Sock Addiction

Can you believe I've been knitting almost a year?  I can't.  I picked it up last September: two skeins of Madtosh DK in Calligraphy were all it took to reel me in.  Now it's a full-blown obsession, and I spend more time on Ravelry than is probably healthy.

I've tried to dabble and make different projects so I don't get stuck.  I also like to learn with each project, because otherwise I'm going to get bored and toss it aside.  I've realized that I love making just about anything; my current project is my most favorite.  I really enjoy making sweaters, because I just like sweaters, and I like shawls because they're always so pretty and feminine, even if they aren't the most practical.  I think my most favorite projects, though, are socks.  A lot of knitters would agree, and an equal number would probably say socks are too scary.  That's cool; I always thought that too.  But once I made my first pair, I was hooked, and suddenly had a justification for buying all those single skeins of variegated yarns.

I'm an amazing photo stylist.  Look at those props!

The first two pairs of socks I made were for Nick.  I'm not ashamed to admit he was the push for me to get into socks.  The man loves a good wool sock throughout the year, and he loves it even more if his wife spends a month of her life working on it.  I chose Lorna's Laces Solemate for his first pair because they have Outlast in them, and he was always complaining that his feet were still cold at work.  No more complaints with these babies!  I'd like to buy more Solemate to make him more socks, but that's not really a priority.  Selfish knitter over here.

Both of his socks were made with the book Socks From the Toe Up, which is an invaluable resource.  I followed the gusset-heel sock pattern from start to end for his socks and felt comfortable after those to move onto more challenging patterns.  PS, his second pair was made with Miss Babs Cosmic in Coffee Break, chosen solely because my Nicholas loves coffee.  It worked out well.

Of course, after finishing up Nick's socks, I realized I needed to build up my own sock drawer, especially after I bought a new dresser and had an actual drawer available to devoted just to hand-knit socks.  I didn't just want plain socks, though, because endless stockinette gets boring and I was already avoiding a cardigan due to the stockinette, so I found some Louise Tillbrook patterns on Ravelry and chose those for myself.

These are the Bleaberry Tarn socks made with Skein Merino Cashmere in Sci-Fi.  I originally bought this colorway for Nick but then saw a project on Ravelry made in this color and decided I wanted it for myself, dammit.  I love how the slight variegation worked with the cables.  And the socks fit so well!

I made these out of the Louise Tillbrook Seed Pods pattern and Hedgehog Fibres Sock in Pod--partnered solely because of their names.  Obviously the color pooling doesn't help the pattern, but who cares?  I love the colors and honestly the socks fit so well because the pattern is great.

I also started a new vanilla sock this past week, made without a pattern and mostly just a plan.  I wanted some socks to work on between my 16" of stockinette on my latest sweater, and I'm feeling extra fall-y lately (I'm always a pretty high level of fall, but it gets fullblown around this time of year), so I'm using some GnomeAcres Halloween House Gnome in Witches' Brew.  I'm not sure if this was a 2013-only color or not, but I bought it last year.  I love these.  They're so ridiculously Halloween, they're perfect.  I'm much further along than the picture above, and let me tell you--I won't take them off once October hits.  And then I can wear Christmas socks!

Do you knit socks?  What's your favorite sock yarn?  My favorite is all of them.

Finished: Wrapped in Leaves Shawl

Some projects just put themselves together.  You buy the yarn with a pattern in mind (or vice versa), you breeze through the knitting or sewing, and before you know it, you have a finished project to show off in real life.  It doesn't linger in your WIP pile, it doesn't come with a million unforeseen issues.  This is one of those projects.

Ravelry notes here.  The pattern is Wrapped in Leaves, found in Alana Dakos' Botanical Knits.  It's a really pretty pattern, but I tend to like streamlined, simple designs (which is why I'm not a lace knitter!).  However, when I found the yarn--which is Miss Babs' Yowza! in Crawdad--I just knew it had to be this shawl.  Whatever that feeling is (kismet?), it happened, and I cast on almost as soon as I received the yarn in the mail.

The pattern is wonderfully written.  It's not too detailed and assumes you know the basics, but it doesn't leave you scratching your head anywhere either.  I will say adding the leaf edging had me a bit confused, but it was one of those things where you had to just do it to understand it.  Stop reading and thinking about it; just pick up the needles and do it.

The yarn is ridiculously wonderful too.  The colors are gorgeous and deep without being too dark for me, and the masculine palette brings down the feminine leaves a bit.  I haven't worked with Yowza! before, but I should've known it would be amazing--every skein of Miss Babs I've ever knit with (or even touched!) has been my most favorite skein yet.  It's a good thing I have a stash of her yarn!

Is it bad that I'm already looking forward to fall so I can wear this?  Yes, it is.  It's finally warm, I should enjoy it!

What have you knit lately?

WIP Weekend

I wish I had a completed project to show you guys this weekend!  I'm in the middle of three very different, all fun projects I'm working on right now, and while they're all great, not a single one is complete.

First, I've been working on my Grace cardigan since the snow came a couple weeks ago.  I know, I never blogged about it, but we got about nine inches of snow the week of Valentine's Day and I had a lot of time to putt around the house!

The pattern is by Jane Richmond and the yarn is Tanis Fiber Arts in Grape Bubblegum, a OOAK color from her Boxing Day Etsy update.  I know you're not supposed to do variegated yarns with lace but the lace isn't super intricate and the colors go so well together!  I don't think it loses anything.  I really like how this is turning out and I love the feel of the fabric--fingering on size 4 needles makes a great drape!

Also in the realm of knitting, I'm on my second pair of socks for Nick!  I know, second--I didn't blog the first ones (I'm getting to be really awful at this, sorry!) but you can see my Ravelry notes here.  The pattern is the basic gusset heel socks from Wendy Johnson's Socks From the Toe Up (best sock book ever!) and the yarn is Miss Babs Cosmic sock in Coffee Break.  Nick loves coffee and he loves hand-knit socks, so really it was like worlds colliding.  I tend to fly through these while watching Six Feet Under every night with him (I'm re-watching, he's watching for the first time).  I'm trying to make as many pairs for him right off the bat so I can focus on socks for me after and not feel bad!

Finally, I was asked to make a quilt for a friend.  She fell in love with Sarah Jane's Wee Wander collection and asked me to make the quilt Sarah Jane featured on her blog.  She also asked for some open-wide pouches, which are just the most fun things ever.  I've been piecing everything together for it, but here's a little sneak:

Isn't rental carpeting the best?

I'd like to finish it this weekend, but after spending like two hours at Ikea earlier today, things are looking iffy.  Fingers crossed!

What are you working on?  Also, what do you think of the recent rash of bloggers calling it quits in favor of other social media?  I like this space and feel that I need to visit more.  What do you think?