Tag / ESK

by TechnicolorMom

Alexander Socks!

Y’all! I designed another pair of socks! In 2019 years ago, I reached out on Ravelry to recruit test knitters for my third sock pattern, the Fireside Cable Socks. One of my volunteers, Jordan, knit a lovely pair of socks as she was testing out the pattern before publication. Fast forward to 2022, when I was able to regularly go to my local knitting group for Knit Night. I became fast friends with Jordan, who shares my love of pink, hand-dyed yarn, and all things cables. A long while later, we realized that these two Jordans were the same person! How small is the world that someone I interacted with online three years before ended up being at my Knit Night?!

Jordan is on the receiving end of a lot of my design-related brainstorming, and she is enthusiastic and encouraging as she reads and responds to all of my text messages. I’m so thankful that we had the chance to meet in person! We have spent a lot of time talking about socks and what would be our “perfect” sock design. Jordan really loves when patterns continue onto heel flaps, and we both really love cables.

So, I promised her a design with a fancy heel flap. And here we are! The Alexander Socks, named for my friend Jordan, are for those of us Hamilton fans who will never be satisfied with vanilla socks and want to elevate our socks without a huge commitment to fixing missed cable crosses or having to focus, focus, focus. When incorporating these cables, I used what has become my signature increases and decreases at the starts and ends of the cables so that you don’t have to think too hard about which size to make — just use your vanilla stitch count, and you are good to go. I used Teal Torch Knits TTK Sock in the colorway Tall Drink of Water for my sample, and I love how these light speckles look with the cables.

The Alexander Socks are knit cuff down, beginning with a German Twisted Cast-On and a beautiful cabled cuff. The leg of the sock features a relaxing 3×1 broken rib that continues down the foot of the sock. A cabled heel flap levels up the socks, and a traditional gusset makes for a great overall fit. The broken rib texture flows into the rounded toe for a polished look with a comfortable fit. Kitchener stitch is used to finish off the sock.

I’ve now knit three pairs of these socks — two for myself and a tiny pair for my 4-year old. The great news is that this pattern includes five cast-on sizes: 48 sts, 56 sts, 64 sts, 72 sts, and 80 sts. The 48 sts size is great for little kids with fingering weight yarn, or if you knit them with DK weight yarn, you’ll get a super cozy pair of adult socks. I use the 56 sts size for my 8 year old, and I knit the 64 sts size for myself. I usually use 72 sts for my husband or dad, and the 80 sts size is great for anyone who struggles with foot swelling or needs a looser fit.

I knit these pink socks using Leading Men Fiber Arts Show Stopper in the Pink Lemonade colorway. How amazing is that tonal?! I already have another pair of these on the go for my daughter, and I’ve got several skeins of yarn that would look amazing with these cables. What colorways do you think will look fantastic in these socks? I think this pattern will play nicely with any fingering weight merino/merino nylon blend yarn in solid, tonal, lightly speckled, or low-contrast colorways. I’m thinking Lolabean Yarn Co’s The City So Nice, They Named It Twice colorway would look amazing in this design — I used that colorway for my Concentration Shawl design a couple of years ago.

Are there any design features that you would love to see in a pair of socks? I’m really enjoying the fancy cuffs and heel flaps and of course cables!

by TechnicolorMom

Saturation Blanket

After publishing my Dilution Cowl pattern, I kept thinking about how lovely the cables and texture looked and how nice they would look together in a blanket design. I daydreamed about the corners on this blanket for months before I finally picked up some needles and yarn and started swatching. I love a challenge, and I knew I wanted the cables on this blanket to stun at the corners. The way the cables met at the corners had to be different from my Dilution Cowl and Concentration Shawl patterns because the cables needed to be continuous — they needed to go in the same direction all the way around the blanket instead of pointing towards one another at the corner. It took five or six tries, but eventually I figured it out.

