Wow, I can’t believe #11 is done.  It really feels like only five minutes ago I thought, wouldn’t it be crazy for me (not a sock knitter) to make 12 pairs in a year’s time?  And now I’m faced with the challenge of picking my last sock…hm.

First off, my hubs/kids surprised me with a little trip to the yarn store.  I picked out my goodies here – a skein of Dream in Color Starry in Black Pearl (which is already destined to be my third Ashton Shawlette, but the first one I will be keeping for myself).  I also picked up Knit. Sock. Love. by Cookie A because the socks in this book twist my brain and maybe someday I will be ready to take a pair on.

Then my mom.  Wow.  She said she had a surprise for me… I go and look and it’s this.

…and THIS.

I proceeded to feel like a rotten brat for 24 hours… and also felt so loved & blessed.

The sock obsession continues!!

I started out making these plain socks for me, then as I was stitching away, looking at the lovely color and thinking about Mother’s Day, I decided mid-project that I would give these to my mom for Mother’s Day.

Pattern: None (just a plain 64-stitch cuff-down sock)
Yarn: Regia Extra Twist Merino Color
Needle: US 0

This was my first time using Regia, and wow!  I love it.  It’s so stretchy.

I made a sort of woven-looking heel with alternating slipped stitches.

The socks were so well received!  She put them on after unwrapping them and (moment of truth) they fit nicely.  That’s always a nervous moment… all the time put into a project, and if it doesn’t fit?  Yikes.

Not much else to say about these.  Boy I love vanilla socks again… after the more complicated socks I’ve been doing for the Year of Socks, it felt oh so relaxing to make a plain pair.  I see many plain socks in my future…with bright, crazy yarns of course.

Year of Socks #11 is done now too!  I’ll post those soon.  That means one more pair to round out my year… wow.  Which pattern to choose…

Pattern: Honey Cowl by madelinetosh
Yarn: Handspun superwash merino, sport/dk weight – fiber from Becoming Art
Needle: Size 7 US

This pattern is fun, easy, intuitive, and great for handspun, variegated, and solid yarns.  So pretty much any yarn.  There’s a short and long version, this is the long version as I like to double wrap my cowls.  Though I think the short version (which calls for 225 yards of DK) would be great for some of my shorter skein handspun, so I may be making another in the future. :)

The handspun yarn I’ve had stashed for awhile, waiting for the right project.  It is the finest merino handspun I’ve ever felt.  If you’re a spinner, you should check out Becoming Art for her super fine merinos.  And if you’re a knitter too – her hand-dyed yarns are goooorgeous.

The cowl may look a tad bit rumpled, and that’s because it’s been finished for a couple months and I wore it pretty much constantly after finishing it – we’ve had a nice cool spring here in northwest Arkansas.  This is my third attempt at getting pictures of this!  There was always something I didn’t like in my other photos – the light, whatever.

It’s also great for peeking.

Enjoy your weekend!

So here was my first attempt, from a 3.5 ounce batt.

It’s all crazy and thick and thin.  It’s not my normal yarn, all even and predictable and precise but I still find it pretty.  Only got 75 yards this first time.

Here is my second attempt.  I used 3.5 ounces of merino top.

Ah, much better!  I got 175 yards this time.  And it is more even throughout, though still thick and thin in places.  I wish this blog had feel-o-vision so you could smoosh this.  It’s like a fluffy cloud.  Woolen spinning makes your yarns airier, so there’s a definite floof factor.  Yes, I just said floof and am coining that as an official yarn term.

Check out the fluffy plies… all these skeins are 2-ply yarns.

I am in the middle of spinning my third woolen yarn, this time out of this beautiful golden/chocolate falkland roving.  We’ll see how this skein turns out as I’ve taken a break from spinning this past week or so to knit and knit and knit.  But I will report back with my results.

Thanks for joining me on my little spinning journey.  I think anything you can do to expand your fiber craft horizons is good, even if you find out it is not your favorite trick or method or fiber or whatever.  The learning process itself is healthy.  And you may find a new favorite out there.  :)

Pattern: Illusion by Paulina Popiolek
Yarn: Springy Corrie Sport from Alpenglow Yarn
Needle: Size 4 US

There seems to be a sort of craze over two-color shawls lately and I like it.  You may remember me gushing over this USA-made yarn in here.  I knew I wanted to cast it on right away.  Which is unusual for me.  I seem to like to let my prettiest yarns marinate for awhile before casting on – as I’ve said, a habit I’m trying to break.  So I searched on Ravelry for sport weight two-color projects, and found Illusion.

This shawl came out so big and cuddly!  I adore it.  The colorwork seemed a little intimidating at first, but once I found out it is actually done with slipped stitches, I was psyched.  Not too hard of a pattern, and the slipping of the stitches becomes intuitive.  BUT this isn’t one you can fudge on stitch counts (as I found out the hard way) because your colorwork sequence will mess up.

