Year of Project 5: Week 21

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

COOKIE A SOCK CLUB: June #1 • June #2 • August #1 • August #2 • October #1 • October #2 • December #1 • December #2

VANILLA SOCKS FOR CHARITY: July • August • September • October • November • December • January • February • March • April • May • June

Yeah, I'm late with this post. Feels like I've been running a bit late for the last couple of weeks. But I'm happy to report that things are getting done and by next week I expect to be mostly caught up. At least that's the plan for now!

I've finished the second pattern for the Cookie A Sock Club October shipment - Love Me Tender. It's a pretty typical cuff down cabled sock with "lace" columns tucked between the cables. The cable is worked across 9 sts, accomplished by cabling six in one round, and then cabling another six a couple of rounds later. It's a pretty dramatic cable, that's for sure! As for the lace pattern, I worked the YOs through the back loop to close up the holes, so for me these lace columns are more a pattern of travelling stitches.

It's a nice enough pattern, although I don't much like the stockinette bands at the beginning and end of the instep stitches. And it was a fairly tedious knit. Still, it's a very nice pair of finished socks... although I wouldn't voluntarily shell out USD $6.50 for the pattern. Never mind my whining; just one more shipment and two patterns left in the Club year.

The yarn is Twisted by Studio June and it's fabulous to work with. The colour way is one of my faves - Turquoise - and the subtle tonal variegation plays very nicely with the pattern. If you're looking for some stash enhancement, check out the Black Friday Sale at Studio June Yarns ... 40% with coupon code BLACKFRIDAY40. If your willpower is at low ebb, then DON'T LOOK!!!!

The plan for the rest of this week is to finish Gavin's socks - pictures in the next post -  and make some progress on Clandestine sock two. We had snow on the weekend and I woke to icy roads and sidewalks this morning so it's been an abrupt shift from our week in Florida. Time to plan the next getaway!!

Year of Projects 5: Week 20

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

COOKIE A SOCK CLUB: June #1 • June #2 • August #1 • August #2 • October #1 • October #2 • December #1 • December #2

VANILLA SOCKS FOR CHARITY: July • August • September • October • November • December • January • February • March • April • May • June

This blog post is actually mislabelled. Absolutely nothing has been done about my Year of Projects list in the last two weeks; not more than a handful of stitches. Oh well.

Gavin and I spent most of last week in Cocoa Beach, Florida. It was unseasonably warm with hot sunny days in the eighties and nineties - which suited Gavin just fine - and we stayed at a Motel that was right at the ocean - which suited both of us just fine. It was a great week!

The highlight of the week was meeting Dee of Tangled Up in Sticks and Strings on Wednesday. Dee's mascot Flo had some influence in choosing my gifts, I'd guess! There's a beautiful skein of Lorna's Laces in a "Flamingo Stripe" colourway along with a Florida flamingo-themed mini Starbucks cup ornament. Too cute! And so appropriate too, because if you follow Dee's blog you'll know about Flo the Flamingo and you'll know that Dee likes her 'Bucks!

While visiting with Dee we visited Knit N Stitch in Cocoa Village - where I came away with more yarny goodness - and lunched at Pub Americana. It was all fantastic. As a vegetarian I'm very appreciative of a pub where you can pick your own protein! I had a Portobello burger, if you were wondering. Gavin and I also each enjoyed a pint of Oatmeal Stout craft beer from the Cocoa Beach Brewing Company. That was fantastic too... so good in fact that it prompted a visit to the Cocoa Beach Brewing Company tasting room later in the week for more!

If you had asked me yesterday I'd have told you that I was considering the Vanilla Latte pattern for that skein of Lorna's Laces. But today I'm feeling more inclined towards Mystik Spirals. I love the last pair of Mystik Spirals that I knit from scraps, but I think I'd love the pattern even more in self-striping yarn. Fun!

While at Knit N Stitch the staff directed me to a selection of locally dyed yarn by The Fiber Seed. I picked out a short-striping "Hollyhock" colourway. No pattern in mind yet, but suggestions are welcome!

I had another skein from The Fiber Seed in my hands, but when Gavin pointed out this ball of Fame Trend I went with that. It doesn't look or feel like sock yarn - it's very soft, seems underspun and has a very fuzzy halo - but it's very similar to Katia Darling from which I knit one of my very favourite pairs of sock ever, so I'm optimistic. I picked up a set of bamboo needles - which made it through airport security screening without any trouble - and cast on a pair of simple ribbed socks. I can't wait to get these socks on my feet!!!

Looks like there won't be any progress on my Year of Projects list this week either!

