Tag / ravelry

by TechnicolorMom

Wave Function Socks

Hello, crafty friends!

(Re-)Introduction

We have a lot of new subscribers here on the website, so I wanted to take a moment to welcome everyone who is just joining us. (Seriously, every time I get a notification that I have a new subscriber, I have a little \*squee\*.) I’m Amanda, and I am an aspiring professional knitter and knitwear designer in my free time. In my not free time, I am lucky to be a stay at home mom for my two children. You’ll see that a lot of my patterns are science-inspired. I earned a Ph.D. in chemistry (many) years ago and spent (many) years teaching college students how to safely work in the laboratory and how to draw organic reaction mechanisms. Now I get to apply all of my skills to crafting and keeping things semi-organized for my kiddos and amazingly supportive husband, @Technicool_Dad. I am lucky to get to volunteer at the kids’ school and to take them to all of the soccer practices and art clubs, and of course, car line pick up is one of my favorite activities — getting to see their smiling faces first thing after school is just the best feeling.

Pattern Inspiration

Today I am so excited to share that my newest pattern, the Wave Function Socks, has finally been published! When I took physical chemistry in college, quantum mechanics was one of my favorite topics. It was all math and functions and complex formulas, and my brain just loves a good problem. The wave function of a particle describes a few things, including the probability of a particle’s location being in a specific place. My friends and I liked to make jokes about how parts of our wave functions were vacationing on the beach — admittedly, this was a very low probability, but we thought we were funny and clever.

The Wave Function Socks presented a few good design challenges that I was keen to tackle. The first problem I tackled was determining the perfect formula for cable spacing so that the waves would be visible both on a sock blocker and when worn. After many swatches, I think I ended up with the perfect wave cables! For these socks, I really wanted to have the cable panels centered on the sides of the sock instead of on the instep, and for the cables to transition neatly to the foot and the heel. To accomplish this, I created a modified Strong Heel. This variation features slip-stitch reinforcement where your socks rub against the back of your shoe, and the symmetric increases on the side allow the cables to gracefully flare out over the ankle. Best of all, we have a look and fit similar to that of a heel flap and gusset, but with no picking up of stitches.

The Wave Function Socks feature an easily memorized pattern that will allow you to take them on the go or allow part of your mind to wander off on its own wave function beach vacation. Carefully placed increases and decreases mean that you don’t have to debate which size to knit — just cast on for your normal size!

The pattern will play nicely with any fingering weight merino/merino nylon blend yarn in solid, tonal, lightly speckled, gradient, or low-contrast colorways. The pattern has been tech edited and test knit and is all ready for you to cast on!

Coupon Code!

Thank you so much for subscribing to my newsletter! Please enjoy 50% off of the Wave Function Socks pattern now through August 8th with the code TECHNICOLORMOM.

by TechnicolorMom

Friendship is Magic Sock KAL

Hello, fellow knitters! I’ve been loving everyone’s #makenine2019 posts on Instagram. I haven’t been able to choose just nine projects to make for the year because I want to cast on ALL the THINGS, but there is one set of items that I know I’d like to knit up this year: the My Little Pony – inspired self-striping colorways by String Theory Colorworks.

My plan is to knit up the socks inspired by the Mane 6 during 2019:

  • Rarity – Gemology
  • Twilight Sparkle – Crepuscular
  • Rainbow Dash – Dispersion
  • Fluttershy – Signalling Theory
  • Applejack – Malic Acid
  • Pinkie Pie – Salvinorin A

And a little bird told me that she is working on a Celestia-themed colorway as well.

Apple Jack’s colorway: String Theory Colorworks in Malic Acid

Friendship is so important, and I’ve felt like the knitting community has been a huge source of camaraderie and fun for me. I want it to be that way for everyone! So, let’s share the kindness, generosity, loyalty, honesty, laughter, and magic with everyone.

I would love for you all to join me in this endeavor! You don’t, of course, have to use the String Theory yarns (Yarn Cafe Creations has a set as well), but I would love for you to choose a colorway or pattern that you think represents each of the Ponies and their Elements of Harmony: Generosity, Magic, Loyalty, Kindness, Honesty, and Laughter and knit a pair of socks with it.

We’ll plan to run the knit-along (KAL) from now until December 31, 2019. You can enter as many or as few socks as you’d like, so long as they fit in with the Ponies and their Elements! Works in progress count as well, as long as you still have some knitting to do. To enter, share your finished object on Instagram with the tag #FriendshipIsMagicSockKAL2019 and tell which Pony or Theme you are representing. You’ll get an extra entry for sharing a collage picture of all of your Mane 6 socks together. (Feel free to use the tags for your in-progress pics as well and tag me @technicolormom in your posts!)

Here’s my first pair for the year: Rarity! Rarity is my spirit pony. She is generous, creative, and doesn’t really care for camping or getting dirty. I used Susan B. Anderson’s Smooth Operator Socks pattern for mine. This is a great basic sock, and excellent if you are looking for a vanilla sock with an afterthought heel. The mini-skeins in the String Theory Inertia sets are quite generous (25 g), and I was able to get an extra-long cuff and toe out of mine and had about 3″ to spare.

Rarity Socks in String theory Colorworks Gemology

Prizes! For this KAL, I’ll put together a little prize to include a skein of Celestia’s themed sock yarn, a coordinating mini skein, and some other goodies.

What do you think? Will you join me for the Friendship is Magic Sock KAL of 2019? Any questions? I’m happy to answer them!

Where to shop? I purchased about half of my friendship yarns directly from String Theory, and the other half from Eat.Sleep.Knit (my LYS with super-fast shipping). I use the Inertia Sock Sets for all of mine. Again, you can shop anywhere you want and use any yarn/pattern you like, as long as you follow one (or more) of the friendship themes.