Dashing outside in between showers to take a photo of my pal’s finished socks:

Pattern: Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks by Ann Budd, from Favorite Socks
Yarn: Lucy Neatby Celestial Merino in Fiery Fuchsia and Turquoise
Needles: 3mm and 2.5mm dpns

I really enjoyed knitting these. The pattern was simple, but the variation for the second sock stopped there being any danger of second sock syndrome. The yarn is gorgeous. Rich colours, sproingy and delicious to knit with. It was also good to have the challenge of knitting longer socks. I am far too lazy normally! And I probably wouldn’t have run out of yarn, but I think the contrasting heel and toe are an improvement on one-colour socks, anyway, so I’m not bothered.

Now to block them, wrap them up and hide them away for a month before they’re sent off to my not-so-secret pal!

* * * * *

I wasn’t feeling the love with the socks for my saviour pal. Could you tell? I frogged them yesterday without even bothering to knit any more. So while I ruminated over a possible new design, I finished off my first ever toe-up sock:

The lastest issue of Interweave Knits has a splendid step-by-step article on knitting socks from the toe up by Ann Budd (my new sock hero!) and after a few false starts with the cast on, I was whizzing along. I do think the heel needs improving, but it’s my first try at a short row one, so I wasn’t too sad. I just wish I’d had the patience to knit them a bit longer (see above!). Though the sewn cast-off is nice and stretchy and they really are very comfortable socks.

The yarn is my lovely mint choc chip yarn from Middle Earth Yarns . Cairi is truly a wizard with her dyeing. She’s just started signups for a sock yarn AND a lace yarn club. I am looking at my huge medium sized yarn stash and wondering whether I could just squeeze in a skein or two more…

I’ve been found out! My Sockapalooza 4 pal knows who I am!

I now know this is why some pals are so brief and to the point when contacting the people they are knitting for. I was merrily sending chatty emails and blabbering away on here about how she needed thinner socks and liked ‘em long. Wasn’t hard for the poor girl to put two and two together and find who exactly was stalking her! So the surprise is gone, but I know that she LOVES her socks (hurrah!) and I don’t have to worry about being discreet. Because I am rubbish at it!

So, I had a good knitting weekend and the second sock is almost done. Which means time to make a start on the pair for my sock saviour pal.

I’m not sure about it yet. I may go down a needle size because I think these are coming up too big (I went up a size because the original pattern was too small for my pal!) and I need to see the pattern forming a bit more as I’m not liking it so far. But you can see that I finally went for the cheery apple-ness of the Opal yarn.

A couple of replies to the comments on my last post. Seanna Lea wanted to know if I was using a foot form to display the sock. I am indeed! I bought a pair of them about a year ago now, when I realised that I was really rubbish at taking photos of my own feet. Mine came from an eBay seller in Thailand, IIRC (try doing a search using mannequin foot), and cost about ten quid including postage.

Alison asked if the pattern would look good with a stripey yarn. I don’t know..! I think it’s easy for a varigated or patterned yarn to obscure even the simplest stitch pattern. Think it’s a case of swatch it and see!

Of course, now the Bank Holiday is over, we have gorgeous sunshine here, so I’m going to sit down and finish the second sock and enjoy the experience of not being rained on.

The first sock is done! I had a mild panic earlier in the week that I would run out of yarn, so I bought a skein of the same yarn in a solid colourway to make contrasting heels and toes and I think it’s worked beautifully. I love the ribbed pattern, with the cross stitches. And sock number two will have them going in the other direction which adds a bit more excitement than knitting the same sock all over again.

Mint choc chip – MINT CHOC CHIP! – self-striping sock yarn from Middle Earth Yarns. If anyone wants me, I’ll be licking my wool…

I have finally made a start on my Sockapalooza socks:

The yarn I’m using is Lucy Neatby Celestial Merino in Fiery Fuchsia. It has the brightness I wanted, and even has a bit of orange, green and purple in it. Thus it is perfect.