Year of Projects 5: Week 18

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

COOKIE A SOCK CLUB: June #1 • June #2 • August #1 • August #2 • October #1 • October #2 • December #1 • December #2

VANILLA SOCKS FOR CHARITY: July • August • September • October • November • December • January • February • March • April • May • June

For most of the past week I've been knitting baby sweaters. I bought three balls of baby yarn, which is enough for 9 sweaters (3 pink + 3 blue + 3 grey) so that's the plan. No point in having leftover yarn. These little sweaters knit up so quickly that it hasn't even started to become tedious yet, even though four are done and a fifth has been started. My cousin's husband leaves for England at the end of November so I've got just over three weeks to complete and deliver them. Shouldn't be a problem.

Aside from baby cardigans the remainder of my knitting time has been devoted to the second pattern for October from the Cookie A sock club - "Love Me Tender".  I turned the heel and started on the foot last week at work. I'm hoping to finish sock one today so that the coworker for whom this pair is intended, can try one on. I'm not entirely sure of her shoe size so I'm not sure how long to knit the foot. I'm knitting this pattern pretty much as written other than I'm working the YOs through the back loops to close up the holes. It'd be lovely to get these off the needles and gifted before my vacation week after next, but that might be overly ambitious. We'll see.

And with baby cardis and Love Me Tender socks taking priority it looks like Clandestine will remain on the back burner for another few weeks. No deadline to complete them though, so I'll pick them back up once I've cleared the decks again. And I'd better start thinking about a vanilla sock for charity for November as well. Right now I'm leaning towards Vanilla Latte Socks in a self-striping yarn or Betula Socks in a solid colour.

It's been a lovely mild morning so far and it looks like a beautiful fall day is on the way, so I'll be outside enjoying it! Have a great day!

Year of Projects 5: Week 17

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

COOKIE A SOCK CLUB: June #1 • June #2 • August #1 • August #2 • October #1 • October #2 • December #1 • December #2

VANILLA SOCKS FOR CHARITY: July • August • September • October • November • December • January • February • March • April • May • June

In the end I decided to be matchy-matchy in the yarn sequence for my scrappy Mystik Spiral socks. The first sock was so busy looking that I didn't want to add any more busy-ness. As well, I thought that matching the stripes would help make the mirrored spirals more dramatic. I'm happy with the way they turned out!

I can highly recommend the pattern, though it'd be better in self-striping yarn than from scraps. Although I love the socks on my feet, my scraps didn't knit to a very consistent gauge and as a  result the socks look lumpy and uneven when not on my feet. These are headed to my sock drawer rather than charity as I'm not entirely happy with them.

Late last week my cousin shared a Facebook post wherein the Diana Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby, England asked for hand knit cardigans for the preemies in their neonatal ward. Grimsby is her husband's hometown and he's headed their to visit his mum in a few weeks. After poking around on Revelry for a suitable pattern I settle on this one. Goodness it knits up quickly! Looks like I'll have several ready for him before he boards that flight! And just look how cute it is ... although it's a bit worrying that something that tiny would actually fit a child!

As mentioned the October patterns for the Cookie A sock club were released, and thank goodness, neither of them were bed socks. The designer admits that the luxury yarn wasn't likely to make durable socks, so with that I posted the yarn for sale within the group and sold it within minutes. At least I recouped a small portion of my investment!

I cast on and knit a pair of socks roughly based on one of the club patterns - "All Shook Up". As written the sock features a false seam down the back of the sock and the leg patterning tapers off to a V at the top of the instep. Instead I opted to knit the pattern seamlessly around the leg and continue the pattern to the top of the heel flap and across the instep to the beginning of the toe. It's a very simple pattern of knits and purls. Nice enough, but it wouldn't have been a pattern I'd choose to purchase and knit.

The yarn is from Shelridge Farms - 80/20 fingering in an "aubergine" colourway. The colourway is quite dark so the pattern is not as obvious as it might have been in a lighter colour. And the darkness of the yarn made it somewhat unpleasant to knit. I'm glad to have it knit up and out of my stash!

The other October pattern for the Cookie A sock club is "Love Me Tender" which is another simple pattern, this time with columns of cables and lace. I've picked out a light turquoise yarn for this and have knit most of the first leg... but more on that next week! And hopefully Clandestine sock two will get some love too!

Year of Projects 5: Week 15

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

COOKIE A SOCK CLUB: June #1 • June #2 • August #1 • August #2 • October #1 • October #2 • December #1 • December #2

VANILLA SOCKS FOR CHARITY: July • August • September • October • November • December • January • February • March • April • May • June

Wait... what? Where'd that pair of Vanilla Socks come from?!

Well ..... the other day I was designing a custom t-shirt for my brother-in-law and discussing with Gavin the size of the blank t-shirt I should buy. Gavin inspected the design, decided he wanted one too, so he said I should buy TWO blank t-shirts, size large.

No, I responded, I have a 50% off coupon for ONE regularly priced item; I will be buying ONE t-shirt.

However, at Michael's I find that the t-shirts are BOGO, so two t-shirts it is, but what to do with the 50% off coupon?

