Reincarnation Sock Pattern

After a lapse of, well, way too long, I'm back in the pattern-writing saddle again!  First up:  Reincarnation Socks, the socks with a (replaceable) sole!

I got sick of having to throw out my handknit socks when I wore holes under the balls of my feet - it just didn't make sense to try to repair something that badly damaged.  But with this new construction technique, I can easily replace the toes, soles, and heels of any socks, with any yarn.  Sweet!

Plus, the pattern is in worsted weight wool on size 5 needles, so it goes zippy-quick.  And the Liberty Wool I used for the sample pair looks sooo cool when this technique is used - definitely an eye-catcher!

If you're interested in purchasing a pattern, you have three choices:
 - visit River Colors Studio, either online or in person, and pick up a copy there.
 - order one from my etsy shop.
 - in a hurry?  Download one NOW from my Ravelry page.

As always, I am available for moral and technical support while you're working on your project.  Just contact me through the blog, etsy, or Ravelry and let me know what's on your mind!

Wacky sock alert!

When I was at Squam Arts Workshop this summer I picked up a couple patterns that one of my teachers had in her booth, and I finally got around to starting one of them a few weeks ago - Stained Glass Socks by Elise Duvecot. (Ravelry link)

I finished them last night, and I couldn't be happier with them - well-written pattern with an interesting (easy) technique that makes awesomely cool socks.  Win!

The only problem with them is that I think I've decided to give them to my mother, since they're a touch short on me.  Maybe she'll let me come visit them a couple times a year?

ugly + ugly = ?

No photos yet, but I wanted to let everyone know what I was doing with the Fugly Yarn of Doom.  Various swatches with it proved that while the dye improved the look of the resulting fabric, it's still no beauty queen.  With that in mind, I searched Ravelry for a pattern that might either disguise or highlight the peculiar fug I've got.

That's when I found Bellatrix (Rav link).  It's got a pattern of deliberately "dropped" stitches, which make an allover design of really gnarly holes.  And so far, I'm liking it.  I mean, boy, is the combination of this yarn and that pattern a LOT of fug, but I'm hoping that it will somehow balance out and become magically infused with some awesomeness.  Barring that, at least I'll have used the yarn up, and I'll have socks to wear when cleaning up cat puke.

Look how pretty!

My Leyburn socks, which I'm knitting from the same yarn as the emergency wedding shawl (and the socks I made for my sister-in-law). Look how pretty!

And the scarf I made for Lazy Kid, which was a really fun short-row knitting project that used Soy Wool Stripes from Paton.

She wears it tied around her waist like a cummerbund. At least that way the static electricity it generates doesn't mess up her hair :)

Merry Christmas!

Smug

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a needle was stirring, because THE SOCKS WERE ALL DONE!

Ha!

Ha!

Ha!

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahaha!

All I have left is a pair for myself, and I am really done. Really, really done.

Hah! Really, one more pair to go!

LazyKid's:
My Dad's:

Half of one of LazyHusband's socks to go, and a pair for me, and I am D-O-N-E done! Which means I'll probably fall and break my wrist tomorrow at the grocery store ;)

Things are coming down to the wire

Okay, so I have a week to finish socks for my father, socks for my husband, socks for my daughter, and socks for me. That's doable, right? groan

And yes, the sidebar is right - I do have THREE PAIRS OF SOCKS on the needles right now. Good thing I've got one pair of worsted, one of fingering, and one of lace-weight yarn, so they all take different size needles. And don't even get me started on the logistics of trying to work on these without the intended recipients seeing their own socks (which is why I've got three pairs going at once, so I have a project appropriate for every spare moment of the day).

Parade of socks

We exchanged presents with friends last night, and the socks I made for the kids went over well:

Let's not discuss what it takes to get a three-year-old, a six-year-old, and an eight-year-old to hold still long enough to model socks. Let's just say there were brownies involved and leave it at that, shall we?

I even managed to finish the socks I was working on for their mom, although not until late late late in the evening. Good thing we were spending the night ;)

And I totally dropped the ball on the socks for her husband, which shouldn't take very long but are only a couple of inches along at this point. So far that's the only delinquency in the Season of Sock Madness, though, so I think I'm doing pretty well.

Recipients

Boy, I bet my sister-in-law is glad she got a pedicure before she came home for Thanksgiving :)

Doing the happy dance

Finished!

The socks that I need for tomorrow were finished last night!

And I'm not starting any more socks until our car trip on Sunday!

Hah! One more pair to go!

Socks for my mother-in-law.