I had originally planned to do some stranded knitting for these socks. But given that this creates an extra layer and more warmth, and my pal wanted finer socks because she lives in a warm climate, I think that would sadly be a bad idea. So I’m contenting myself with knitting them long in the leg which she really likes. I never go above 18cm for the leg usually, as I get BORED beyond belief, but these will be at leat 20cm. The pattern is the snappily (!) named Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks by Ann Budd, taken from Favorite Socks. The pattern as written makes MANSIZE socks, but going down a needle size makes them the perfect dimensions for my pal. And they are cleverly started on larger needles so that there is plenty of calf room. As I said, my pal likes longer socks, so this will do very nicely indeed.

I got a reply from my saviour pal and she has no preference for cables or lace. So I’m pretty sure if I emailed her to ak her opinion on the Rowan v. Opal debate it would be a similar answer. It would be kind of nice to have a more demanding pal. Not in a “you will knit me this sock in this yarn and be quick about it, wench!” sort of way, but just so I wasn’t sitting here with a ball of yarn in each hand and muttering “Opal… Rowan… Opal… Rowan…” to myself. I want to knit the bestest socks in the universe, of course, which is the problem.

I can see that the preference in the comments is for Opal because of the extremely apple-ish colour of the yarn, but still a little voice in my head is whispering “4ply soft!” to me. (Incidentally, it was surprising in a nice way to get so many comments on my last Sockapalooza-related post. I’ve found so many blogs to read now, plus the Knit Pligg. It’s a wonder I manage to finish anything..!)

But yarn colour aside, there is the issue of the pattern. And it will be lace! I will admit to being rather fond of leafy lace patterns. When I was writing the post on Monday, I had the Embossed Leaves socks from Favorite Socks (and Interweave Knits Winter ‘05) in mind. Alison is knitting these and they look lovely. Kate suggested Elfine’s Socks, which are also very pretty and also leafy!

However, while looking for pattern ideas for my pal’s socks, I came acrosss Evelyn Clark’s Waving Lace Socks (also in Favorite Socks – on the cover, in fact!). They aren’t very leafy, but I am rather taken with the scallop-rib border. Whether they’ll be knit in Rowan or Opal remains to be seen, so watch this space!

A bit of a mixture of the stuff swimming round my brain today.

The Winter issue of Yarn Forward magazine is finally out! And my Zippy socks, which I knit last summer, are in it:

(Link to the magazine on my Patterns page.)

Kerrie has worked so hard to produce an alternative to the mainstream UK knitting magazines, which just aren’t interested in progressing further or providing patterns that might be a bit challenging or different. Having to produce this magazine herself with a tiny staff is a huge job, and not helped with problems with printers and the Royal Mail. At least the former of these problems will be resolved with the next issue.

I feel that it is incredibly important to support independent publications like these, because what are we left with otherwise? The mainstream magazines are there because knitting is popular. There is already a downturn in the sales of knitting yarn in the UK because the novelty yarn scarves are losing their appeal – amazing, but true… Once a knitting magazine is no longer viable, rest assured that the publisher will just move on to the next craft craze. If the real knitters don’t do something for other knitters, then there will be nothing left. And much as I love Interweave Knits, having a home-bred magazine is just a bit more special.

* * * * *

The shawl keeps growing and is just a bigger version of what it was last week, so not really much point in taking a photo, but I am plodding on with it, and when something exciting happens, like the edging, photos will appear!

I have also finished one stripey sock from my Middle Earth Yarns self striping yarn:

It was a nameless colourway, so I have dubbed it “Starfleet” because I watched a lot of season 1 of ST:TNG on DVD while knitting it and the colours reminded me of the medical and command uniform colourways. I don’t know when I’ll get around to knitting the second sock as it’ll be put on hold til my Sockapalooza sock knitting is done, but it’s lovely yarn to knit with and it’s also the most comfortable odd sock I’ve ever had!

