Blended Socks

First post of the New Year - still trying to catch up a bit. If I made New Year Resolutions, mine should be to keep up with my blog, amongst other things...

These are blended socks, because I blended two patterns. I used the same basic pattern and the same yarn (from the everlasting cone of acrylic/cotton blend as my last two pairs) as I did for my first toe-up socks, but added the lacy pattern from a cardigan in a magazine (Simply Knitting Issue 102 February). I had another idea initially, but it didn't work. I had some problems along the way - one heel had to be completely redone - but I am pleased with the result. (Not sure why the photo has come out sideways - I was looking down at my feet and the pic saved on our computer is as that would be...)

Little things please little minds - I am a bit pleased with myself that I started the lacy part of the second sock with the second half of the lace pattern, so these socks are mirror image. Also, as my toenails tend to go through socks (and shoes!) I decided to try to reinforce the toe area by using the same technique as the pattern uses on the heel. As there are increases to make the toe shape, this staggers the effect, which I think looks quite good - you may be able to see what I mean in the more detailed photo to the right. If you want more info as to what I mean, please do message me and I will send you a more detailed description.

Sock Singular has a Partner - Hooray!

 Here, at last, is the partner to sock singular, which I posted all on its own a while ago.  It has only taken me just over a year to complete this pair of socks.  The top finally got sewn down at knitting group last Thursday and I gave them both to Susan immediately with the proviso that she send me photo(s) so I could post here and on Ravelry (so these are her photos of my knitting).  As previously mentioned, this second one is a couple of rows shorter in the foot, so this pair has a right and left sock.

And below, here they both are on the new owner's feet, looking nice and comfy!

Franney asked what yarn it was and when I told her it was an acrylic/cotton mix, she was a little surprised and said it felt like it had silk in it.  It does indeed feel rather nice, and it was only cheap on ebay. The first pair of socks I made from this cone (see earlier post) have been machine washed and have come to no harm.  There is still quite a bit left, probably enough for a another two pair of socks - so still no need to buy any yarn yet.

Meanwhile, the hat still awaits the attachment of its peak, but I have made progress with the baby cardi and the cushion cover.

Gloves - with and without fingers

Husband said he would like green fingerless gloves to go with his green (bobbleless) hat and as the pattern with the ribbed hat also has gloves, plain or patterned, with fingers or fingerless (or perhaps more properly with cut-short fingers) I went ahead and knitted him a pair of fingerless gloves in green. Have not taken a photo of these, but they are the same as the black ones further down (except that the ribbing at the wrist is only the length the pattern suggests).

The lady I was working for at the time was always complaining how cold her room was, so I had the idea of making her a pair of fingerless gloves in bright pink (her favourite colour) so she could keep her hands warm and still use the computer keyboard.  Daughter acquired a pattern for ladies fingerless gloves (pretty similar to the men's ones, but with the thumb slightly differently placed for left and right, and of course smaller overall), which I borrowed and made boss-lady pink fingerless gloves, which she seemed delighted with, although I never saw her wear them!  I made these using a size smaller needles than the pattern suggested, as boss-lady's hands are very small.  No picture of these here, as I didn't think of doing this before I gave them away.

A friend then asked if I could make a multi-coloured pair of gloves complete with fingers for her.  I made hers using Daughter's ladies fingerless glove pattern, but adapting the instructions for the fingers on the men's gloves.  Her hands are also very small, so I again used the smaller size needles.  They turned out fine (photo left) and she asked for a cotton fingerless pair in pink (also smaller needles) for one niece, who has many allergies,  and a multi-coloured fingerless pair (normal size) for another niece, which she bought from me for Christmas presents for the nieces.

A friend in the band that Daughter and I play in suggested we could offer to make black or white fingerless gloves for band members to go with concert wear, which seemed a particularly good idea as we had some outdoor concerts coming up in December!  Daughter made a white pair from the ladies' pattern and I made a black pair from the men's pattern.  I made the black ones with slightly longer ribbing at the wrists than the pattern suggests, so as not to leave a gap at the wrist when holding up a trumpet for instance.   We showed these to the band and offered to make them to order, half the price to go to band funds.  We had no takers :-(  I am, however, very happy to make either size, with or without fingers, patterned or plain - price to be negotiated taking into account yarn required (the cotton was quite a bit more expensive than acrylic, which is what I mostly use, for example) and whether or not fingers are required.  As a guideline, I would say for a plain fingerless pair in acrylic in a colour available from a local shop I would want £10 plus P&P (see note to side), all modifications adding a little to the price.

