March 2008

FO: Firestarter

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Aaand another pair of socks finished. After the Bayerische, these seemed to fly off the needles. The pattern is wonderful and looks much more complicated than it really is to knit. (Seriously!) It's mostly stockinette, anyway. And the fit is marvelous. Yes, to use a very old and pun-tastic phrase: they fit like a glove. :P

Project: Firestarter (Ravelry), cast-on: February 24 2008, cast-off: March 28 2008
Pattern: The Firestarter (Ravelry) by Yarnissima
Yarn: Hot Socks Sockenwolle Laola (75% superwash wool/25% polyamide) in colorway #655
Needles: 2.5 mm (foot) and 3.0 mm (leg) circulars
Mods: Turkish cast-on instead of the suggested provisional cast on and short-row toe; increased one extra stitch at each side for calf shaping; modified Russian bind-off instead of the suggested one

These are probably the best-fitting socks I've ever made. The foot is nice and snug, the heel is amazing, and the ribbing on the cuff is wonderfully stretchy. I usually need to add a few extra stitches for calf shaping if I'm doing longer than calf-length socks. With these, I only added two (one at each side) but, honestly, they probably would've fit nicely even without the additions. And I can't stop marveling at the teeny cables.

And then something that's not socks. (What a concept!)

Project: Mystic Midnight (Ravelry), cast-on: March 26 2008
Pattern: Mystic Light (Mystic Light KAL on Yahoo, Mystic Light KAL Ravelry group, Ravelry pattern page) by Anna Dalvi
Yarn: The Knittery 4ply Merino Cashmere Sock (60% merino/20% cashmere/20% nylon) in colorway "Midnight"
Needles: 4.5 mm aluminum circular
Mods: used provisional long-tail cast-on

The variation in the yarn obscures the lace pattern a bit but I'm loving this anyhow. The yarn is so soft! I have a feeling this baby's going to bleed like hell -- I have a black stripe across my hand where I wrap the yarn around. There's a lot of black dye in the yarn so I guess it's expected. (I'm loving this anyhow.)

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More Twisted

Monday, March 24, 2008

As hinted to yesterday, the Toe Up Bayerische are done and I'm more than happy that this project is over to present some FO pics. ;)

Project: Toe Up Bayerische (Ravelry), cast-on: February 1 2008, cast-off March 21 2008
Pattern: Bayerische Socks (Ravelry) by Eunny Chang
Yarn: ONline Linie 2 Supersocke Silk (55% new wool/20% silk/25% polyamide) in colorway #0002 (ice blue)
Needles: 2.5 mm circular
Mods: My extensive notes for converting these puppies to toe-up and knee-high are on the 2008 FO page.

I made a foldable ribbing in which you can thread an elastic through but I'm in two minds of whether I should actually sew it down or if I prefer the longer ribbing. And about the yarn... It's wonderfully soft and smooth and really makes the cables pop but I did notice considerable pilling even before wearing the socks. All that stitch mangling is apparently pretty hard on the yarn too, not just the knitter.

As if that project wasn't twisted enough, I've started another! Another possible theme in February 2008 Sockdown is new heel construction and these are certainly very unique.

Project: Firestarter (Ravelry), cast-on: February 24 2008
Pattern: The Firestarter (Ravelry) by Yarnissima
Yarn: Hot Socks Sockenwolle Laola (75% superwash wool/25% polyamide) in colorway #655
Needles: 2.5 mm (foot) and 3.0 mm (leg) circulars
Mods: Turkish cast-on instead of the suggested provisional cast on and short-row toe

What a perfect colorway and pattern combination for Project Spectrum. :) Just look at those teeny, tiny cables. Amazing pattern.

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New Yarn (and Would-Be Yarn)

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Picture-heavy post of yarn porn-y goodness today! All of these arrived within a couple of week of each other.

First off, gorgeous merino/cashmere/nylon sock yarn all the way from Australia. Mmmm, cashmere... The Knittery 4ply Merino Cashmere Sock, colorway "Midnight". This will hopefully become Mystic Light shawl (not for me!). The KAL starts March 26th! I would've gotten some in "Passionfruit" for myself but luckily(?) they were out of stock.

Then some birthday roving from Uruguay (handpaintedyarn.com merino roving). These are all divinely soft... I haven't yet dared to pick up the spindle again.

"Arandanos" (blueberries).

"Frutos del Bosque" (forest fruit... I'm sensing a theme here).

"Wooden Rose".

And finally, March 2008 shipment of the Simply Socks Yarn Company sock club: sKNITches limited edition sock yarn in colorway "Cottage". This is the same base yarn as in Kettle Drum (superwash merino/bamboo/nylon).

P.S. I finally finished the never-ending Bayerische Socks (Ravelry link). More project photos coming up when I'm feeling less lazy :P but in the mean time, notes for converting them to toe-up in the 2008 FO page.

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