A slight detour from my original plan for my Sockapalooza pal’s socks. She didn’t state a preference to yarn weight in her profile, but I emailed her to check (after I bought the yarn, of course, because I am clever like that!) and she would prefer something in fingering weight. So the lovely Rowan Superwash DK will be put aside for cosy winter socks. And my search for fingering weight yarns in suitable colours begins. I really want to use a yarn that isn’t too common in the US, but it is so hard to find something that is machine washable, soft enough for socks and comes in cheerful, non-varigated colours. For shame, UK yarn manufacturers!

In the meantime, I have also volunteered to be a Sock Saviour. Fortunately, my new pal has a definite colour preference of apple green and I have two yarns in my stash which would suit:

But the big question is – which is more apple-ish?

Now green yarn immediately says LEAFY LACE! to me, but I’ve emailed my pal to see if she has a preference for lace or cables before I do anything. I’m learning!

Look what I got in the post!

A souvenir from Diane’s trip to Venice – stitchmarkers made with authentic Murano glass. Aren’t they pretty!

She also sent me some chocolate for my poor throat (which is much better, and has turned into a cough):

Unfortunately, it didn’t hang around long enough to be photographed. Rest assured, it was delicious.

(ETA, because Cazza wanted to know, it was Green & Black’s Maya Gold, which is plain chocolate with orange and spices. And fairtrade and organic. So it should be made law that everyone eats at least one bar a day!)

I have a throat infection, lumps on my neck (Mr B thinks I’m turning into a Cardassian) and generally feel flu-ey and achey, which means I can’t knit. Or at least, I can knit but it isn’t pleasant. So I’m not. Which means less than impressive progress on my knitting-which-isn’t-a-sock at the moment.

Why yes! I’m knitting something that isn’t a sock!

The shawl is my own design. I’ve wanted to design a triangular shawl in the style of Kiri and Flower Basket (both of which I’ve knit before) for a long time. It’s my favourite style, and I love starting off with a tiny amount of stitches and watching the number grow and grow. I think the border will be quite plain, but haven’t planned it yet. There’s a while to go, though, before I have to worry about that!

The yarn I’m using is Celestial from Angel Yarns and is like a finer version of Rowan’s Kid Silk Haze. I tried knitting it with 4.5mm needles but it was far too fine. I’m using 3.5mm needles now, and think I could go even smaller, but I like a fairly open fabric. Just not so open that small animals can jump through the holes. I have worked about four repeats of the pattern and, according to my kitchen scales, have used just seven grammes – SEVEN GRAMMES! – of my 100g ball of yarn. It’s already too long to spread fully across an 80cm circular needle. This could be the biggest shawl in the universe. Or at least, the biggest I’ve ever knitted.

Gorgeous self-striping sock yarn, hand dyed by Cairi the Wizard and available from Middle Earth Yarns on Etsy.

Well, if your Sockapalooza pal said they had no colour preference, what would you do?

Pattern: Broadripple by Rob Matyska
Yarn: Cascade Fixation (98.3% cotton, 1.7% elastic), shade #9780, 2 x 50g balls
Needles: 3.25mm Addi bamboo dpns

I am in love with this yarn. It’s been sat in my stash for almost a year and it’s shameful that I didn’t use it before. Yes, the stretchiness takes a moment to get used to, but once you have, it knits like a dream – and knits up fast!

And of course the pattern is lovely. Like a stretchy Jaywalker! The socks are so comfy and I don’t know what to do. I had considered giving them to my sister, but I do love them so much. I suppose it depends how selfish I am feeling. And whether she has now actually worn the ones I knit her for Christmas…

I have another pair of socks (!) OTN already, but will cover those in another post as they have a bit of a story to them. And to avoid becoming a sock bore, I am also going to cast on something that isn’t a sock. Don’t faint, anyone. Honestly, if you’ve seen my sock yarn stash, you will know that I could easily knit a pair of socks a fortnight for the rest of the year before I saw the bottom of the basket. Knitting lots and lots of socks is a good thing!

On a final sock-related note, I now have my Sockapalooza pal’s details. It’s very exciting, and I think I can have a lot of fun with their socks from the information they’ve given me. At the moment, though, I’m just doing a bit of research into patterns and yarns and will report back on those soon. Yes, it means buying more sock yarn. Oh dear…