Year of Projects 5: Week 49

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

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

Good Grief! Is it really 10 weeks since I posted last? I guess that shows how busy things have been! Looks like the next couple of weeks are going to be catch up posts. Although there was no blogging happening, there was still knitting happening and as a result I've got some finishes to show!

I finished the Spring Fair Isle socks in March. The original plan was to complete the heel and foot in solid dark green, but there wasn't enough yarn to do it, so the last several rounds of the foot and the entire toe section were knit in a contrasting light green. That's the thing about knitting with scraps - you just have to make it all work with the yardage you have. And I think the light coloured toes are kinda fun!

Seems I was still in a spring mood after finishing the Fair Isle socks so I pulled out the rest of the green leftovers from the yarn I was given by another Raveller and cast on a pair of Vanilla socks. Don't the greens look nice together! The sandy coloured yarn was a good foil for the greens but it was unpleasant to work with. To put a nice spin on it, that yarn is likely very warm and sturdy. These will be donated to The Warm Hands Network and count as my February socks for my list. (February? Oh my! I really am behind!!)

Next I wanted to do something with 115gr of mustardy yellow yarn that was amongst the donated yarn scraps. With enough yardage to do an entire pair of socks I decided on the pattern Anni from Op-Art Socks. The pattern was inspired by a design called "Yellow Meander" by textile artist Anni Albers so yellow was the perfect choice. It's a really simple pattern of knits and purls but it's really striking when worn. And all those columns and rows make for a very stretchy and comfy sock! I have to admit as well that although I wasn't enthusiastic about this yarn colour it has knit up as a very nice pair of socks and the colour is just fine on my feet! These will also be donated to The Warm Hands Network and count as my March socks for my list.

Also amongst the donated yarn scraps was an entire skein of Tough Love Sock from Sweet Georgia Yarns in a colour way called Sugar Shack. The yarn had been caked and it looked as if something had been started and frogged. The yarn was a short-repeat variegated colourway ranging from undyed natural yarn through purple-reds to brown/blacks and entirely defied every pattern I tried. I tried a vanilla pattern. I tried a slip-stitch pattern. I tried a short row pattern. I tried a combination of slipped stitches and short rows. No luck - the colourway was too busy and too contrasty to suit anything I tried. I considered throwing the yarn in the garbage but couldn't bring myself to do it. Finally I overdyed the yarn with burgundy food colouring to darken the lightest parts of the colourway and reduce the contrast in the variegation, and that worked! I cast on a pair of vanilla-ish 5x1 ribbed socks and knit alternate rounds with other semi-solid berry colours from the yarn scrap bag to break up the pooling. I'm left with enough yarn for a second pair but I really like the first pair so that's not a problem. And these will be donated to The Warm Hands Network too and count as my April socks for my list. (Look at me catching up!!)

You may have noticed  that I haven't spent a minute on any Cookie A patterns from my list in the last two weeks. And I just can't bring myself to do it. I'm much more interested in knitting vanillas socks and patterns from Op-Art Socks these days. In fact I have two pairs of socks on needles now and both are from Op-Art Socks (but more about those next week), so I'm definitely not finishing my YOP list this year. The remaining Knit. Sock. Love. patterns will shift to next year's list and we'll see how that goes. For the balance of next year's list I'm considering a different approach - maybe one pattern from a different independent designer each month and one vanilla pattern for charity? That feels less restrictive to me, and perhaps more do-able!