Category Archives: Socks

FO: Christmas Stocking

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I’ve been part of the Ravelry Sock Knitters Anonymous monthly challenges the past couple of months. Each month, there is a technique and a designer nominated; you must cast on in that month, and finish by the end of the next month. The September Challenge included Cookie A designs, so my Hedera and Monkey socks were entered in it. The October challenge includes Stephanie van der Linden’s designs, and holiday stockings. My Komet socks are a Steffi design, and I’ve now also knitted my first ever Christmas stocking. I wasn’t really planning to knit one – they’re not so much part of our culture or my family traditions here, as Christmas is mid-summer. But an idea nagged at me, and then when I was in Sydney the other weekend at the Morris & Sons/Tapestry Craft sale, some inexpensive red and green yarn talked me into buying it.

This afternoon I finished my Christmas Elf Stockings:

Christmas Elf Stocking

Pattern: My own improvisation. Yarn: Cleckheaton Country 8ply

I’ve also finished my first Komet sock a couple of days ago:

Nundle Retro 4ply

Pattern: Komet by Stephanie van der Linden. Yarn: Nundle Retro 4ply

And I’m working on and enjoying my second attempt at the Three Sisters Scarf – this time with a finer solid colour yarn that works better for the pattern:

The Knittery silk/merino 2ply

Pattern: three Sisters Scarf #2 Yarn: The Knittery silk/merino 2ply

FO – Monkey and Tudora

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I’ve finished the No Purl Monkey socks, and also knitted up another quick Tudora.

No Purl Monkey socks

No Purl Monkey socks


Pattern: No Purl Monkeys – and adaptation by CraftyPancakes of Cookie A’s Monkey socks, from Knitty.com . Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock potluck, in Jewels colourway.

Tudora neckwarmer

Tudora neckwarmer


Pattern: Tudora, from Knitty.com Yarn: Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed.
This will probably be a gift for a friend – it’s the third Tudora I’ve made in the past couple of months, and I’ve given two away already – they make great gifts!

Hedera sock

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The only craft work that’s happened in the past 10 days or so is this Hedera sock:
20080910HederaSock

Pattern: Hedera by Cookie A, from Knitty.com Spring 2006. Yarn: Heirloom Argyle 4ply.

I finished the first sock last night, and cast on for the second this morning. It’s a nice easy pattern, so I can knit while I’m writing and in the few hours a week that I watch season 3 Battlestar Galactica DVDs with the DH – other than Wire in the Blood on Fridays, that’s the extent of my TV watching at present.

Oh, and I sent the red Tudora to a friend for an early birthday present, and she loves it. She’s off to Bhutan in a couple of weeks, so it will go travelling with her. Lucky Tudora!

FO – Retro Rib Socks

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Retro Rib socks

Retro Rib socks

Pattern: Retro Rib by Evelyn A Clark, from Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave. Yarn: The Knittery 4ply merino/cashmere; shade – waterlilies.

I love this yarn; it’s so warm and cosy. Although it’s officially spring today, we’ll still have plenty of cool days to wear these.

And speaking of yarn, this was the other lot of yarn I bought in San Francisco:

Ginko bamboo/silk yarn

Ginko bamboo/silk yarn

It’s from ArtFibers, and is 87% bamboo, and 13% silk. I’m not sure exactly what it’s going to be yet, but I think I might weave it, maybe in a point twill or similar, with a plain contrast silk.

Sock in progress – and The Book

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I’ve now finished one of the Retro Rib socks, and started on the second one. I love the yarn – The Knittery’s merino/cashmere 4ply. I’ve used it before for mittens, and am going to love wearing these socks.

Sock 1 is pictured here with my major finished project of the week – The Book. My first author copy of my first novel, due out in Australia in September, has arrived. It’s beautiful. It’s still a thrill to hold it in my hands, and it’s sat for the past few days on the dining table, where I’m currently working, so I can always see it.

Retro Rib sock

Retro Rib sock

I’m off to San Francisco for a writers’ conference on Saturday, and will be taking sock 2 with me (and the book!) Knitterary will also be there, and we’re planning on going yarn shopping before the conference starts. I’ll have limited internet access for a while, but I’ll post pictures when I return of any stash enhancement I’ve done!

