Chapter Eight: Friday Update 5.18.18
BUT FIRST, THIS GLORIOUS, WET STEPHANOTIS
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| Dripping wet stephanotis vine after 3.5 inches of rain. |
We finally got some rain this past week. Every day it rained a little bit, some days it rained a lot. I found out that I love to knit when it rains. (Well I love to knit any old time, so I don't know what that proves.)
But rain's a good thing here. It's been very dry. I was on the verge of turning on the sprinkler system again. I haven't had it on since the Great Flood of September 2017. Things look a little greener now so I'm able to hold off another week.
On to the knitting!
FINISHED OBJECTS
Skullie Socks by Socks À la carte: Colorwork
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| Showing off the first finished sock to the bunnies. |
The pattern for the skull and crossbones motif came from the book, Socks à la carte "Colorwork", which you can learn more about in my review from last week.
The rest of the socks I knit according to my favorite recipe, the HIMMS pattern (How I Make My Socks) by Susan B. Anderson.
I was using leftover yarn from the Menta & Liquirizia shawl and I wasn't sure how far it would go, so halfway through sock 1 I bought another 9" circular needle and cast on sock 2. Turns out I had plenty. I think I'm supposed to work these things out by weighing my yarn, but that's math and I hate math.
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| The pattern looks better in the sock on the left, due to the color of the yarn that occurred at the time. |
I knit these as ankle socks and I really want to wear them, but I don't have shoes that look good with non-athletic socks. I went on online and searched on "shoes to wear with socks" but that was a dead end since, in most parts of the world, that's just what you do (wear socks with shoes).
I started a board on Pinterest where I'm collecting pictures of sandal/slide/clog style shoes. My friend told me I need Birkenstocks but I'm not sure I have that much Mother Nature left in me. Anyway, what I'd really love to see are photos of people wearing their hand-knit socks, in warm weather climates, so I can see what kind of shoes they're wearing, so I can steal their look.
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| Cute and easy skull and crossbones pattern. |
SKULLIE SOCKS:
9" circular needles size US 1 and dpn's size US 1
Fingering weight yarn:
Cascade Yarns Heritage Solids, 5655 Como Blue
Malabrigo Yarn Sock, Arco Iris
WORKS IN PROGRESS
EMBRACE OF THE SUN BY DROPS DESIGN
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| Lovely ballerina neckline and lace yoke. |
After working with sock yarn and previously, baby soft acrylic yarn, it feels incredibly wonderful to be knitting with a yarn that feels so very wooly.
This is a sweater quantity (5 hanks) that I found at Tuesday Morning in Melbourne, a store that sells overstock and off-season goods at huge discounts. I'm learning more and more about yarn as I go, but what I don't know is why and how these hanks of Universal Yarns Infusion Handpaints found their way to Tuesday's. Is it because it's a lower quality yarn that wasn't received well among seasoned knitters?
Whatever, I don't care! I love it!
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| Close up: this seems to be focused in the lower right corner. |
The pattern is a fairly new one from DROPS Design called Embrace of the Sun, and it's absolutely beautiful. It's actually a dress pattern that I'm going to knit to just below the waist and call it a summer sweater.
The yarn I'm using is doing a cool thing: it's creating a casual and folksy top from an otherwise delicate and graceful pattern. The word that comes to mind is crunchy. Maybe it's structure or rigidity. It's so different from what I've been working with lately; it makes me feel so happy to get back to wool, even if it is only 50%.
I can already tell that the flattering ballerina neckline will expose my bra straps so I plan to wear a t-shirt or tank top underneath this sweater. Just throwing that in there in case any of you are shuddering at the thought of putting such a scratchy fiber directly against the skin.
I'm looking forward to power knitting this so I can wear it soon!
This pattern is free:
HEDGEROW SOCKS BY JANE COCHRAN
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| New cast-on! |
I don't have much to say about this free pattern yet, but these socks have been in my queue for a few weeks. I can't wait to get past the K4 P2 ribbing. It'll be my first textured sock.
I'm using stash yarn, nothing fancy, but I wish I had something more like what Jane used. I think the ivory will show off the texture and be a nice staple. Maybe with penny loafers! Remember those?
Do you like my stitch marker? I made it myself! My friend is an incredibly multi-talented creator who, among many other things, makes jewelry. She made our knitting group some stitch markers. They were so dainty and pretty that I wanted to learn how to make them too. This is my attempt at making stitch markers.
I plan to include one with each purchase from my shop on Etsy.
More about that later!
Yarn: Serenity Sock
Needles: Size US 1
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Thanks for your comment! It'll be posted as soon as I see that you're not selling something. ;)