I started out by calculating what the smallest size blanket I could make would be in order to get in a full repeat and make the cables continuous. This purple version was knit using a skein of Hedgehog Merino DK in the colorway Hush. While I ended up using a worsted weight yarn for the pattern, I was able to make sure that my corners worked.

After all of the calculations and pattern drafts, I knitted up this lovely turquoise blanket in a size big enough to cover up with. I am so happy with it, and I can’t wait to gift it to my new nephew. I called the pattern the “Saturation Blanket” in keeping with my chemistry theme for this cable and texture combination that I’ve used in previous designs. In chemistry, a saturated solution is one in which the maximum amount of solute has been dissolved in a solvent at a given temperature. If you’ve ever ordered iced tea and really wanted sweet tea, you likely found that after dumping in a few packets of sugar, quite a few crystals of sugar settled on the bottom of your glass. This is because the solution, your now only slightly sweetened tea, is saturated; that is, no more sugar can dissolve in the iced tea.

While working on this blanket for my sister’s new baby, I kept thinking about how this child will enter the world with their parents’ and sisters’ hearts full of love, or, if you will, saturated with love.

The faux rib/garter texture of the Saturation Blanket creates a squishy, cozy fabric. The edges of the blanket feature beautiful braided cables that entwine at the corners and continue along all four sides of the blanket, giving it an elegant, cohesive look. With plenty of rest rows and pattern interest, this blanket will fly off the needles.

The work on the pattern didn’t stop after I’d finished making my full-size sample. I really wanted knitters to be able to complete the project without getting stuck, so I knit another sample and photographed my progress to guide knitters through the applied edging that is used to connect the cables along the top and bottom of the blanket.

I filmed a series of short video tutorials to help with any techniques that might be new to knitters, such as the Dec-9-to-1-k that helps make those beautiful cables connect to one another. And finally, I had the pattern tech-edited by a professional editor and test-knit by my lovely volunteers Cindy, Cyn, and Wilma.

This pattern can now be found on Ravelry, and if you use the code SATURATION20, you can save 20% from now until October 25, 2024. I can’t wait to see your beautiful new heirloom being gifted to yourself or your knitworthy loved ones.

by TechnicolorMom

Pause Time Socks

I am so excited to share that the Pause Time Socks pattern is officially out in the world! This pattern is available on Ravelry, and the code PAUSE20 will get you 20% off now until Tuesday, February 6, 2024.

The Pause Time Socks are knit cuff-down, beginning with a German Twisted Cast-On and 2×2 rib. The leg and foot of the sock feature a beautiful trio of short and long cables on the front of the sock and stockinette on the back. A traditional heel flap and gusset make for a great overall fit, and a rounded toe and Kitchener stitch finish off the sock.

The difficulty rating for the Pause Time Socks pattern is INTERMEDIATE. This project is worked in the round from the cuff down and includes cables, slipped stitches, increases, and decreases. Kitchener stitch is used to finish off the toe.

The pattern has been tech edited and test knit.

Pause Time Socks in Neon Melon

DESIGN INSPIRATION

It seems as though the older I get, the faster time goes, and sometimes I wish I had the ability to pause time. My two children seem to change and grow as quickly as the smaller cables on the Pause Time Socks. As I typed up this pattern, my three-year-old sat in my lap, pretending to type and control my finger movements. He won’t be small enough to sit in my lap for long, but I will enjoy the moment for now. The larger central cable takes the shape of an hourglass with longer stretches of stockinette between the cables, reminding us to pause and breathe in the beautiful moments around us.

RECOMMENDED YARN

This pattern will play nicely with any fingering weight merino/merino nylon blend yarn in solid, tonal, or lightly speckled colorways.

I used Sock by Teal Torch Knits, a 75% superwash merino wool/25% nylon, 463 yds (423 m) per 3.5 oz (100 g) base, in the Neon Melon colorway for my sample. I love how these cables pop in this color, and I cannot wait to get these cables onto some more accessories.