A few minutes later, I'm in the sock yarn aisle with a ball of Kroy Grey-Brown Marl (166 yds) in my hand imagining it paired with a single orphan ball of Kroy 4ply (203 yds) in my stash to make a single pair of socks.

And voilà, a pair of somewhat striped vanilla socks were the result... as well as a t-shirt for my brother-in-law and a matching t-shirt for Gavin. Win, win, win.

Aside from those vanilla socks, I've also made a bit of progress on Mystik Spiral Socks. Sock one is almost done. If I follow the pattern as written it's half a dozen more rounds on the leg and then a cuff. Hmmm, won't that be a bit short? Right now I'm thinking about making the leg a stripe or two longer and then making the cuff a bit deeper than written. The colour scheme of these socks is pretty crazy, but I'm kinda loving the result. For my next pair - and I'm pretty sure there will be a next pair - I think I'll reel off smaller balls of scraps for narrower stripes. I think the spiralling will look even crazier with more stripes.

Clandestine Sock Two has been largely ignored. Maybe next week? Probably next week! I'm house-sitting for my sister from Tuesday to Thursday, and likely commuting back and forth to work on transit, so I expect to have lots of time to knit.

In other news the yarn for the October shipment of the Cookie A Sock club has arrived. The yarn is gorgeous, but I'm not too sure about making socks from it. It's Paulie from Shalimar Yarns - a fingering weight blend of merino, silk, cashmere and camel. Will it be durable enough for socks? Won't the socks be too warm? How well will those fibers wash and wear? My inclination at the moment is to trade or sell it for something more suitable for socks. What do you think?

The club patterns come out tomorrow. I have a terrible nagging fear that the pattern will be for bed socks. Fingers crossed that I'm wrong.

Year of Projects 5: Week 14

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

COOKIE A SOCK CLUB: June #1 • June #2 • August #1 • August #2 • October #1 • October #2 • December #1 • December #2

VANILLA SOCKS FOR CHARITY: July • August • September • October • November • December • January • February • March • April • May • June

I haven't taken a recent photo for Clandestine, but I did pause for a photo after completing sock one. The sock is intentionally snug on my foot as the pair is intended for someone with smaller feet and skinnier legs than me. But it's a lovely sock and the yarn looks quite showy and peacock-like. Fun!

Sock two is on the needles. It's going to be a bit of a slower go, I think, as I have to reverse the charts to mirror the foot for the right sock. I might have to make photocopies to cut and paste the charts into the new order to get it right. Too much of my knitting time is distracted - it's an error waiting to happen if I don't take steps now.

And it seems like everywhere I look on Ravelry and in the blogosphere I see Mystik Spiral Socks, so I just had to buy the pattern to cast on a pair for my October charity sock. The pattern is written for self-striping yarn, and I did look online at a couple of suppliers to see if there was a stripe pattern that caught my eye, but in the end I've decided to create the stripes from scrap yarn.

With spirals created from short rows I wasn't confident that I'd know where to switch colours, so I've reeled off mini-balls from various scrap yarns, each about 4.5 yards for nicely even 8-9 round stripes. As I knit one mini-ball I put a matching mini-ball in a ziploc to set aside for sock two. Sock two might be matchy-matchy, but maybe not... I'm making this all up as I go along.

It's a pretty fun knit and a nice change from the Vanilla Bean Striped Socks that I've knit for the last few months. I'm already poking around in my sock yarn leftovers to plan the colour scheme for the next pair. The Warm Hands Network has their next shipment planned for January to a school in Kugluktuk which is on the shores of the Arctic Ocean - socks for school age kids are the highest priority!

Year of Projects 5: Week 13

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

COOKIE A SOCK CLUB: June #1 • June #2 • August #1 • August #2 • October #1 • October #2 • December #1 • December #2

VANILLA SOCKS FOR CHARITY: July • August • September • October • November • December • January • February • March • April • May • June

As it turns out, these In and Out socks were a super quick knit! Seems like I had barely cast on before sock one was off the needles, and sock two wasn't far behind. Of course, with nothing else on the needles I knit them monogamously, so that surely helped. And I was motivated to finish them before I saw my sister this weekend - so that she could deliver them and save me the postage.

The pattern photos in the book didn't do anything for me - the samples are knit in such dark coloured yarn that the pattern all but disappears. Flipping through project pages on Ravelry suggested to me that the socks were best knit in a solid or semi-solid light coloured yarn. I had worried that this Smith and Ewe fingering might be too busy, but once knit it looks fine.

Once again the legs are a bit shorter than I'd like, but this time I did remember to lengthen the cuff. Going forward I'm really going to have to give some thought to adding a vertical repeat to the legs of Cookie A patterns to make the final sock proportions more to my liking. Maybe the designer's feet are tiny compared to mine and the proportions suit her rather than me?

