twistedloops

About two weeks ago, I wanted to go to knit night, but had nothing to knit.  How lucky I was that the Spring Knitty came out that day.  After taking a look through, I decided to cast on for the Absinthe sock pattern. 

I knew that I had the perfect color yarn for the pattern.  It’s a Rare Gems colorway in Socks that Rock Mediumweight.  I’ve been working through the pattern, and there are a few errors.  The designer has been responsive on Ravelry, and has posted some corrections.  For anyone looking, the thread with corrections is in the Ravelry Knitty Socks group.  The corrected lace chart is also available.

I’m already finished the first sock, and am up to the start of the heel on the second sock.  I really hope to finish these this month.  

These have been impossible to photograph, so those will have to come later.

For previous readers of this blog, it should come as no suprise when I say that I’m a huge fan of Nancy Bush sock patterns.  A quick scan through my previous socks, and I’ve knit at least 7 pairs of socks from Nancy Bush patterns, mostly from her books Knitting Vintage Socks and Knitting on the Road.

While reviewing Nancy Bush designs on Ravelry the other day, I stumbled onto the Birch Leaves sock pattern that is buried in the book A Gathering of Lace.  I own this book, but had never really paid much attention to the pattern.  I decided that it looked nice and decided to make a pair.

I’m glad that I did, it’s a really nice leaf sock pattern with a small cable down each side.  I made very few changes to this sock other than knitting a longer leg than called for in the original pattern.  I’m really happy with they way they turned out.

Pattern: Birch Leaves
Designer: Nancy Bush
Source: A Gathering of Lace
Yarn: Pink Cottage Yarn Fingering Weight (450 yards/113 g)
Color: Gold
Needles: US0 (2.0mm)

Started: February 8, 2009
Completed: February 21, 2009

I’ve finished both of the Fire on the Mountain Leyburns, and I’m really pleased with the way they turned out.

Since I’m not a fan of a short-row heel, I worked a toe-up heel flap.  I used eye of partridge as the pattern on the flap to emphasize the color variations in the yarn, as well as fit with the alternating slipped stitches used in the pattern.

In the end, there was a little bit of color pooling on the leg.  However, this is such a busy colorway that you have to look closely to notice it.

Pattern: Leyburn Socks
Designer: MintyFresh
Source: pepperknit.com
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Mediumweight
Quantity: 1 skein (380 yards/155g)
Color: Fire on the Mountain
Needles: US1 (2.25mm)

Started:  January 21, 2009
Completed: February 7, 2009

Pattern modifications:

• I knit a toe-up heel flap following the instructions from Miraim Felton’s blog, mimknits.com
• Knit the leg using 60 stitches
• Increased to 62 stitches in pattern after 5 rows of the leg by adding 1 stitch on both sides of the centered back stitch.
• Knit the leg to 6.25 inches before starting the cuff
• Knit the cuff in 2×2 ribbing over 64 stitches

I haven’t really been knitting much since the start of 2009.  I just haven’t seemed to find the inspiration to work on anything.  So, knowing that this knitting funk could ruin my annual yardage knit average, I decided to join a knitalong, and let someone else tell me what to knit.  I decided to join the Socks that Rawk group on Ravelry in their Leyburn Sock KAL.  The goal is to knit the pattern in as many Socks That Rock colors as possible.  I chose to cast on in Mediumweight Fire on the Mountain.

The sock knits up so quickly.  I’ve finished the first sock, and made it to the heel on the second.  As I looked for my notes on how I knit the first heel, I put the two socks side by side.  Now, I had cast on for the second sock while at Knit Night on Wednesday.  I’d forgotten my pattern, and Border’s doesn’t have free wifi, so I couldn’t look up the pattern.  Still, I was confident that I remembered the number of cast on stitches and the stitch pattern, so I forged ahead.  I didn’t take the time to verify the pattern when I got home.  Instead, I continued working on the sock for two more evenings.

The second sock had a significantly wider and shorter toe than the first sock.  I must have cast on too many stitches to start.  I was correct in the number of stitches needed for the pattern and the pattern stitch.  It was the cast on that tripped me up.  So, last night I ripped out sock number two, and it’s waiting for me to start again.  Hopefully, I’ll be inspired to do so soon!

It’s another project from the backlog!

I started this pair of socks back in March, when I needed a new project because I was taking a cross-country plane flight.  I took that flight to get to Oregon for a job interview.  I got that job, and finished this pair of socks on the drive from Illinois to Oregon (I wove in the ends in a hotel in Coeur d’Alene, ID).    So, I guess you could call these my “new job socks”, or maybe my “cross-country socks”, or perhaps just my “I must be totally crazy to pick up and move socks”.

Pattern: Gentleman’s Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern
Designer: Nancy Bush
Source: Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Zitron Trekking (XXL)
Quantity: 1 skein (459 yards/100g)
Color: 69
Needles: KnitPicks 2.0mm 32″

Started: March 13, 2008
Completed: April 14, 2008

Pattern modifications:

• Cast on 72 stitches
• Knit 2.25 inches of ribbing
• Knit leg to 9 inches before starting heel

Yarn overview:

This was the first time I’d used Trekking XXL.  It was thinner than most of the sock yarns I usually knit with, similar in weight to Opal or Lorna’s Laces.  After quite a few wearings of this pair of socks, the yarn is still holding up well.  There’s some slight fuzzing on the bottom of the socks and in the heel, but it seems to be holding up well.  Overall, I think that it’s a great deal for it’s yardage to price ratio.