GIFT KNITTING

One of my goals for this year is to knit using stash yarn, and another is to knit gift socks for my extended family members. My husband, dad, mom, Grandma, MawMaw (maternal grandmother), and mother-in-law have all been enthusiastic supporters of my knitting endeavors, and this year I want to treat them to some handmade socks.

I wrote about the Dragon Fairy Socks that I gifted my Grandma a few weeks ago, and I just finished up a pair of Pause Time Socks for my MawMaw. She wears a size 6 shoe, so I was able to finish these up in just a few days. I love how these cables look in this gorgeous tonal yarn.

Pause Time Socks in Sangria

For these beauties, I used The Lemonade Shop House Sock in Sangria, which I purchased in September 2020. My MawMaw loves bold, saturated colors, so I thought this colorway would be perfect for her. I started these socks on January 26, 2024, and I finished them on February 2, 2024. You can find more info about this pair, including when I started the toe of the sock, on my project page on Ravelry. I’ve already started working on the sunburst granny squares to use up the leftover yarn.

Do you have a beautiful tonal or solid skein that would look amazing in these cables languishing in your stash? Maybe it’s time to cast on! Have you knit cables before? If not, what is holding you back? I’d love to ease any fears you might have about cable knitting.

by TechnicolorMom

Design Process Spotlight: Dilution Cowl

I was participating in a general cowl knitalong (KAL) with my local yarn store, Eat.Sleep.Knit, in early 2023 when the idea for the Dilution Cowl came to me. I was originally choosing colors for a different cowl project by one of my favorite designers – one where you hold a strand of DK weight yarn with a strand of fingering weight yarn, but alternate out the fingering weight yarn to create a marled fade. I made several swatches and could never settle on a good fade using only stash yarn. Eventually, I realized that I needed to choose something different because I felt like I was forcing the colors.

I loved how the DK weight yarn diluted out the speckles of the fingering weight yarn, and after I found a pair of yarns from my stash that I loved together, I knew I had to make something really special with it and started sketching. An asymmetric shawl is my favorite shape to knit for a shawl, and when this yarn spoke to me, I knew it wanted to be a cowl that had that same asymmetric shape. I wanted it to have a cable that was featured on the front and to have an interesting but easy texture for the drapey part of the cowl.

The earliest sketches of this cowl just had the cable along one side, and I just started knitting. This literally flew off my needles and was only slowed down by me stopping to take photos to share with a friend and admire my work. Do you do that? Stop to gaze lovingly at your knitting or crafting? If not, you should totally try it! Be impressed with yourself! You are creating something amazing!

Now, as I approached the length that I wanted the neckline to be, I started to think about how I wanted to finish off the live edge. I considered a simple i-cord bind off, and while I think that would have looked really nice, I decided to try something crazy and attempt an applied edging, where you knit an edging perpendicular to the body of the fabric. The idea was that I’d try to make the cables meet at the corner, but if I couldn’t make it work out, I’d just overlap them and call it a day. Usually I don’t put a lot of pressure on myself to just finish and prefer to figure it out, but I was on a relatively short deadline for the cowl KAL that I wanted to submit the project for. After several hours on the floor with a notebook, a calculator, and a measuring tape (which my children call “measuring snakes”), I ended up with a tentative plan.

I did not get the corner right on the first try. I got down to where I was ready to start intertwining the cables and started taking very meticulous notes. After the first attempt failed, I realized I needed to switch to a swatch so that I wouldn’t wear out the yarn with multiple frogging and reknitting attempts. I am a problem solver, though, and I just knew that I could solve this problem if I stuck with it. It took me about three tries to get it right, and let me tell you, I was just over the moon with pride at how clever I was when I did.

Once I had a good idea of how the corner was going to go, I switched back to the main project, finished out the corner, blocked the fabric, and seamed up the back, and there it was, the Dilution Cowl! I just love how this project turned out.