I also made a grey pair from the men's pattern (photo to right), but using the version with pattern on the hand and with fingers.  I gave these to Nephew and knitted another pair in an orangey-red colour for a charity donating warm clothing to homeless people.  I think I did both with the standard length ribbing.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Socks

And now for a post which is neither about for sale items, nor baby items for SCBU. Socks!  I have long had an issue with socks, as my feet are rather large.  The only socks I can buy which fit comfortably are men's socks.  Nothing wrong with that if I don't mind being limited to colours which are deemed suitable for men, which tend to be mostly dark (do no men want bright socks?).  Indeed, some are fun, like my Dalek socks, but I have long wanted socks that fit in prettier colours.  I have occasionally given in and bought the largest available women's socks because I've liked the colours/pattern/whatever, but they are always at least ½" too short, so not comfortable.  Then a couple of years ago (well maybe three by now) Susan and I went to I Knit (brilliant shop in  Lower Marsh, Waterloo - has bar and stays open late two or three nights a week!) and I bought a skein of bamboo/merino mix in sock weight/4 ply.  I made this up into a pair of socks on dpns knitting from the top down.  I found this quite challenging (the whole lot got thrown across the table at I Knit at one point and the lady next to me just calmly said - not at all nastily - "well it won't work if you do that"!), but was pleased with the result (see left below).  The photo was taken after they had been washed a time or three, so they had already lost some of their original colour, but they're still going strong now, although a little more faded.



The yarn for these cost, if I remember rightly, £13.20, which is quite a lot for a pair of socks, especially if you have to put in quite a few hours work as well to get them, so I didn't repeat the exercise immediately.  However, I went to a craft fair at Fairfield Halls, Croydon some time later and there was a stall where they were selling 100% merino yarns and I fell in love with the 'burnished' colourway.  They were selling it for £8.00, but I had already spent most of my money, so had to borrow a few quid from a friend to get this yarn, which I knitted up using the same pattern as the first, just knitting into the back of the knit stitches on the ribbing to make them slightly different.  The result can be seen above right (and I did pay my friend back when I next saw her, in case you wondered).  Another friend told me (at the next craft fair at Fairfield Halls) that merino is not ideal for socks, as it does not wear well, which has proven to be the case as the toes of these socks are now getting rather thin.  I've still got a little yarn left over somewhere, so will have to start darning, because they are still so comfortable compared with shop socks!  This is a revelation in itself, as I thought I was allergic to all wools, but have discovered since restarting knitting that merino is OK for me, even at 100%. (Still loathe Shetland wool though!)

So I now had two pairs of socks that fit comfortably and are not in standard men's colours.  But I wanted more!  And I didn't really want to use dpns knitting from the top down, because this involves grafting the toes (Kitchener stitch), which I can do, but find it tedious.  Then I saw the same friend who had lent me the money knitting a pair of socks on two circular needles (may add her name later, when I've asked for permission).  I had heard of magic loop meanwhile, but had, for the time being at least, disregarded this as seeming just as awkward as dpns.  I watched her and she explained how knitting with two circulars works and it set me thinking this might be worth trying, and I liked the idea of doing them from the toe up.   The idea lay fallow for a while, then Susan gave me Wendy Johnson's 'Socks from the Toe Up' book for Christmas.  It does contain a description of how to do Judy's Magic Cast On (and a few others, but Judy's seemed to me to be the best).  I couldn't quite get the hang of it just from the book, but watched Cat Bordhi's video on YouTube a few times and have pretty much got the hang of it now.  So I then knitted myself a lacy pair, 'Riding on the Metro', from some 50% cotton/50% acrylic yarn I bought cheap on ebay, with the result shown below.  I have made them in the larger size on one size larger needles than the pattern suggests, as my tension square was a little small on the correct size needles.  The resulting socks are very slightly large, but not ridiculously, just comfortably so.

I thought that the ribbed top suggested wouldn't go as well with the lacy pattern as a picot edging, so I got all adventurous and did that instead.  Steady on!  Susan liked these and, as I have more than half the cone of this yarn left over, she has persuaded me to do another pair from this book for her in the same yarn, so I'm part way through the I Heart Socks ones.  Picture to follow some time later when they're done.  Then I'll have to make some more for myself.  BTW socks are really rather time-consuming, even by this method, so I am not prepared to knit socks for other people, as the charge for my time would be prohibitive.  I heard about a pair of socks being advertised on Coriandr (one of the hand-made goods selling websites) at something like £200.  Sounds ridiculous?  Yes, but when you factor everything in, it's really not.  So socks are only going to be knitted by me for myself and, very rarely, for Susan.

Little general comment: these initial posts are quite long, because I'm dealing with whole sections of stuff at a time, but I will no doubt be putting up smaller posts, as I just add things I have just made, rather than several years' worth in one go.