needles:  US size 1
Modifications:  None
Notes:  Another good one from Must Stash Yarns!  I just did a 2 x 2 ribbed cuff, and then 3 x 1 ribbing for the entire sock.  These went quickly, because of course, I kept wanting to see what happened next.  And this particular yarn colorway was an obvious choice because the White Album was not just amazing, but the song "Julia" inspired the name of one of my nieces.  I call these Blackbird Socks because that's one of the songs on Disc B, and the light gray, dark gray, black stripes made me think of a blackbird in the dead of night - a different "color" depending on where and when you see or hear one, and how much lighting you do or do not have.

I can't wait to send both of these pairs of socks along to the respective recipients.  I'm also going to send a couple of hats to my sister, who recently finished chemo and has requested some soft but cozy hats. 

Even though opening the packages is bound to lead to more "Why Didn't We Go To Woodstock/To See the Beatles," etc. conversations ... ;-)

Time for an FO Post: "Why Didn't We Go to Woodstock?"

Let me start off by saying that there are too many Patricks our family.  So you may be confused from time to time when I discuss so-and-so and Patrick/Pat, but I try to keep them straight for you.  The particular Patrick in this post is my middle sister's husband, Patrick.  OK now you know.

My brother-in-law Patrick will turn 70 years old this coming October.  He is a truly wonderful and good person, while at the same time, keeping all of us amused on a regular basis.  For instance:  A few years ago, he kept telling his friends, "All of my daughters are on MyFace."  (Mixing up MySpace and Facebook, somewhat clueless about both.)  After which statement, everyone in the family would cry, "STOP telling people that!!!"  His daughters especially find his various comments and behaviors at times amusing and/or embarrassing.  

But something that drives my sister absolutely around the bend, is when a song comes on from the 60s, or someone mentions a group/event from the 60s and he always asks the same thing.  For instance, on more than one occasion, we may be talking about The Beatles, and he'll turn to my sister and being 100% serious, will say, "How come we never went to see the Beatles?" and she will respond, "Because they never came to Wheeling, West Virginia!" in the most exasperated tone ever.   It's gotten to the point that all of us, when someone comes on TV who is/was famous will turn to one another and say, "How come we never went to see ______?" and then dissolve into laughter.

So ...

when I saw that Must Stash yarn was releasing a "Summer Concert Series" of colorways, and one of them was called "Woodstock," with each stripe representing someone/something related to that festival, I knew that I would buy some and make Patrick a pair of socks for his 70th because, "Why Didn't We Go to Woodstock?"  ;-)

 

Project:  Peace, Love, and Socks

Pattern:  My go-to vanilla sock pattern, done with a 2 x 2 ribbed cuff and 3 x 1 ribbing down the sock.

Yarn:  The aforementioned Must Stash Self-Striping Sock, in the Woodstock colorway

Needles:  US size 1

Modifications:  Nope

Notes:  These were such fun to knit!  Both because of the stripes and because of Patrick and his many funny things said and done.  And because if there was ever someone knit-worthy, it's him.  This particular pair flew off the needles, not just because I was having such fun knitting them, but also because Must Stash self-striping yarns wind up into two separate balls, meaning you can knit both socks at one time and know they will match.  (I still use dpns, but do one cuff, then the next, one leg, then the next, etc.)  I have never ever been frustrated or disappointed when using Must Stash yarns.

And so, these will make their way to him at some point in October, and I'm sure even though I will explain the whole thing to him, he'll still be puzzled, but then he'll turn to my sister and say, "Why didn't we go to Woodstock?"

And because she is a peace-loving person, he will live to see birthday #71.  :-)

Peace out, man.

(P.S. I don't think I'll tell him I work with someone who did actually go to Woodstock ... )

FO : Christmas in July Socks

I'm feeling quite pleased with myself because I had set a goal to finish these socks by the end of July.  And I actually finished them last Thursday, so I was days ahead!

Project:  Christmas in July Socks

Pattern:  Classic Socks for the Family, by Melinda Goodfellow (my go-to vanilla sock pattern)

Needles:  Size 1US

Yarn:  Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, Peppermint Mocha colorway

Modifications:  I used the Eye of Partridge Heel flap pattern, to add some texture and visual interest.