The last time I had published a pattern before the Dilution Cowl was in late 2019, so I was a little nervous about putting this design out into the world, but I’m so glad I did! Once I got back into the swing of things, I managed to publish seven patterns in 2023. Some of my design processes have been much more intentional than how the Dilution Cowl design process went, and some of them have just been the kind where I start knitting and see where it takes me. I can’t say that I have a strong preference for one over the other, but the laissez faire type definitely seems magical.

If you love the texture and cables in the Dilution Cowl, check out the Concentration Shawl, the Solution Socks, and the Solvation Hat. I’m also in the process on working on a baby blanket version where the cables go all the way around the perimeter of the blanket, and let me tell you that figuring out how to do the corners and cables on that one was even more satisfying than finishing up the corner on the Dilution Cowl. (That one took about seven tries, and I ended up with a whole pile of swatches.)

Solution Socks
Concentration Shawl
Solvation Hat

What do you think? Do you ever start knitting a project with a yarn and realize that the yarn wants to be something else? In a way, I think this is very similar to an author whose characters start taking them in a different direction than the author originally intended. The yarn is a character, and sometimes it needs its own adventure!

by TechnicolorMom

No Scraps Left Behind

When I knit a pair of socks, I rarely use the entire skein. I almost always have 20 to 30 grams (80 to 120 yards) of yarn leftover. In the past, I’ve just stuffed these too-large-to-discard leftovers into a drawer, but lately, this drawer has been making me feel overwhelmed. Maybe it’s the chaos? The unknown? Not having a plan? The tangles don’t bother me too much.

There’s definitely a hesitancy to throw the leftovers away because what if I need them one day? What if I need to darn some socks? Let’s be real, I’ve never darned a pair of socks. I’m sure that I am capable and can figure it out, but I’d just rather knit a new pair of socks and enjoy some different yarn for a while. So the holey socks go into a drawer of their own. I’m sensing a pattern here.

One of my goals for this year is to leave no scraps behind, so I’ve got a plan for my leftovers! I’ve got two different types of sock yarns that I typically work with: two-ply yarns that are 400 yards/100 g and 80% superwash merino/20% nylon and four-ply yarns that are 463 yards/100 g and 75% superwash merino and 25% nylon. I’ll typically use the two-ply yarns for socks for my children and the four-ply yarns for myself, but once upon a time, I only bought two-ply sock yarns, so I’ve got tons of them around.

My most recent FO is a pair of Dragon Fairy Socks using Kim Dyes Yarn Sourdough Sock in the colorway Leaves.Drizzle.Fiber.Friends. The yarn was an exclusive colorway for Eat.Sleep.Knit back in October 2020, so this skein of yarn has been hanging out in my stash for quite a long time. The Dragon Fairy Socks pattern is one of my upcoming designs, so you’ll see a bit more about it over the next few weeks (check out the sneak peek in the photo below!). The design looks fantastic in any dye style. These socks are for my grandmother, who will be celebrating her 81st birthday next week. She wears a US Women’s 9, so I had about 72 yards of yarn leftover after finishing these socks.

To use up the rest of my yarn, I’ve got three projects going on. The first is a crochet Hygge Burst Hexie Blanket by Mallory Krall. I’m holding leftover two-ply sock yarn double for this, and I’ll make a starburst hexagon for each pair of socks that I make this year. As I’m feeling up for it, I’ll also fish a leftover skein out of the Chaos Drawer to turn into hexagons as well. Each of my hexagons uses just under 12 g or 48 yards of yarn. I think this will be a fun way to use up some leftovers and create a memory blanket using yarns that will primarily go into gift socks.

The second use of the yarn is to make crochet granny squares for my Battenburg Blanket by Sandra Paul. I’ve been making four squares for each color that I use, and I’ve got about 100 colorful squares done so far. I’ll need about 500 colorful squares total for this blanket. I started it in September 2020, so it’s been in progress for quite a while, and I’ve used mini skeins from past advent calendars and other leftovers for this project. Each square uses 6 to 7 yards of yarn, and I’m only using leftover two-ply sock yarns for this blanket.