One detail that I really like is the way the heel pattern starts at the center back of the leg and then spreads out and down the heel. No abrupt end to the leg pattern at the start of a heel flap. Nice!

So what's next? I was trying to decide when I saw these Clandestine socks amongst the project pages on Ravelry. Wow, look how nicely the variegation distributes itself in the shell patterns of this pattern. It looks very fluid and interesting! And don't I just happen to have some variegated yarn caked up and ready to knit?! So Clandestine jumped the queue and hit the needles. I'm almost twice as far along as the photo shows and thoroughly enjoying it. Can't wait to show you more of them next week!!

FO: Vanilla Bean Striped Socks

Pattern: Vanilla Bean Striped Socks by Emily O'Grady (again)

Yarn: Shelridge Farms 80/20 Fingering (white) plus sock yarn leftovers: Alley Cat Sock (Anne Boleyn green, Tea Time beige), Cascade Heritage Sock (Snow tea-dyed to beige), Foot Loose (Brown), Studio June Twisted (Coffee and Cream), YvieKnits Sock (Emerald Isles green), Sydney Sock (Blue-Green), SuperCash Sock (Texgal Blue), Tough Love Sock (Deep Cove Green), Djinni Sock (Green), Zarzuela MCN (Blue), Shelridge Farms 80/20 Fingering Handpaints (Green)

Needles: 2.00 mm

Modifications: Worked toe up, increasing to 68 sts with afterthought heel, with eight rounds per colour joined with Russian Joins.

Comments: Yup, still another pair of scrappy striped socks, this time in cooler shades of blue, green and brown. As before I striped in generous amounts of white yarn just to tie all the stripes together. As it worked out, the afterthought heel landed in one of the darker shades of splitty yarn which was a bit unfortunate. I really ought to plan these things a little better!

Year of Projects 5: Week 12

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

COOKIE A SOCK CLUB: June #1 • June #2 • August #1 • August #2 • October #1 • October #2 • December #1 • December #2

VANILLA SOCKS FOR CHARITY: July • August • September • October • November • December • January • February • March • April • May • June

Ahhh, Rhombus sock are finally done. Did you realize that these had been on my needles since May? Geez! That must be some kind of a record. Well never mind that, these socks are worth the wait!

The pattern is not terribly stretchy so I purposely knit the leg as written without adding any repeats but now that the socks are done, I'm not entirely happy with shorty legs. If I were to knit them again I'd make the ribbed cuff at least twice as deep.

It's quite an involved pattern. The six stitch cables are hard work and by the end of the sock I was pretty adept at interpreting every different type of M1 stitch from the chart without reference to stitch legends.

The yarn is Basic Sock from Red Sock Blue Sock. I didn't love the knitting of it - it's not very smooth and not soft and somewhat splitty- but I definitely like the feel of it on my feet. It's also a very nice weight. Not so thin as to yield flimsy knitted fabric. Not so thick as to yield bulky socks. Perfect, in fact, to knit socks on size 0 (2mm) needles. I really like this purple colour but I find the dye job a bit streaky with some almost undyed blotches. Hmmm. I wonder if a nice soak won't be the cure for what ails these socks? Remind me to update my opinion on this yarn next week!

Although fall doesn't officially arrive until midweek, Mother Nature has jumped the gun around here. It was down to single digits last night. Almost noon now and the temperature has only climbed to 15°. It's sunny though, and perfect sock-wearing weather. It's possible these Rhombus socks might stay put on my feet until bedtime!

Year of Projects 5: Week 11

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

COOKIE A SOCK CLUB: June #1 • June #2 • August #1 • August #2 • October #1 • October #2 • December #1 • December #2

VANILLA SOCKS FOR CHARITY: July • August • September • October • November • December • January • February • March • April • May • June

There's been some progress on my second Rhombus sock but things were just too busy at work and at home to spend much time with it. It's definitely going faster than sock one, but I still need to pay attention to the chart and I just haven't had a chance. Instead I've done a few other things.

A couple of weeks ago a fellow Raveler gifted me with some of her handspun - 67 grams (approximately 100 yards) of thick/thin worsted weight yarn. After a quick search of the pattern database I decided a pair of children's mittens was my best choice to use every inch of her gorgeous yarn. I made a pair of Children's Basic Mitts by Elizabeth Durand in the largest size. Instead of a rounded top I switched to decreases at each side for more of a wedge shape with a grafted top - just like a sock toe. The sizing worked out perfectly; I finished with scant inches of yarn left over!

In my mindless and interrupted knitting time I worked away at my September vanilla socks - using scraps and Russian joins, roughly following the Vanilla Bean Striped Socks pattern working toe up with an afterthought heel. This morning I finished the second sock tube, so just the heels are left to do.  The Warm Hands Network has a shipment planned for September 30th, so I'm motivated to finish these up quickly to send them off in time.