These socks are for The Tim, who of course assumed I was knitting for myself, and kept mentioning how great they looked, so I know he will like them!  They went pretty fast, partly because I just hit the right mode, and partly because I loved the colorway, and wanted to see how it would knit up.  I'm very pleased with how they turned out, and wish it could be cool enough to have  Peppermint Mocha to celebrate ... :-)

Hamlet is not a knitter, but he has no problem posing with knitted items.  As you may imagine, Pip had a lot to say about this - not because he usually poses with knitted items, but because THE DOG was doing something ...

My other project that I was hoping to finish this month will carry over into the beginning of August.  I received the yarn I needed to finish it in plenty of time, but when I picked things up to start knitting again, I did something that caused me to have to rip back ~16 rounds.  Ugh.  But things are back on track, though there is no way I'll finish this evening.  Which is fine - I've put so much effort into it so far, why not have a finished knit that makes me happy?

For Friday - Let's Look At This FO!

Do you ever have a knitting project that you really want to make, and things go OK for most of it, until they don't and then you are Just.Done. ??

That happened to me with this project.  You may or may not recall that at the beginning of last summer, I started knitting the Strawberry Field Socks.  I was knitting along, loving the pattern, and then I tugged on the yarn and was faced with the most incredible amount of yarn barf ever.  I made a concerted effort to untangle the yarn, and gave up when it just wasn't happening.  The yarn was chucked into the trash, and I moved on to another project.  But in the back of my mind, I still wanted to knit that pattern.

Fast forward to this summer, when I came across the perfect yarn in my stash, and decided to give it a try again. It started out really well, and again, I was enjoying the pattern.

Because I was in a bit of a knitting slump, and just wanted to get the pair finished, I decided to make the foot of the pair plain, thinking it would make the whole thing go more quickly.  And soon sock #1 was completed.

I wasn't zooming along, but all was well.  I was moving down the leg of sock #2, and it happened again - yarn barf.  Ugh.  I put the whole thing down for a few days, and then tried to untangle this yarn.  This time though, it was not as much of a mess, and I managed to get it untangled with only a minimum of aggravation.  

The problem?  At this point, I just wanted to get the things finished.  It felt like I'd been knitting this particular pair for approximately 2 years.  So I carried on, but sadly did not really pay the attention I should have to the stitch pattern, so there was a lot of fudging around and just making it work, because I did not want to pull it out and re-knit where the mistakes had been.  I finished the leg, and the rest of it went along for the most part without major incident, but with other mistakes and fudging along happening pretty often.  

Thank the Lord, they are FINALLY finished!

Project:  Hot Mess Socks
Pattern:  Strawberry Field, by Sirkku Siiskonen (I made the 38 size)
Yarn:  Cedar Hill Farm Company Mission Sock, in the Sweet Strawberry colorway
Needles:  US size 1
Modifications:  I knit the foot plain.  Though I wish I'd done the pattern down the foot.  But it was not to be.

I am happy with the finished socks.  I love the color, and unless you are holding the socks in your hand, and looking at them closely, you can't see where the fudging occurred.  I love the color of the yarn.  I think I will like these socks a LOT more once I take them out of my Box o' Socks next year and have forgotten how sick I got of knitting them. With all of the issues related to just finishing this pair, I decided Hot Mess Socks was the perfect name for them.

Fortunately, the current pair I'm knitting are going along much better (plain socks help out), and I'm more in the mood to knit them anyway, so it's all good.

On that note, I wish you a lovely weekend, filled with knitting - if that's what you are in the mood to do - and other good stuff.  I have plans to do nothing in particular, and am looking forward to it.  :-)

Finito

Hello from rainy Philadelphia!  I signed up to do the 3K walk of the Susan G. Komen Foundation Breast Cancer Race today (it's always on Mother's Day here), but though I am not afraid of the rain (I like rain, except when I get soaked on  my way to work), I've decided to be a weather wimp and wait it out.  Partly because I packed away my sweatshirts in a fit of conscientiousness, and getting one out to wear would require more de-organizing and re-organizing than I am in the mood to do this morning.

Yeah, I know that was all superflous information.  So let's move on.

I have two FOs to share, so let's get going with the first one, OK?