Finally, if I have enough leftover after this, I’ll wind up about 4 g of yarn into a tiny ball to save for December this year. Instead of purchasing an advent calendar of yarn minis, my plan is to save tiny balls of yarn leftover from socks that I make this year to craft tiny socks as holiday ornaments. This will be a great way to remember and revisit all of the socks that I’ve made throughout the year, even if they’ve been gifted away or so well loved that they end up in the Darning Drawer of Doom.

What do you think? Do you have a Chaos Drawer like the one I shared? What do you do to manage leftovers? Let me know in the comments!

by TechnicolorMom

New House, Not A Lot of Knitting

The last time I posted, TechnicoolDad and I were on our last week of only one of us working from home. The next week — the third week of January, I think — he and I were both working from home, and by Tuesday, we were on the phone with Grandma begging her to come help. Because working full time while also taking care of a baby and a pre-schooler (not to mention trying to teach them things) is not really possible. For me, anyway. If you can do it without help, you’re a superhero.

Anyway, queue the cascade that was February + March + April. Our baby was almost ready to move into his own room, but we had quickly converted the nursery (that he never actually slept in) back into Grandma’s room, and we were in need of some more space. So we decided to buy a new home and sell our old home. Everything went really well and smoothly for us, but it was a lot of stress and busy-ness, and saying goodbye to the home where our little ones were born was not easy.

Fortunately, we are now in a new home, baby is in his own bedroom (AND SLEEPING 11.5 HOURS AT NIGHT WHAT WHAT), and Grandma has her own bedroom on the ground floor. Life is good. Plus there is a playground in our new neighborhood, and my daughter is loving that.

So what have I been knitting for the last three months? Not a lot, to be honest.

Jaina has a new sweater! This is the Bean & Olive sweater by Andrea Mowry. This was a collaboration with Adella from Lolabean Yarn Co. For my version, I used Hedgehog Merino DK in Crystal for the main color and Lolabean Yarn Co Soy Bean in Felted Forest for the hearts. I purchased both from Eat.Sleep.Knit. I lucked out with a recent restock of more of the gray to make myself a matching Bean & Olive Grown Up eventually. I still haven’t blocked hers. Fortunately, this should fit for a couple of years.

J modeling her fresh-off-the-needles Bean & Olive pullover.

As a side note, this photo was taken in our old home. I miss the floors already, haha. We had just finished getting them just the way we wanted them with that gorgeous gray tile. Because as it turns out, TechnicoolDad and I both love gray. Who would have thought?

As it turns out, that sweater is the only actual finished project on my Ravelry notebook since the Hug Time Bracelets that I talked about in the last post, haha. That doesn’t mean I haven’t started anything.

On the contrary, I have several pairs of vanilla socks in progress and have been practicing with the circular sock machine. Here’s an interesting one:

These sock fragments were all cranked using my circular sock machine from the same skein of yarn. This colorway is All My Love, the January club colorway from Katie at Yarn Love. The interesting thing is that gauge changes dramatically altered the pooling effect. On the left, the spiral is 7 sts/inch and goes in a clockwise direction. On the two right-hand sock fragments, the gauge is 8 sts/inch and the spiral goes in a counter-clockwise direction. The second from the left sock is 7.5 sts/inch, and the colors pool together completely differently. I also thought it was cool that the two sock fragments on the right have a different density, even though they were made at the same gauge, one right after the other. Long story, shortened: You have to make gauge swatches even on a CSM.

My inner organic chemist came out to play on this one: The far left and far right sock spirals are enantiomers. They are non-superimposable mirror images, like your hands (you can’t face them the same way and stack them on top of each other). So cool.

