It has been a long time since I posted… but I’ve been knitting! I also quit my job, and did a bike trip down the Oregon Coast… in winter… yeah, it’s been a hectic and tumultuous period in my life!
But I’m loving my projects. There are a couple christmas projects that I can’t unveil on this blog quite yet, but I have some socks I can show off; first, Monkeys:
They are knit from fibranatura yummy yarn, a lovely skein that I bought in Seaside, Oregon, on Day 1 of my bike tour. I thought since I was kicking my own ass biking in the winter, and I was on vacation, then I had to treat myself to yarn every time I biked past a yarn shop!! Luckily, I passed a lot that were closed at the time I was there, so my stash fit in my paniers just fine!!
Another single sock that has been knit, but is begging for its mate is a Jaywalker, which I knit from 2 skeins of hand-dyed garn sisu. It was originally intended for either my mom or my mom-in-law, but I ended up doing hand-spun mittens for my mom, and a different pair of sock for my mom-in-law, so these may end up being mine? I knit the 84 stitch version, which is a little bit big on me, unfortunately, but it’s pretty lovely anyways! I knit it on US #0 needles, which are crazy tiny, and make a very dense fabric, which I hope will wear well.
I’ve also been making little tiny christmas stars to send out with christmas cards…. which…. I am ashamed to say… still haven’t been sent out…
But they will be. Soon.
So the last pair of socks which I have completed were the christmas socks I made for my mom-in-law, and they are knit from Cascade 220 superwash ‘quatro’, which is a fairly thin worsted wt. yarn. 22o yards = 100 grams, and I used exactly 50 grams for each sock, which was scary as I approached the end of the second sock.
After knitting the Jaywalker and the Monkeys, I was no longer intimidated by the top-down sock, in fact, I am now more comfortable knitting socks top-down, and I feel like I can do whatever I like with them now. These were very simple, with a seeded rib pattern on cuff and top of foot, slip stitch across the heel flap, and st.st. sole. As they were 45 sts at the cuff an 48 sts through the foot, they went quite a bit faster than fingering-wt. socks do, but they still took some time.
So I had a lovely holiday in Salinas, California, and soon my husband and I will be heading back north to Vancouver, hopefully allowing me lots of knitting time during the road trip! Happy Holidays to all!
January 3, 2009 @ 4:53 pm
I have been admiring your website – you are very talented and must be so patient to create such lovely work. I hope you can answer a question for me. I bought a navy blue wool-angora blend throw today and it looks like little white hairs (cat hairs?) are all through it. Is this a natural effect of this blend or did I purchase a used product that a cat or dog has been sleeping on? Do you know if this is characteristic of this blend? Thanks – Lois
December 30, 2008 @ 9:04 am
You’ve been busy! I like your socks, especially the purple ones. I have one skein of Quatro and I never thought of making socks with it. Great idea!