Project:  These Socks Have No Class
Pattern:  Just a plain vanilla sock pattern made shorter in the leg
Needles:  Size 1US
Yarns:  All leftovers from other projects - the dark green is Reflections at Roclans Out of the Dyepot Merino Fingering, green colorway; variegated is Three Irish Girls Adorn Sock in the Molly colorway; orange is Ancient Arts Fibre 100% Superwash BFL Wool 4-Ply Fingering Sock in the Orange Tabby colorway.
Modifications:  The socks are all modifications of a regular pattern!
Notes:  I was originally planning to make scrappy short socks, but decided that always changing to do stripes was more than I was inspired to do at the time.  So I grabbed the first three balls of leftovers, and made these.  I knit the cuffs in 2 x 2 rib for 12 rows, then switched to the variegated for 1.5 inches.  Then I used the Orange Tabby yarn for an Eye of Partridge Heel Flap and heel, then returned to the variegated for the gusset plus two extra rows.  The foot went back to dark green, and the toes reverted back to Orange Tabby.  They are weird but I really like the way they turned out.  :-)

So I have my next pair of socks for my Box o' Socks, and I have a feeling that they will amuse me every time I put them on.

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Today is Mother's Day here in the U.S., and if you celebrate, I wish you a happy day.  I will close by sharing one of my mother's inspirational sayings from when I was growing up:

"If you're born to hang, you'll never drown."

And there you go.

Friday FO

Well, I realized last night that I finished a pair of socks a few weeks ago, and completely forgot to show you!  So today is the day.

You may remember at some point I showed you the wip version, with the happy combo of pattern and yarn. 

They are now finished and safely tucked away in my Box o' Socks.

Project:  Milo and Molly Socks

Pattern:  Zigzagular Socks (free on Ravelry!)

Yarn:  Three Irish Girls Adorn Sock, in the colorway Molly (sadly discontinued)

Needles:  Size 1US

Modifications:  None

Notes:  These may be my favorite pair that I have knit so far this year, and one of my all-time faves!  I have had this yarn in my stash for a long time, and decided that it just needed to be a pair of socks this March.  I came across this pattern, which I had saved into my Ravelry library a while back, and since it was particularly created for variegated yarn, I thought it might be a good match - and it was.  This pair was just plain enjoyable to knit in every way.  The yarn is wonderful, the pattern is well-written and once you get through the first repeat, it's pretty memorable and doesn't require intense concentration.  I highly recommend it.

Here's another shot of the socks, where the color is closer to what you would see in person.

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Happy weekend!  I hope whatever you have planned works out.  Our weekend is probably going to be quiet, though I am hoping to make it to Loop tomorrow for Local Yarn Store Day.  Especially now that Rosie's has closed, I want do my part to make sure that my two other local stores, Loop and Hidden River Yarns, stay in business.  Since Loop is about 1 1/2 blocks from my house, I'll probably head over there.  (Laziness usually wins out, especially on weekends!)

Well That Was Fast! (An FO Post)

I do love to knit socks.  And though I can generally knit a pair in a shorter amount of time than it used to take, I am not one of those people who can just churn them out like a machine.  Some just take a while, whether due to yarn, pattern, other projects, or life in general.

But this pair flew off the needles!  I think it was a combination of wanting to see what stripe sequence came next, and at a certain point, wanting to finish them by the end of February (the toes were kitchenered during the evening of February 28).

Project:  Vanilla Valentine Socks
Pattern:  Classic Socks for the Family
Yarn:  Must Stash Yarn self-striping yarn, in one of their Must Match! colorways, called Be Mine
Needles:  US size 1
Modifications:  None
Comments:  This yarn has been in my stash for a couple of years.  I'd come across it and think, oh I want to wait until a February to knit this, and then would forget I had it.  Anyway, I finally remembered in time, and wound this up.  The way it winds is fascinating, since it is a Must Match! colorway.  It arrives in a single skein, but when you wind it, it separates into two separate balls.  You knit one from the outside of the ball, and the other from the inside, and you have matching socks, which as far as I'm concerned is a miracle.

The yarn is lovely to knit, and the colors are so pretty.  Also, I actually like to knit from two balls (though I am too lazy to divide skeins myself), as I will usually do the cuff on one, and then the other; then the leg, etc. so that by the time I am doing the toes, I have only the toes left to do on each sock. Which is another reason I think the knitting went so quickly.

Anyway, I'm pleased with these, though I have to admit I do wish there was not so much white in the color scheme.  But that's just me.  I'm on track now, as these are my second pair of socks for my 2018 Box o' Socks. 