Now I kind of have a knitting crush on Paulina Popiolek. I could knit all her patterns, I think.

What are you knitting on today?  Have you found any new lovely patterns to share?  Enable me!

The Loop bumps, when spun and then navajo plied, create looong color sections.  I ended up with almost 400 yards sport.  I’m racking my brain as far as what to make with this, since it does have the very dramatic, long color repeats.  Feel free to throw some suggestions at me.  But for now I will just keep smushing and adoring it in its skein.

If you’re a spinner, you should definitely try Loop if you get the chance. Her color sense is amazing.  It’s definitely a treat.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Meet my Skew socks.

Year of Socks, #9, done!

This sock pattern (which I found out was written by a former mathematician) keeps you on your toes.  Everything is constantly changing as you work.  It’s much like knitting stripes – you just want to keep going a little further to see what is going to happen next.  Before you know it you’re working the heel, then the cuff, then you’re done!

I dyed this yarn myself – it’s the Knit Picks sock base.  It’s supposed to be wool/nylon, but it really just feels like all wool.  NOT stretchy.  I do love the colors that I made though.  Skew is the bomb for wild color.

I used 1s but I think my next go-around will be on 0s.  They are a little big.

I remember looking at this pattern a long time ago, thinking I would never be skilled enough to make socks so crazy.  But the Year of Socks has given me so much confidence.  I’m so glad I decided to do this challenge.  Three more socks to go!… and many more after that.

As I mentioned in my last post, Andi and I have started knitting the Cadence Socks for what we’re calling a Casual KAL. Casual KAL-ing means no strict deadlines, parameters, etc. It’s a relaxed knitting journey with a friend (or friends). Maybe that can be the official definition. ;) Anywho I am once sock in and I love this sock! I’m using Colinette Jitterbug in the colorway Vatican Pie (lol – really?!), which has a unique quality to it – it feels very springy, and has a lot of twist in it. So the knitted fabric on my 0s feels so nice and sturdy. I will definitely be using this yarn again!

I’m using the Addi Lace needles, 47″ length on these socks.  Besides the smelly brass, they don’t bother me.  Love the sharp tips.

Also in progress are some Skews. This is the most fun, hands-down, I’ve had knitting socks so far in my life. The pattern boggles my mind, the designer is a genius on some other planetary level. I’m one sock in, and about the start the ankle bone increases (what?!) on the second sock. Can’t wait to show you these finished. I’m using some yarn I dyed.  Already dreaming of casting on my next pair of Skews.

I also started a pair of vanilla socks in Regia that my mom destashed to me.  I love Regia – this is my first time knitting with it, and it is so streeetchy.  Even on 0s.

Ok friends, this is the real reason I haven’t been blogging.  I’m completely obsessed with this. Pattern: Illusion. Yarn: my yummy new Corriedale yarn.  This graphic shawl is so addicting and the yarn is heavenly. You should really try out some of this Corriedale yarn from Alpenglow Yarn. It’s the Springy Corrie Sport, which I found under the Small Farm Wool section.

And lastly spinning.  I’m trying to indulge and use some of my very special fibers, the ones that just sit there because they are so special you don’t want to mess them up by actually using them.  This is my first Loop bullseye bump and am already stalking her Etsy thinking of ordering another one.  The long color transitions are evocative of knitting with self-striping yarn, you want to keep going until you finish just one more stripe.

That’s all today!

I used my very special skein of Miss Babs Yummy sock weight I had picked up at SAFF in the SAFF 2012 colorway. The color reminded me of first, some sort of camo on acid and then my mind immediately turned to zombies – the funky green with streaks of red.  I loved watching almost every stitch transition to a different color while I knit this.  My skein was 400 yards, and I used almost every last bit.  If you’ve never used Miss Babs, honestly go try it.  It has a beautiful hand to it.

I will admit, picot bind-offs nearly kill me, but I love the effect.  I only made one modification – I did M1L & M1R instead of yarn overs in the center “spine” of the shawl.  I’m not huge on yarn overs in the middle of shawls like that, all the holes.  And after I made my husband’s Boneyard and saw how nice the M1 increases looked, I decided I was going to substitute that in most shawls in the future.

I wasn’t much of a perfectionist while blocking this, but I’m noticing this year I’m really starting to let go of things a little bit more.  Not in a lazy way, but in a “don’t freak out if it’s not perfect” kind of way.  This is my hobby, for fun, and if I want to leave a wonky edge that blocked out I’m going to leave it.

Go make an Eiku.  You will really truly love it.

On my next post I’ll chat about a little KAL going on, or if you don’t want to wait, you can read about it on fabulous Andi’s blog post. It involves SOCKS!  Yay!