And finally I did cast on for In and Out Socks in Smith and Ewe fingering. I'm not very far along yet, but I've seen enough to know that the yarn will work with the pattern. It looks impossibly small but it's very stretchy, so I guess I'll carry on for a bit to see how it works out.

This time last week we were sweltering in 34° C weather and heat warnings. Fast forward a week - the high today was 14° C. That's a pretty crazy swing in temperatures! The weather's supposed to swing back to summer again towards the middle of the week - but in the meantime it's sock knitting weather! No wonder there's lots getting done around here lately!

Year of Projects 5: Week 10

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

COOKIE A SOCK CLUB: June #1 • June #2 • August #1 • August #2 • October #1 • October #2 • December #1 • December #2

VANILLA SOCKS FOR CHARITY: July • August • September • October • November • December • January • February • March • April • May • June

Now that I'm caught up on all the other knitting fronts, it's finally time to get back to Rhombus. Sock one was cast on at the beginning of May (!) and has been languishing on the needles ever since. Time to get 'em done.

The pattern includes every kind of lifted increase imaginable - M1L, M1R, M1L-Purl and M1R-Purl. To get through the first couple of repeats on the leg I typed out a little cheat sheet for myself; that really helped. Then all of a sudden as I approached the heel I realized that I could look at the chart symbol and know how to work the stitch without referring to cheat sheet. BREAKTHROUGH! Now the knitting speeds along. Sock one is done, and I'm halfway down the leg of sock two. I expect the pair will be finished by the end of the week, or mostly finished anyway.

After taking the photo I was struck by how similar the pattern is to Esther by Stephanie van der Linden. I made those in the spring of 2010, except that in Esther the increases are all made with YOs resulting in a lacier sock. Comparing them side-by-side I prefer the Rhombus sock with its lifted increases, although the fabric is less stretchy so you wouldn't want to make the leg much longer.

While knitting sock two of Rhombus I've been flipping through Knit. Sock. Love. to decide what to cast on next. The forerunner right now is In and Out. I have a softly variegated purplish-pink yarn that might work for this. I hope it does work because this yarn/pattern combination would be perfect for a pair that's been promised to my sister's friend.

a head start

While selecting the yarn scraps for these socks, and while casting on and working the toe I thought I was starting a pair of scrappy striped socks for Gavin... but soon enough he made it clear that these were not the socks he was envisioning. In his imagination the blue scrappy socks were ONLY blue - no white, no beige, no brown, no green. 

*sigh* Looks like these will be my September Vanilla Socks for Charity instead.

Year of Projects 5: Week 9

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

COOKIE A SOCK CLUB: June #1 • June #2 • August #1 • August #2 • October #1 • October #2 • December #1 • December #2

VANILLA SOCKS FOR CHARITY: July • August • September • October • November • December • January • February • March • April • May • June

This week's good news is that both my July and August Vanilla Socks for Charity are done - and each got their own post earlier this week. Which leaves us the second pattern from the August shipment of the Cookie A sock club to discuss...

... Darjeeling Socks. Well, I knew when I saw the pattern photos that the fit of these socks would be a challenge - they look ill-fitting, stretched in spots and baggy in others, even in those photos. The designer comments:

"The pattern on these socks biases a great deal and causes the sock to pull in horizontally, making for a tight fit. Try on for fit after each repeat. Use a larger size needle on the leg and transition to smaller needles on the foot if needed. The largest size is intentionally shorter for yarn usage and fit."

I tried going up a size but the large was ridiculously baggy. So I tried going up a needle size or two, but the stitching was loose and flimsy looking. So finally I decided to go with stretchy yarn - CoBaSi - with the hope that would help. I swatched with this a couple of different ways and found that working the YOs tbl (which I prefer to close up the holes) actually helped to reduce the puffiness in the leaf pattern and helped to reduce the biasing. Additionally I worked the ribbed cuff at the larger size and made it longer with the goal of reducing the stretch and distortion of the ribbing. I also decided to add stitches with lifted increases as the pattern approaches the section that pulls tight, and then decrease those added stitches back out as the pattern relaxes. And finally I decided to work the first half of the repeat twice rather than mirroring it around the leg hoping to mitigate the biasing still further.

As a result I have a finished pair of socks that I can put on and, with some pulling, twisting and tugging, I can make them look nice in a photo or two but the fit problems remain insurmountable. Despite adding 12 stitches to each round through the tightest sections of the pattern, the socks still bind at the end of each leaf and the beginning of the next. And no matter what I do the middle of the leaves still bulge out. Even with a bigger, deeper cuff, the ribbing is still pulled and distorted at the beginning of the pattern.

The good news? This yarn is awesome! I had heard good things about CoBaSi on Ravelry but until recently I wasn't able to find it locally. And when I saw it in person, I had my doubts; in the skein it's not soft and looks splitty. But it knits up surprisingly nicely, the stitch definition is awesome and the knitted fabric feels great. Add to that its relatively cheap price and I'll definitely be buying more of this. And you guessed it, I'll be frogging these socks to recover the yarn, because I've no use for a poorly fitting pair of socks. Time to move on!