Anyway, after fiddling with trying to make the heels and toes on the CSM, I finally called it and am in the process of hand knitting the heels, toes, and cuffs. Both heels and cuffs are done and are just waiting on the heels.

Other things I am currently working on: a pair of socks for TechnicoolDad, a gauge swatch for a new sweater, and a new MKAL.

Now that we are settled into our new home, we have a little bit more downtime than the last few months, so hopefully I’ll actually finish some projects. Both of us were able to get our COVID-19 vaccine first doses this past weekend, so we will be fully vaccinated in just a few weeks. Woohoo!

by TechnicolorMom

You’ll Always Find Me Knitting

I set some pretty lofty goals for myself earlier this year, and while I have somehow managed to find myself in possession of 30 skeins of yarn that I didn’t own at the start of the year (all paid for, of course, but some were gifts!), I’ve already knit 11 of the skeins!

I’ve finished up six (SIX!) pairs of socks already, and of course have my Hue Shift Afghan, which will eat up another 15 skeins of  yarn at least.

It doesn’t matter what I’m working on, but I’m always knitting. Minnie Mouse’s little song at the start of this short pops into my head whenever I sit down to knit!

If you remember, last year I signed up for Tour de Sock 2017, a Tour de France style knitting contest in which contestants knit a pair of socks in each 10ish day stage. I didn’t make it very far last year. My first stage was a disaster and resulted in a pair of socks that don’t fit anyone, and my second stage missed the deadline. I still haven’t woven in the ends on that pair or taken finished object photos, but they are super gorgeous colorwork. Eventually I will weave in the ends so my husband can actually wear them.

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Sadly, I didn’t end up finishing any of the other stages either.

So, why did I sign up for this competition again this year? When, arguably, I’m having the busiest semester e.v.a.r. at work? Well, because I like knitting socks! And I love competitions! And it will be fun!

I am pleased to report that I am off to a fantastic start so far. I am joined by 1696 other racers for the Tour de Sock 2018. All proceeds from the race go to Doctors Without Borders, which is so cool. I finished my pair of socks for Stage 1 in 301st place and earned 6 points for my team! Woohoo!

I used one of the sponsor yarns, Blue Moon Fiber Arts Super Sparkle in Plumpy. This was also an exclusive Eat.Sleep.Knit colorway, so here’s some double dipping for their Exclusively Exclusive Q3 KAL!

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For the tour, we don’t know what the pattern will be until the stage starts, so they give us clues and some ideas for what kind of colorway to use. For this first one, they suggested using a crazy or variegated colorway, so I thought this one would be perfect. Here is my ravelry page for the socks. This pattern is Plan A by Adrienne Fong. Unfortunately, I’ve already managed to wear holes in both toes of these socks. I’m not sure what happened here — if it’s because the pattern on top of the foot wanted to twist or because the yarn doesn’t have any nylon or because I made them too short, or just because I wore them around the house in the evenings for several days. I guess it’s time to fix some of my socks, so I’m in the process of washing all of the ones that have holes so I can sit down and do some mending.

For stage two, we had a gorgeous cabled pattern by Suzanne Sjögren called Odensjön Socks. I’ve already finished these as well! I used Madelinetosh Twist Light (which has some nylon!) in Seaglass. This was originally a colorway chosen by my husband (technicooldad) for socks for him, and I had intended to make these for him, but the cables drew in a little more on the leg than I had anticipated, so I made a last minute switch and knitted them for my feet. They are just gorgeous! I guess that means I’ll need to buy another skein of yarn to replace his?

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Here’s my ravelry page for these. Both of these patterns used a new gusset that I’ve never used before called the riverbed gusset. I really like how this gusset hugs my heels, so I will definitely be using it in the future!

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I am eagerly awaiting Stage 3, which starts tomorrow at 9:00p. I’m not sure which yarn I’ll use for it yet — I think I’ll wait and see the pattern first, but we do know it has beads, so I’ll likely go with a solid or tonal yarn again.

