Colorful Socks!

This sock knitter in the Netherlands makes some very delightful and complex socks. They are not the type I would make or wear, but I do find them enchanting nevertheless. She includes a number of charted patterns she uses in her socks including mice, hearts, cupids, sheep, and ducks.

It's Time for Socktoberfest!

October is a great month for knitting socks and Socktoberfest, a month-long celebration of socks, begins next week on October 1st. What is Socktoberfest? It is a festival for sock knitters, a month when sock knitters go all out! There is a Flickr group and a Ravelry Socktoberfest Board .

I love autumn although I'm not quite ready to let summer go. Luckily for me, the weather is still very summer like--clear skies, gentle breezes, and highs in the mid 70's to mid-80's. I still leave the doors and windows open and hear the birds singing all day. But yes, there are hints autumn is here. I've heard flocks of geese flying south, honking their good-byes. The leaves on my snowball bush are turning color. The breeze sometimes has a little bit of a chill in it. It's cooler at night and I've gotten out more quilts. Today I'm baking I baked oatmeal cookies.

Yes, it is now really beginning to feel like sock knitting weather is here, the time of year for domestic chores and small comforts.

Quick Update

I have three pairs of socks on the needles which is good. Next week university classes begin and that means more hours working at the reference desk. The bad news is that will mean less time for knitting. Boooooo! The good news is that I've been given a hefty raise which means more $$$ for sock yarn. Yaaaaay!

Here's a sneak preview of one pair. This is a self-striping purple and orange merino/tencel yarn from Tricoterie on Etsy. This a very fun sock to knit!

Crayon Box Socks

Needles: 2.25 mm dpn
Yarn: Black Trillium on Etsy Superwash Blue Faced Leicester sock wool.
Colorway: Primary
Pattern: Plain stockinette

Snapdragon Baby Socks

These were made from some leftover Koigu yarn.

Baby Bumblebee Socks Finished!

Baby Bumblebee Sock

I've just begun knitting a Baby Bumblebee sock. It's made from some leftover Opal Bumblebee yarn, now long discontinued. The quarter is there to show how small it is.

Stash Enhancement

Here are some more yarns I've added to my stash. I now have enough yarn to knit forty more pairs of socks! I've put myself on a yarn diet which will last until the end of the year. Well, maybe with a few exceptions for my birthday and Christmas in December.

These nine skeins are from Wool Candy on Etsy. I love these yarns! Can you tell?

I bought the purple yarn at my LYS, Fiber Nooks and Crannys, which is not far from the university where I work. Dangerous, that! The next one is a self-striping yarn of Merino and Tencel from Tricoterie, another Etsy seller, this one located in France. The last two are from Black Trillium, also an Etsy seller.


There's one more skein I've ordered, but I won't receive it until next month. It's Georgia Peach, a limited yarn made for the Sock Summit's Dye for Glory by Three Irish Girls. I wish I'd also ordered some Starry, Starry Night but too late. All of these yarns are sold out.

Stormy Skies Socks

This pair of socks was finished over the Labor Day weekend when it rained for the first time in a long while.

Stormy Skies
Needles: 2.25 mm dpm
Yarn: Unknown (lost ball band)
Pattern: Plain stockinette

Sock Knitting on the Go

In order to maximize my sock knitting time, I keep a sock knitting kit in my SUV at all times. It's not often I get to be the passenger, but when I am I want to be prepared. Here's what I bring:

1. Sock yarn and needles. I prefer to have the stitches cast on and the ribbing at least partially finished.


2. A simple sock pattern. Stockinette is my stand-by although ribbing or another easy to remember pattern will do. Here's an example:
Rounds 1 & 2: *K2, P2; repeat from *
Rounds 3 & 4: K all sts

3. A crochet hook. This is essential to help me pick up dropped stitches (although I don't try to do this in a moving car).



4. An index card. This has multiple uses. I can write down the pattern I'm using which is always good because these socks usually don't get worked on often and it would be easy to forget how many stitches I'd cast on, for example. I also mark the edges in one inch increments which means I don't have to bring a small ruler or measuring tape. It's also a place to store my yarn needle.

5.Yarn needle. Stored on the index card.

6. Scissors. I use a pair of plastic blunt-nosed children's scissors I bought when I did a lot of airplane traveling. I won't accidentally poke myself with the tip and if they get misplaced it's not a big deal.

7. A pencil. I used to bring a short little golf pencil, but now I bring a larger one as sometimes I need an eraser.

8. And finally, a cute little bag to store everything in. These are actually lovely little make-up bags I found at a thrift store.

A New Sock Book

I've been perusing Knitted Socks East and West by Judy Sumner. The review on Amazon states:

In Knitted Socks East and West, author Judy Sumner compares knitting a sock to writing a haiku: both challenge you to create something beautiful and original within a sparse, strict format. In this, her first book, she recounts how she came to study hundreds of exquisite Japanese stitch patters and then apply her new knowledge to the sock designs showcased here.

I've found several must make patterns in this book including hanami (meaning "enjoying flowers") which are fragile and delicate and intended as bed socks;


tatami, named after the woven straw matting that is used a floor covering in Japan;


origami, the art of paper folding;


and kaiso, the Japanese word for seaweed.

First Pair for September

The first of my socks for September. I have very fond memories of going to the lake in late summer when I was growing up.

At the Lake
Needles: 2.75 mm dpn
Yarn: Koigu KPPM (2 skeins)
Colorway: 2300
Pattern: Making Waves (free from Ravelry)