Sock Love

I seem to be in a mood. Rivendell, from the Eclectic Sole. Knit in Dream in Color Smooshy Sock, Cloud Jungle.

I cast on for this pair the day of the fairy houses. It seemed appropriate to be working on socks named after a fairy land on a day so beautiful that we couldn't help but spend the entire afternoon in the backyard, frequently reclining on our hammock while gazing at the sky through the trees.

Sigh.

I am making one major alteration. I think that the gauge on all of the socks in this book is way too loose - especially having seen some completed samples at Hillcreek Yarn Shoppe. So, I dropped the needles size to a 2.0 mm and added another repeat. If I need to, I can decrease some of the purl stitches between the ribs below the leaf pattern. We shall see.

Monkey Maybe's, an attempt at the infamous Monkey Socks by Cookie A, knit in luscious Denali sock yarn by Pagewood Farm. The color is called Passion, and is rather a departure from my normal color choices. I started these at our guild meeting Tuesday night.

I say maybe because I'm not entirely sure that I like the gauge. Once again, I have massive issues with the gauge most designers use, finding it too loosey-goosey for either comfort or durability. The cuff is ok, but three rows into the patterning I find that I'm getting annoyed with it. I may take a new look at the pattern to see if there is anyway to change it a bit

Progress on a basic pair of socks. My plain vanilla sock recipe is from Ann Budd's fantastic book, The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. The sock yarn is Opal, although I think I've lost the ball band and so I have no idea what the pattern is called.

On my Ravelry page, I've named these "They don't all have to be orange" because they are destined for my father. He has received a LOT of handknit socks from me, probably because he appreciates them more than anyone else. However, every other pair I've done for him has been orange in some way because that is his favorite color. I felt it was time for him to learn about change. These are a pair of carry-along socks, and as they are usually in my purse for odd moments here and there, it could be a while before they were finished.

Yesterday, though, I pulled them out to work on them because I had help with this next pair.

A very special pair of socks for my soon-to-be kindergartner. These are also basic socks, a la Ann Budd, and are knit in Trekking.

At my guild meeting, the question came up, "Who knits socks for children?" at which I raised my hand. It's true, my Princess is very hard on her handknit socks. You have to be just a wee bit callous to knit socks for kids because they are going to be abused. It's worth it, though, when you have children that know those socks are special and wear them often.

Generally, I've been able to use sock yarn leftovers, but she's now big enough to require her own skein. I bought this particular skein for myself, but thought that it was ugly when knit up. It is, of course, perfect for a five-year-old girl.

There's a bit more to say about Princess's socks, but I think I'll save that for another post. I've promised her I'll post a specific picture.