Tie Dye Socks

I continue to be predictable and like the colors a 5 year old would. These come straight out of the crayon box. The yarn was a birthday gift from Valerie, and I absolutely love it. It is Alpaca peds, which manages to be a superwash alpaca blend sock yarn. I don't know how they do it, but they promise to be warm.

Worfy approves.

Basic top down sock pattern in 2x2 ribbing, except I liked the way it was striping so much that I did an afterthought heel, so as not to disturb the pattern.

In summary:
Yarn: Alpaca Peds in Tie Die
Pattern: Top down, 2x2 rib, afterthought heel, basic toe
Needles: Size US 1 dpns
Time: A few weeks in my purse. That seems to be all I'm making lately.
Cost: Nothing. Thanks Val!

I caught the clap!

Uh, the clapotis, that is. Yes, everyone and their next-door neighbor has knit one of these except me, until now. Loopy Yarns in the city was having a moving sale, and some of the girls from one of my knitting groups made a field trip out of it. While I desperately wanted some of the heavily discounted llama, I had already made two hats out of it and couldn't come up with any other plan for it. Luckily, I also found this lovely yarn, Mirasol Hacho deeply discounted. I couldn't think of what to do with it, and nearly defaulted to socks. Luckily, the very smart people at Loopy Yarns keep a computer right there, so that customers can access ravelry at all times. This is a brilliant idea. Also, a terrible idea. Do you have any idea how enabling ravelry can be? I found someone who had made a clapotis out of this exact colorway, and it was so perfect, I had to do it. And hey, maybe this pattern everyone had done was worth the fuss after all.

It was, actually. It was a lot of fun. The pattern is simple enough that when you get the hang of it, you don't need to look at every line. However, it's knit on the diagonal, so it keeps from getting boring. There's also the crazy thrill of dropping stitches (on purpose!) and watching the pattern develop. The only problem is that until you get the pattern established, people have no idea how cool this thing you're knitting is going to turn out to be.
My computer(s) had just died at this point, and I was looking forward to seven straight days of shift (8 hours- with about 5 mins of work to do every 2 hours) with no other form of entertainment. So I knit, and I read. It turns out, these high-tech desk style chairs work great for knitting and reading. I've usually tried this slumped out on the couch, and it has not faired well. But the edges of the chair and the edge of the desk lets you prop up the book so you don't have to worry about juggling it. I got it done in 5 days, and read 3 books in the process. Oh yeah, and did work.

I'm very happy with it. I don't know why I didn't do the pattern for so long, but I guess I never really had the yarn that screamed for it before. The size is somewhere in between a shawl and a scarf, so it will definitely earn its keep this winter. And a shawl is just so much more elegant than a hoodie.
(I'm trying to look snobby and stylish. Did it work?)



In Summary:
Yarn: Mirasol Hacho (100% merino wool), 5 skeins
Pattern: Clapotis from knitty
Needles: Size US 8
Time: About 5 days of devoted knitting
Cost: $24. Not bad, my friends. Not bad at all.



Actually, I did this ages ago, and I'm just posting. Sorry. It made a great scarf all winter though.

Sports socks

Despite both disappointing me this year, I have made Bears socks and Cubs socks. Sorry the pictures are a little blurry. Something seems to have gone wrong with my digital camera and I had to take them with my BlackBerry.
I really have nothing to say about these teams than, there's always next year.
Bears socks:


Cubs socks:

Although the Cubs socks did double as patriotic socks on inauguration day.

In summary:
Pattern: Both basic top down, 2x2 rib cuff, plain body, s1 k1 heel flap, basic toe
Yarn: knittinglikecrazy's Crazy Soft Sock yarn in Super Bowl Shuffle and Go, Cubs, Go! respectively, superwash wool (and some nylon?)
Needles: Size US 1 dpn
Time: Traveling purse projects, probably several weeks each set
Cost: Around $20 each pair, with some yarn left over. Since I have several skeins of each colorway, this may come in handy.

Hey! You haven't been updating!

I know, I know. I will be posting soon.