Thursday, July 19, 2007

Socks, Socks, Socks, and oh yes, Socks

I love knitting socks, really love it. There are so many things I like about knitting socks. The fact that from a skein of yarn you can knit not one but two garments. Finding the perfect pattern to suit the yarn and the colourway. The amazing turn of the heel and begining of the foot gusset. The siblime wonder of the kitchener stitch toe graft. A finished garment with only two ends to weave in, the cuff and the toe, perfection. I say this after having knitted, so far, four pairs of socks this month.


The first pair, knee high Gryffindor (for tomorrows book release party). Knitted using Lorna's Laces, Shepherd Sock in Flames. I really wanted knee highs and used a combination of patterns to achieve it. I started with 96 stitches, 40 rows of rib, 40 rows of stockinette before I reached the decrease. I achieved this by decreasing two stitches every five rows. I was down to 60 stitches by the begining of the heel flap. The striping turned out fairly uniform. I think these twins are closer to being identical rather than fraternal. I really like the slip stitch toe. The length of the socks made it a little boring after awhile, but all in all they turned out well.




The Eye of Partridge Heel.

These really are nice, and will be great winter socks. The colours are a combination of all the Gryffindor golds, reds, and burgundy.





I am also working of socks for Sockopalooza 4. Are these the socks I ask. All Things Heather in Valentine, pattern is Uptown Boot Socks from Favorite Socks. If you are knitting the socks from this invaluable book, there is a KAL to join, it's really interesting to see is the patterns in different colours and yarns.

I checked out my sock pals blog and the first thing that caught me was the use of various pink yarns on her blog banner. She likes vivid colours, no pale or pastel girl is she. Laces and cables seemed to be an interest in her sock preference. The only colour choice that did not seem to be on the wheel was orange (have I said to much). Do you know how many sock yarns have the colour orange in them? More often than not I would find the most vibrant, vivid colourway only to find that it had a streak of orange running through it. If I wasn't such a neurotic I would have picked a pattern, yarn and got down to it. No, not me, I have to ponder and puddle and drive myself loony, I have always wished that I could be one of those people who float through life and seem in effortless fashion to always pull it off.




The pattern is a nice little running cable. The heel is a slip stitch the toe plain and simple.









Are these the Sockopalooza Socks. Sunshine Yarn's by Dani Frisbie, 100% Superwash Merino in Wildflowers. The pattern is Saucy from Cider Moon, a super free pdf to download.




I really like Dani's yarns, she had a real eye for colour. Her first sock club just finished and her second one (Harry Potter themed) is just starting.







My new favorite toe, the Slip Stitch.







Cable leg











The Eye of Partridge Heel








Or is this the Sockopalooza Sock. Colinette JitterBug in Alizarine also following the Saucy pattern. This is what they say about the colourway:
This pink lipped passion makes all the girlies whirl. Definitely not a shrinking violet stuck on the shelf; this flower flaunts itself. If you’ve got it – get to it !




I really think this might be the one. Should we take a vote?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who could possibly chose? Such lovely, lovely socks. The Sunshine Yarn ones are particularly lovely, though. One sleep to go.....(You KNOW what I mean!)

Ana said...

I am in love with your Gryffindor socks. Whatever the socks are that you are going to send your pal she is going to love them. I had never thought about starting so many different socks at once to confuse my pal. I'll have to remember that for future swaps.

Anonymous said...

Every single one of those socks is a gorgeous work of art!

Arianwen said...

They are all lovely specially the sunshine yarns and and the pink lipped passion. I keep hearing about the sockopalooza does it happen every year? Can anyone join?