More socks

WIP: For my newest brother-in-law, knit with tiny sock yarn on size 1 needles, so it's going to take forever, but at least the pattern is cool:

Finished remarkably quickly: socks for my father-in-law, knit from Wool-Ease worsted weight on size 5 needles, so it took less than a day of knitting to finish each one (huzzah!)

Not a sock, but it's made of sock yarn: a sweater that I've decided I dislike enough to frog it before I get farther than the 6" of the body that I've already done. Darn, I like the stitch, I like the yarn ... I just don't like them together. Oh, well - I guess I can make a boatload of socks with the five skeins of this that I now have without a project in mind ;)

Work and play

Yeah, so my mother's socks are in the can.

Pattern: Jaywalker, by Grumperina - sort of. I did plain feet, then jaywalkered the legs.

Yarn: Cascade Fixation Spray Dyed/Effects (a cotton sock yarn) in Colorway 9939.

Needles: US 2 dpns

It's a fun, easy pattern that yields a nice firm sock. I'm not sure how well it would work for the whole sock for those of us with giant ankles, but the leg-only approach seems to fit well.

Now, about work. I've been making little diaper bags using panels from the "Peek A Boo" line by Amy Bradley for Moda fabrics. They're super-cute, but I don't have any photos yet. Hopefully tomorrow, if LazyKid will cooperate and watch some Sesame Street for an hour or so :)

Success!

I looked down last night, and LazyHusband, LazyKid and I were all wearing socks I had knit.

Score!

This winter I'm going to try for an extended family portrait with all of us - including grandparents - swathed in toasty handknit socks.

LazyFamily, you've been warned!

Back from vacation, with two projects finished

When I wasn't wandering around looking at stuff like this:
... I was knitting. A lot. Like for hours on the plane, for hours every night after we hit Lazy Kid on the head with the sleep hammer, for hours while we drove from Denver to Colorado Springs and back. I get a lot done on vacation, have I mentioned that?

First project I finished in Colorado: Socks for LazyHusband

And since I haven't bothered to link to it before, here are the instructions I use for toe-up socks. These were made in "Forever" by Lane Cervinia in color 61, on size 2 DPNs. They were a lot of fun, as the pattern in the yarn changed so frequently that the miles and miles and miles of plain stockinette stitch wasn't nearly so mind-numbing as it could have been. Because hubby has size 13 feet which are about the size of waterskis, so trust me, there was plenty of stockinette. Plenty.

The other project I finished I can't show you yet - it's not blocked yet, as I just finished it four hours ago as our plane was taxi-ing into the Cleveland airport. It's a lace cowl, "Abby," by Amy R. Singer, found via Ravelry on knitty.com. I made it using leftover alpaca yarn from the "Eve" sweater I did last winter, and the yarn was every bit as hairy and somewhat itchy as I remembered. Here's hoping it will be cold enough when I wear it that I won't notice :)

More from vacation, including a review of an awesome yarn store, and a tribute to a ridiculously expensive cashmere scarf kit I couldn't bring myself to splurge on, and I've been kicking myself ever since.

Newest finished project - socks for ME!!!!!

Pattern: Kaibashira by Chrissy Gardiner

Yarn: Soxx Appeal by Knit One Crochet Too in 9260 Raspberry Sundae

Verdict: Hell, yeah! I love these socks. I love this yarn. I love this pattern. It's 75F outside and I still want to wear wool socks, that's how great they are. Seriously, I can't wait to start another pair for myself once I finish a couple of Lazy Mama projects that are on the needles right now. The only thing I might do differently is the cast-on scalloped edge. I think ribbing might work better to help them stay up ... but then again, that edge is pretty cute.

Twitchy fingers

First up: New variation on the toe-up socks I've been churning out recently, this time in Berroco Comfort Sock, a 50/50 blend of superfine nylon and superfine acrylic. These are going to be a Mother's Day present for my mother-in-law, who should like the yarn color that Liza picked out for her.
I'm pretty pleased with how these turned out, and the pattern is easy enough that I may try writing it up to share. I don't have any knitting patterns written out yet, so it would be a nice change of pace from what I've been working on recently.

And: the triumphant completion of Eve, the sweater I made using the wrong size yarn and different size needles, but still ended up mostly the right size. And I didn't even have to frog the aborted previous sweater to get enough yarn to finish this one! How's that for awesome?

And before I get any snide remarks about my photo skills, let me point out that when one is taking photos of oneself sans makeup at 1am, it's important to make sure that the camera IS blocking your face. Trust me on this one, okay?
Hmmm, is it drafty in here, or is it just my sweater. Yeah, I thought so.

Next up: ???? Wait, I don't have a project. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! The horror! And to think, I was less than a mile from Susan Yarns today, and I didn't have time to stop by. Bad knitter! Bad knitter!