In the meantime, I’m continuing to work on my Hue Shift KAL afghan and I’m swatching for some new sweaters to be knit from my stash! I’m a bit behind on the Hue Shift, but definitely planning to catch up soon.

by TechnicolorMom

All the KALs!

I’ve been pushing off writing this post since I wanted to finish up my February Hippo socks first. But…February 28 came and went, and I was about an hour and a toe short of finishing the socks, and I had resolved myself to just write the post without the socks, but…I finished them! I used Lolodidit’s Hippo for Valentine’s (2018) and Amazed colorways.

These are an original design, and I’ll be writing and publishing the pattern after a few modifications. These were my #HippoForHolidays2018KAL entry for February, but alas, I missed the deadline. I think they’ll fit in for March, but I’ll not have entered every month this year. Oh well, I’ve got a million things I want to knit!

 

I don’t think I shared the photos of these previously, but I also finished my January Hippo socks using the colorways Hippo for Hanakkuh and Elba Island.

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My entry for the Eat.Sleep.Knit Hue Shift Afghan KAL is going along swimmingly. Maybe too swimmingly. Jaina has taken a liking to my afghan, and I thought how cute it would be to make a matching blanket for her! Hers will be exactly the same as mine, except I’m starting the squares with fewer stitches, so it will just be smaller. Both are looking awesome! We made a trip to FL for my sister’s wedding, so I made great progress on my afghan.

ESK also recently hosted an FKAL (Flash Knit-along) for the Song of the Sea cowl, and I finished mine with four days to spare! Woohoo!

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In April, I’m planning to continue working on my Hue Shift Afghans and maybe get started on an afghan for my new niece and a hat for me. I had postponed knitting the hat since it was supposed to be warmer outside, but as my husband said (or read somewhere?), “Georgia’s free trial of spring has expired.” Also I need to finish his Droids socks! I’m also hoping to finish a pair of socks or two for ESK’s Q2 KAL: Summer of Socks!

by TechnicolorMom

Competition Pushes us Forward

Not just in business and innovation, but also in…you guessed it! KNITTING. Since July 15th, I’ve been participating in a community knit-along competition/fundraiser called Tour-de-Sock. Styled after the Tour de France, this competition sets teams of knitters in a speed sock-knitting race. There are six stages that are nine days each, and for each stage, you and the other racers knit one pair of socks. All entry fees for the race go to Doctors without Borders, and the group has raised $32k since it started a few years ago!

The first pair of socks didn’t go so well for me — I finished in the 366th spot (out of approx. 1700 knitters), and my socks ended up not fitting. This is most likely my fault — I decided to make these for my husband, so they are super long, and I even added extra room for the heel, but I ended up making the leg too tight in an effort to have a smaller number of stitches on the needle (so I could finish faster). So for the second sock, I made the smallest allowable measurements. So I’ve got one long and one short sock. *facepalm*

Anyway…for the next stage, which starts today, I’m hoping that the socks are knit top-down. Then I could throw a lifeline in just before the toe, and I could go back later and make them as long as I want.

I’m still waffling on color choices, but as I’ve learned from quilt making, it really doesn’t matter, since things end up looking pretty good in the end. Hopefully these turn out better than the last pair and I will actually feel confident enough to share a photo. I’m thinking I’ll use the Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Astrid Gray as the main color, and either Esoteric (the dark teal) and Hosta Blue (the light teal) with a splash of Pop Rocks (the pink) or the Astrid Gray with Ink (the dark blue) and Liquid Gold. I’ll go with the first option if it is a more feminine pattern and the second option if it’s a more masculine pattern.