I really recommend this yarn.  Her colorways are amazing, and it's really nice to use.  She also does a podcast with the woman behind Little Skein in the Big Wool, and they talk not just about their knitting, dyeing, etc., but also their dogs ... so you know I find it interesting!  :-)

Finally an FO!

This year has involved a lot of knitting on my part, but as for finishing ... well ...

In my defense, some are bigger projects, and some are long-term (Cozy Squares of Memory Blanket) - but finishing a pair of socks?  That shouldn't have taken long at all, and yet it did.  But they are finally finished as of a week ago and here they are.

Project:  Basic Spats
Pattern:  Classic Socks for the Family, by Melinda Goodfellow
Yarn:  Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, in the Spats colorway
Needles:  Size 1 US
Modifications:  None
Notes:  I've had this yarn in my stash for a couple of years, and decided that I would use it for the first project of 2018, to make a pair of socks for The Tim (I bought it with him in mind).  I started out using the Blueberry Waffle pattern, but when I got to working the heel gusset (yes, more than halfway through), I realized that the leg would look too different from the foot to suit me (I had planned to just do plain stockinette on the foot).  So I frogged back, and decided to just go with the plain rib.  In the end I'm glad I did because I like the way they turned out.  But it took me a while to then finish them because basically by the end I had knitted 2 1/2 of the same sock, and I was tired of it!  But when I realized that it was nearly the middle of February, and I was still working on my first pair for the year, I pushed to get them finished. 

They are now blocked and happily put away in my Box o' Socks for this year.  You may recall that last year, my Box o' Socks were unofficial, since a) I had not officially joined the KAL, and b) they were not all fingering weight.  Well, this year, both of those are true again, but I'm also including some pairs that I'm planning to knit for The Tim.  As far as I'm concerned, socks are socks.  And since it's my own KAL, I can make whatever rules I want!

Here's an "artistic" shot for you to enjoy.

I'm already well into my second pair of socks for the year, a pair for me, and so far, so good.  I could possibly finish them during February, but I've also told myself since March is a long month, it's OK if I finish them in early March because then I would still have time for a pair for that month.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  :-)

In Which I Decide To Try For Another Box o' Socks in 2018

Apparently, the Box 'o Socks activity - whereby knitters try to knit at least 12 pairs of socks that they keep in a box until January of the following year - has been around for a while now; however, I only heard of it once I started watching the Yarngasm knitting podcast.  (The link takes you to Kristin's review of everyone's 2017 efforts.  She manages the official KAL.)

As you know, I seldom participate in any "official" KALs, because inevitably, I feel [my own self-imposed] pressure, and have even occasionally failed to knit anything at all related to said KAL.  But this one just sounded like fun, and I enjoyed seeing everyone's socks, both on Ravelry and on podcasts.  So for 2017, I decided I was going to give it a try, but "unofficially."  And I surprised myself by completing 11 pairs over the course of the year, which are now out of the box and in my sock drawer (except for the holiday pair, put away with my other Christmas socks for next December).

Two of these pairs (the Winter Berry socks on the far left and the Fradentical Holly Socks wouldn't have qualified for the official KAL anyway, since that requires socks knit from fingering/sock yarn only.  They qualify for me, 'cause I did my own thing, which is what you can do really with any knitting endeavor, but I digress ...

So anyhoo, I've given it some thought, and I'm gonna unofficially participate again this year.  For one thing, it really motivated me to do more knitting in general; it provided a great opportunity for using stash - only the Mojito socks (top, third from left) were knit from newly-purchased yarn; it made me try more patterns also in my pattern stash, which allowed me to learn some new things; and, possibly the best of all, it was so much fun to have 11 new pairs of socks, and the reminders of what/when/where I knitted them, that it made my really happy!

I've also decided that I'm going to do my own thing again this year, and even add another factor:  I'm going to try and make at least two pairs for The Tim.  Not just because he deserves them, but because it will mean I'll knit them without waiting until the last minute for his birthday or Christmas, and they'll be right there and ready.

I know Dee said she might give the Box o' Socks a try, so it will be fun to see what she knits.  I really had fun with it last year, and hope to enjoy it all even more this time around.

Will I make 12 pairs this year?  Will any actually be for The Tim?  Will I make even one pair?  Will I ever learn?

You'll just have to stay tuned ...