FO: August Ribbed Socks

Pattern: a very simple K4P2 ribbed sock with a slipped stitch heel flap

Yarn: 80/20 Merino from The Black Lamb

Comments: This was exactly the kind of mindless knitting I was in the mood for - cast on and start ribbing! And the ribbing pattern works really well with this very busy yarn colourway. The finished socks are almost metallic-looking. The foot is a little small for me, but the yarn yardage wasn't huge so there was little choice but to shorten them. No matter - there's a foot to fit every sock, right? And these are for charity.

One thing I did with these socks is work a set of decreases at the start of the heel flap and the start of the toe section, by working the P2s as P2togs. It's a nice way to even out the transition between the ribbing and flatter knitted fabric without any little bulges or puffs.

Don't be surprised if this same pattern repeats again later in this year. I've been looking through my yarn scraps and re-imagining the pattern knit in solid colour blocks.

FO: Vanilla Bean Striped Socks

Pattern: Vanilla Bean Striped Socks by Emily O'Grady

Yarn: Shelridge Farms 80/20 Fingering (white) plus sock yarn leftovers: Anzula Squishy (pink), Sokkusu O (orange, red), Manos Del Uruguay Alegria (red), Studio June Super Cash Sock (red, butterscotch, brown), Wandering Cat Alley Cat Sock (red barn, tea time, raspberry beret), Studio June Sock Luck (pink), Wandering Cat Top Cat (sandalwood, black orchid), Studio June Sydney Sock (red), Loopy Ewe Solid Series (yellow), Pagewood Farms Alyeska (red)

Needles: 2.00 mm

Modifications: Worked toe up, increasing to 70 sts with afterthought heel, with eight rounds per colour joined with Russian Joins. Next time I'll cast on more stitches to make toe less pointy and I'll skip the slipped stitches in the toe box.

Comments: These socks make me ridiculously happy; they're just so bright and colourful. It's always amazing to me that you can combine all these non-matching colours and it just works! And Gavin likes them too - which is really saying something. In fact, I've been directed to make a similar pair for him with shades of blue, green and grey accompanied by white stripes! Shouldn't be a problem - I'm in no danger of running out of sock yarn scraps! There's enough in the shoe box for probably a dozen more pairs of scrappy socks.

Year of Projects 5: Week 8

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

COOKIE A SOCK CLUB: June #1 • June #2 • August #1 • August #2 • October #1 • October #2 • December #1 • December #2

VANILLA SOCKS FOR CHARITY: July • August • September • October • November • December • January • February • March • April • May • June

Yeah, despite my promise to finish the heels on my July Vanilla Bean Striped Socks, I still haven't got around to that. Apparently I need a kick in the pants! Oh well, I promise - cross my heart and hope to die - to do them today. Definitely!

At least I remembered to bring my August Wide Rib Socks home from work this week. As you can see from the photo, sock one is done and sock two is on the needles. I had a brief moment of panic when I suspected I was running short of yarn on sock one, but the admin office postal scale confirmed that I should get sock two done with a couple of grams to spare!

The jury is still out on the colourway. It's still loud but I don't hate it. Gavin says it reminds him of a stretchy metal watchband strap, which is kind of interesting. It's also interesting to see how the colourway settles down into wider stripes through the gusset where I have all those extra stitches in the round. I think I'd have preferred the whole sock like that, but it is what it is.

Much of my knitting time in the last week has been spent on the second pattern for the Cookie A Sock Club - Darjeeling Socks. Now that sock one is off the needles I'll admit to liking it more than I did before... or more accurately, disliking it less than I did before. I still don't think I like it enough not to frog them once they're done. The fit is really problematic! That's a discussion to be had and a decision to be made next week; sock two should be off the needles by then.

It's hard to believe that summer is almost over, but the CNE started this weekend and that's a sure sign! Gavin and I are thinking of going next weekend. I'd like to see a HorsePower Live show, might check out the Arts, Crafts & Hobbies Pavilion, the Gourmet Kitchen Pavilion, and grab an Ice Cream Waffle. And then just walk around and people watch!

Year of Projects Year 5 Week 7

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

COOKIE A SOCK CLUB: June #1 • June #2 • August #1 • August #2 • October #1 • October #2 • December #1 • December #2

VANILLA SOCKS FOR CHARITY: July • August • September • October • November • December • January • February • March • April • May • June

Of course I did finish my Green Gable Socks ... and aren't they lovely? Although I didn't like the yarn's original "lemongrass" colourway, I'm pleased as punch with the kelly green I got after an immersion dye with Wilton Icing Color. So that's the first of two August Sock Club patterns done!