Berocca Socks

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Another FO:

20081307BeroccaSocks2
Yarn: Berocca Sox. Pattern: the basic Patons 4ply pattern I’ve used for years.

This was another yarn from the box my friends sent to me. I think these will be great with jeans – I’m looking forward to wearing them tomorrow!

I like to have a plain pair of socks on the needles, to knit while I’m working at the computer, so now these are finished, I’ve cast on another pair in yarn from The Knittery that I bought a while ago.

Back home – and knitting!

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Sorry for the long absence from the blog. I was in Sydney for a couple of weeks, doing the surgery thing, and although the brain side of things went well, there were other complications, necessitating longer in hospital than anticipated. However, I’m on the mend and doing very well now, and home and getting back into the swing of things.

I didn’t get a heap of knitting done while in Sydney, although I did have a visit to Tapestry Craft. I was quite restrained though, and only bought a couple of balls of 4ply:

20080711GrignascoRedYarn
They’re destined to be lacy fingerless mitts. (The red is a little darker and richer than the photo appears.)

Last night, I finished this gorgeous pair of socks:

20080711DreamySocks

The pattern is a slight adaptation of Socks for Veronik, from Interweave Knits (Holiday 2007). The yarn is Dream in Color Gaia – from the box of yarns that my wonderful friends sent me.

I love the colours (especially the little flashes of electric blue), the yarn, and how it all works with the lace, and can’t wait to wear them 🙂

Medicinal knitting – and shopping

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I’ve been making good progress on the Berocca sock, but got to the point the other night where I needed to add in dark blue contrast yarn for the heel. Night not being the best time to start knitting with dark yarn (especially with one slightly blurry eye!), I picked up another set of needles and started knitting the Dream in Color Gaia yarn into a pair of lacy Veronik socks. So, even though I finished two pairs of socks just recently, I now have two more on the go!

20080606BeroccaSock

20080606DICsocks

I’m really enjoying knitting both projects. I’m very happy with how the Berocca ‘fair-isle’ is coming out, I love the subtle shades in the Dream in Colour – it’s working very well in the lacy pattern.

You’d think, that with the recent generous gift from my friends, and my own purchases, I’d have enough yarn. And I do. I’m still enjoying fondling and dreaming what I’m going to do with it all. But at the weekend, I made the mistake of clicking on the Yarnomat website. And I managed to convince myself that with surgery to come, and time in hospitals and hotels, that a couple of skeins of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn counted as medicine. Or therapy. Or both. Before I could argue a dissenting case, two skeins had leapt into my shopping cart, wrangled my credit card from my purse, and committed themselves to coming to my place.

(At least I currently have the excuse that I’m not right in the head, right??)

Anyways, DH brought them home from the PO box last night. This is the first time I’ve ever seen Cherry Tree Hill yarns in real life. They’re beautiful. Now I’ve got even more yarn to fondle. I may even get some of it knitted up, sometime in the next few months!

20080606CherryTreeYarn2
Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Potluck – colourway Jewels

20080606CherryTreeYarn1
Cherry Tree Hill Supersock merino – colourway Blueberry Hill

Finished – more Conwy socks, and 1940s cap

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I wanted to get a couple of current projects off the needles so I can start playing with my new yarn.

This is my second pair of Conwy socks, finished yesterday:

20080530GreenConwy1
Yarn: Heirloom Argyle 4ply
Pattern: adaptation of Conwy by Nancy Bush (Knitting on the Road)

I’m not sure yet whether these will be for me, or for my brother-in-law. It might depend upon whether I can knit him another pair before his birthday in early July. I made him a pair of plain socks a couple of years ago, which he wears every morning in winter, so it’s probably time I made him another pair!

I’ve also finished this cap, from a 1940s Sun-glo knitting book of patterns for men. The patterns are all service-style, with names such as ‘Pilot’, ‘Digger’, ‘Helmsman’, ‘Observer’ and ‘Major’. The yarn I’ve used is probably rather more ‘feminine’ than the original pattern-writer had in mind!

20080526MauveHat2

Yarn: leftover Merino/Cashmere 4ply from The Knittery