In other news, I am diligently working on Joel’s Forest Moon of Endor socks. I showed him pictures of a bunch of different patterns, but for that pair, I included the name of the pattern. And of course he chose that one for me to make! I’m using Western Sky Knits Magnolia Sock (an incredibly soft 80% merino, 10% nylon, 10% cashmere blend) in the colorway “Creeper.” (This is a Minecraft reference for those of you who don’t know.) I’ve used this yarn before and have even accidentally run the socks through the washing machine, and it has held up wonderfully and is soooooo soft! I’ve got one sock finished and have finished the leg on the second one. This is a super easy pattern, so it’s perfect for when I’m stuck in traffic and stopped at red lights.

I’m also starting a knit-along with my BFF (for 20+ years so far!), who is making her first pair of socks! We are making Please and Thank You Socks. I love the simple elegance of these socks, and I envision making several pairs of these! The pattern also comes with instructions for making them starting at the cuff AND for starting at the toe. My friend is using Nerd Girl Yarns Bounce & Stomp in the Blue Box Exploding colorway, and I am using Madelinetosh Twist Light in Tern. I am stepping out of my comfort zone with these and trying to knit using 9″ circulars. We’ll see how it goes! So far, so good. I’ll definitely have to get my hands used to working on such small needles.

Also, my daughter is almost walking. She has an elephant toy that she walks behind as she pushes it around the house. Knitting time has definitely decreased now that she is mobile. I can knit about three stitches before she gets to the fireplace and tries to open the glass panels (after she crawls over to it, turns around to look at me, shakes her head “no” with a big grin, then turns back to the fireplace). SHE IS SO FAST. And AMAZING. I marvel every day at how awesome she is. Also, she likes to help me knit. 😀

by TechnicolorMom

Dreaming in Neon

wp-1485208177913.jpgwp-1485208146587.jpgBright, happy colors have always been my favorites. In particular, I love, love, love neon colors. They seemed to make a comeback in Fall 2012. I remember the day because I went to visit my friend to help her choose bridesmaid dresses, and when we were at the mall, I found this delightfully bright neon yellow sweatshirt and a neon pink purse to go with my neon blue and yellow shoes. I made such good use of them too. Eventually the yellow sweatshirt lost its color and my neon pink purse was retired in favor of a more sensible black purse. Still, I loved them so much.

wp-1485208273398.jpgThe next Spring (2013), madelinetosh, my favorite yarn dyer, introduced their line of neon yarns. Fluoro Rose, Push Pop, Edison Bulb, Neon Lime, and Ultraviolet. Also a variegated one called Neon Crush. I loved them. I bought them all on a base called Feather, which is a single-ply merino wool, alpaca, and nylon blend. My plan was to make hundreds of little “hexipuffs” (hexagon-shaped and stuffed) and sew them together to make a Beekeeper’s Quilt. So far, I’ve made around 35 puffs. I need to get to work on them…eventually. They have since added more neon-like colors, and I am just in love with all of them and have quite a few stashed away.

One way to keep on top of a project is to join a knit-along (KAL), where several other knitters work on the same project. This year, Eat.Sleep.Knit is hosting a KAL for an afghan called Persian Dreams. The afghan is made up of hexagon-shaped tiles, which each have a colorwork design. I’ve done very little color work (the hat I mentioned in my last post and a pair of socks that I never finished) in my knitting life, but I could just *see* the afghan in neon colors.

I had a few skeins of different neon colors on madelinetosh Twist Light (80% superwash merino, 20% nylon fingering weight yarn), so I just needed a couple of complementary colors and a background color. After some input from the lovely Eat.Sleep.Knitters, I decided on a dark gray for the background.

The idea for the KAL is to knit two hexagons each month, then by the end of the year we will have a completed blanket. I got a bit of a late start this month since I was finishing up my husband’s socks, but I did manage to get the first one done, and I’ve already started the second! Each round is new and interesting, and I just want to knit the next one to see how it goes or get to the next color! It’s so nice to have the encouragement and answers to questions from the group of knitters participating in the KAL.wp-1485208360420.jpg

It’s definitely going to take the whole year, so check back to see my progress on this afghan! I am lovingly calling it Dreaming in Neon!