And my July Vanilla Bean Striped Socks are also off the needles, awaiting afterthought heels. I promise to get to these this week! These are knit entirely from scraps, with Russian joins at the colour changes, so there isn't much finishing to do except the heels.

I'm making good progress on my August Charity socks - vanilla ribbed socks. I'm just about to turn the heel on the first sock. You'll just have to take my word on this; I left this project in my desk drawer at work on Friday.

Last but not least I've made a start on the second of the August Club patterns, Darjeeling Socks. I've swatched, and I've ripped back three times, and enough's enough. These may end up being the most ill-fitting socks I've ever knit. Hopefully when I get the first sock of the needles I like it better on my foot. If not, I'll soldier on, post finished pics and then frog to reclaim the yarn. What an awful thought!

We've just got back from a weekend spent with friends at their Lake Erie cottage. I'm a little sunburnt, a little overtired, but getting out of the city somehow makes a weekend feel twice as long. Now I just need to get caught up on my chores!

Year of Projects 5 Week 6

destined to be ribbed socks

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

COOKIE A SOCK CLUB: June #1 • June #2 • August #1 • August #2 • October #1 • October #2 • December #1 • December #2

VANILLA SOCKS FOR CHARITY: July • August • September • October • November • December • January • February • March • April • May • June

No finished socks yet, but soon. Progress on my July Vanilla Bean Striped socks is slow but steady. I'm about halfway through the second sock tube and then all's that left is the two afterthought heels. It remains to be seen how long I can avoid the finishing of those!

For my August charity socks there's a multicolour yarn in my stash that has fought every pattern I've ever attempted with them. Time to cry "uncle" and knit the yarn up as a pair of vanilla ribbed socks. A K4P2 rib I think - I'm got a hankering for some wide ribbing! The yarn cake looks busy and barf-y doesn't it? But I think it'll settle down nicely once knit. I'm looking forward to seeing how they come out.

After overdyeing the August club yarn I went ahead and cast on Gable Socks. It's a lovely pattern but it's uncomfortably similar to Alice Yu's Shur'tugal Socks. Honestly, I'm not very happy about being presented with the Gable Socks pattern as an "original" design available exclusively to paid club members! Not much I can do about it, so I'll just keep my head down and knit. Over the past week I've knit sock one entirely and knit well past the heel of sock two. Shouldn't be too much longer now.

The second pattern for the Cookie A sock club August shipment is Darjeeling. At the moment I'm considering knitting these with a couple of skeins of CoBaSi yarn that I picked up the other day. This pattern's going to be a challenging fit so an elastic yarn might help. The pattern photo clearly shows the sock pulled overly tight at the beginning of each "leaf" and puffing out at the end of each eyelet row and above the heel flap. I need to put my thinking cap on to see if there are any adjustments I can make to mitigate the fit issues.

It's another beautiful summer day in Toronto, so it's time for me to get outside and enjoy the weather. I can't believe it's August already! Where does the time go?

Year of Projects 5 Week 5

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

COOKIE A SOCK CLUB: June #1 • June #2 • August #1 • August #2 • October #1 • October #2 • December #1 • December #2

VANILLA SOCKS FOR CHARITY: July • August • September • October • November • December • January • February • March • April • May • June

Realizing that I'd done the reverse yarn overs incorrectly was a set back last week. And no, they're not difficult, it was just a dumb mistake. Must Read All Instructions More Carefully!!! But finally these Revolution Socks are done. And just in the nick of time ahead of the release of the August Club patterns tomorrow. The pattern was a fun and interesting knit, but I'm not particularly fond of the finished socks. They are just too hole-y in my opinion. Maybe if my feet and legs were more tanned they'd look better?

The yarn - Socky-Talky by The Dye-Guy - was lovely to work with. It's soft, smoothy and pleasingly plump and springy. Hopefully it washes and wears well without pilling! And I'm very happy with the colour too - lots of subtle variations in the purples without any pooling. The yardage was extremely generous too! Although this pair of socks used 104 grams of yarn, I still have almost 30 grams left!

August club yarn arrived late last week and what a disappointment that was! It's yellow which is not good for me; I'm generally not a fan of most shades of yellow. But this is a particularly awful shade of yellow - a dull, dirty yellow with greenish overtones, sinus infection mucous colour. Another Raveler compared it to "Gastric Suction" ...... eeeeew!!

No sooner had I unwrapped it, I rewrapped it. It's just too ugly to see the light of day in my home. I tried posting it for sale or trade within the club but after reading the many posts from others with similar feelings about the yarn I quickly realized that there was little chance of finding a buyer. Besides making the arrangements and sorting out the shipping is a bit painful. So I deleted my sale or trade post and contemplated my next steps.

