The Celebration Continues!

Socktoberfest 2005. It's a month-long celebration here at the Swiss Cheese Palace. In addition to completing the Hot Sox, I'm working on the second Regia Jacquard sock, and these delicious Cherry Tree Hill socks. The colorway is Fall Foliage, knit on US2 dpns in a K8P2 rib. I'm knitting them for a glass-friend .... hope she likes 'em! The colors of the yarn are actually a bit more muted than the photograph shows, although the colors in the beads are true.

The beads are made using five different shades of coral glass, plus a little bit of yellow, purple, brown and black. I love this combination, and am heading over to the torch right now to work with them some more. Oh, and you can see the beads on my eBay list - I'll be posting the auction this evening.


Sandy, the Sky Queen, has a mitten knit-along going. I've joined Warm Hands, and plan to get mitten knittin' soon. And just for Sandy, here's today's sky as seen from over my back fence.

Still Hot, not so Crunchy

Finished! Knit with Briggs & Little Sport (not Tuffy like I said earlier), a 1-ply 100% wool. I dyed it with Kool-Aid, rather successfully if I do say so. The yarn wasn't terribly pleasant to knit with, being a little scratchy, but several washings have softened the socks considerably. They keep my feet extra-warm with these hot colors!

Socktoberfest 2005

Okay. The other day I was reading Claudia's blog and learned about Jane's contest. Then today I'm reading Norma, and discover Socktoberfest 2005. Which is pretty funny, really, since Norma's not exactly in love with knitting socks. I know - I mean, NORma, who doesn't like to knit socks?

So then I bop over to see Lolly, the brilliant mind behind Socktoberfest. I snagged a button

then went on to check out some of the other participants of Socktoberfest. Go look at Amy - she's running a contest, with a prize of (what else) sock yarn! And then I flip back to Lolly and discover a nifty quiz:


Wow! You would have been a pair of socks as long
as it's possible for socks to be before they're
tights - and all multi-coloured with pretty
patterns and detail all over the place - then
you could stand and admire your sock-self all
day!


What type of sock are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Which is really fun. And true. No, really!

No Such Thing as a Cat-Free Zone Here...

After showing all my single socks, it's only fair to show the pairs, too, isn't it? Actually, this is my official entry in Jane's All Socks contest. To be honest, this picture is missing a couple of pair - one pair on my feet and one in the washer. As well as all the socks I've gifted, naturally.

The anklets are all made with either Cascade Fixation or Elann's Sock-It-To-Me Esprit, with the exception of the multi-colored socklets on the bottom right. Those are made of KnitPick's Dancing - I don't recommend this yarn for anklets like this because it only takes about 3 minutes of wear to make them feel loosey-goosey. I plan to frog these and knit a pair of socks for my niece. Maybe. Someday.

Seeking Companionship...

Digging through my bag of sock projects unearthed ten single socks. One of them doesn't really count as it's the current SixSox pattern, Mosaic, and is a current work in progress. The other nine are documented below - in separate entries because I had a long post with loads of pictures when Netscape crashed.

Most of the socks are basic, some with heel flaps and some with short-row heels. It's my arsenal for mindless knitting...

Let Me Call You SweetTart

Superwash wool/nylon blend from SuanKnits, dyed with Kool-Aid. The sock is nice, soft and comfy, but the yarn is a little splitty. The pattern is a K2P2 spiral rib. Second sock is about a third complete.

Spring Prairie

Knit Picks Sock Landscape Spring Prairie.... nice wool, but has to be handwashed.

Regia again

Regia Jacquard Color. I'm actually going to have to [shudder] count when I knit the second sock since I didn't bother making notes on this one. bummer...

Not Go Team

Red with white checkerboard started out as the SixSox Go Team sock, but I discovered that I was too impatient to knit stranded two-color work. I'll do it again just to make this poor dear a mate, but probably not again.

The wool has been around a while; it's Nomotta Germantown Zephyr, washable 100% wool. Put up in cute little 1 ounce skeins with extremely detailed washing instructions on the reverse of the wrapper. Nine steps - that's NINE, folks.

Easter Egg Jacquard

Lang Bebe Color, 100% superwash wool. I was still working on my basic pattern with this sock; according to my notes I actually decreased after the ribbing. It was one of the first short-row heels I did - nice, eh? I got the yarn at Stitches and Scones, my LYS which is not really terribly local. It's about 45 minutes away. I've only visited once, and then only because I was in the area to pick up some glass.

Camel/Charcoal

Regia Linien. This poor dear has been languishing for months and months, for no other reason than I just sort of keep forgetting it. As much as I like the colorway and patterning, it just doesn't have the allure of the brightly colored wools.

Hot and Crunchy

Briggs & Little Tuffy, a sport weight wool single. This was dyed with Kool-Aid, and is probably my favorite colorway of all the dyeing I've done. Sadly, the yarn is sort of, well, icky feeling. I've washed the sock a couple of times, and it does seem to be softening up. The second sock is about half done.

Beaded Sock

This is, ummmm, I think Regia Cotton Surf. I was knitting this sock during the blackout in early January. Sadly, I can't find the beads, so if I want to make the second sock with the same beads, it will stay in the "to do" basket for a good long while. 'Sides, with winter just around the corner, I figure cotton socks can wait.

Amble

Amble - the August/September SixSox pattern. Knit on US1 dpns using Patons Kroy Socks. Although I think the sock is quite attractive, I didn't particularly enjoy knitting it, so I imagine it will stay single for a while.