Why not overdye it? Gavin suggested. Good thinking! So that's exactly what I did yesterday evening. I googled this tutorial and followed it step-by-step exactly as demonstrated. When I overdyed the pink socks in February/March I used a microwave method, however I prefer this stove top method - I felt more confident and more in control, particularly as I was able to obsessively check and adjust the dye bath temperature with a meat thermometer. It certainly worked like a charm. The dye bath was completely exhausted and the overdid yarn rinses entirely clear. Thanks to a teal shade of Wilton Icing Color, the awful yellow yarn is now a much more palatable green. Admittedly the final green is brighter and yellower than I had hoped but at least I don't hate the colour now. Much better!

In the meantime I'm plugging away at my second Vanilla Beans Striped sock. With any luck I'll have another finished pair of socks to show you next week!

Year of Projects 5 Week 4

stretching a size 7 sock onto my huge foot

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

COOKIE A SOCK CLUB: June #1 • June #2 • August #1 • August #2 • October #1 • October #2 • December #1 • December #2

VANILLA SOCKS FOR CHARITY: July • August • September • October • November • December • January • February • March • April • May • June

For the last week I've been knitting monogamously on the second pattern for the Cookie A Sock Club June shipment  - Revolution Socks. After receiving notice that the August yarn and pattern bundle will ship early, I'm extra motivated to get this pair of the needles.

The pattern is very lacy - which is not my cup of tea - but they're being knit to give away so hopefully the recipient likes the pattern. The right sock is a mirror of the left; I like that. On the other hand the right sock uses reverse yos; I'm not so enthusiastic about those. As warned in the stitch legend, those backwards yos really want to creep across the adjacent stitches to the right of them so you have to slow down a bit to separate the stitches into the correct order.

Why reverse the yos? Here's what Ysolda Teague has to say:

The direction in which the yarn is wrapped around the needle affects the size of hole created by a yarn over. If you are working on a project that has lots of yarn overs between different types of stitches you may want to swatch and alter the yarn over directions so that your yarn overs are of a uniform size.

Haven't we all encountered situations where one or more yos look sloppy compared to the rest of the fabric? Maybe this is the answer? Particularly when a yo falls between a knit and a purl stitch!

Good thing this blog post has me rereading the reverse yarn over instructions from Ysolda's blog .... I've just realized that I've worked everyone of them incorrectly by knitting into the front leg on the following row. Instead those reverse yarn overs must be knit into the back leg to avoid twisting the stitch. And that certainly explains that niggling feeling that I've been having - that the right sock is knitting up smaller than the left. Twisting all those stitches would definitely make it smaller!

So once I finish grocery shopping and laundry, I guess I'll be ripping the second sock back to the cuff and starting over! Oh well, at least I'm not too far into sock two! And thank goodness for another small blessing: sock one just used regular yarn overs.

Year of Projects 5 Week 3

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

COOKIE A SOCK CLUB: June #1 • June #2 • August #1 • August #2 • October #1 • October #2 • December #1 • December #2

VANILLA SOCKS FOR CHARITY: July • August • September • October • November • December • January • February • March • April • May • June

I'm pleased to report that I've got the first pair of socks for the Cookie A Sock Club June Shipment completed. And more than a little relieved.

The pattern is Apollonia, and I can't say I  enjoyed it much - entirely too much purling, too many YO eyelets, a pattern that ends partway on the instep and ends with plain stockinette foot and toe, and a shortish leg with no simple way to lengthen it - nope, not really my thing. It's a nice enough result but the knitting felt very tedious.

 The yarn is "Purple Rain" from Knitting Notions, and I can't say that I enjoyed that much either. The purple is so dark and so intense that it is actually blinding. "Loud" is what Gavin calls the colour. The pattern barely shows up unless you really peer at it, and you might want to get some sunglasses before you attempt that. Knitting at night or in low light was impossible. And it's a light fingering - quite thin - with no nylon so I'm not confident about how well these socks will wear.

Fortunately a coworker paused at my desk to admire the sock pattern and yarns so the finished socks have already found a new home.

With those socks off the needles it was time to cast on the second pair of socks for the Cookie A Sock Club June Shipment. This pattern is Revolution. So far the knitting is more interesting than the other pattern, although those six K3togs every fourth round are painful. Thank goodness those are carbon fibre needles, or I'd have snapped 'em by now! This pattern still has too many YO eyelets for my taste but we'll see what it looks like once it's knitted a little further. The yarn is Socky Talky from The Dye Guy who is a local dyer. The colourway is "Scottish Heather" ... still purple but I like this purple way more! A friend picked out the yarn asking that I knit a pair of socks for her Mom's caregiver, so these will be given away too!

My Vanilla Bean Striping socks for my July Charity Socks list are a bit further along too. The first tube is knitted and awaits its afterthought heel. The second sock hasn't been started yet. No love for Rhombus this week, but I hope to turn my attention to them as soon as I've got Revolution socks off the needles.

It's swelteringly hot here in Toronto. Is it wrong to have Freezies for lunch? Hope you're having a great weekend and see you next week!