Office decor

In November, my office space (which I share with two others) was renovated and graced with new furniture. Since I can no longer use the shelf over the heating units as work space I decided to do a little decorating. A nice basket of yarn. I have invited my co-workers, both knitters, to stroke the yarn in times of stress. It just makes a nice picture, well, and it relieves the stash storage crunch at home.

The red yarn at the end of the basket is my Christmas present from my ds. He picked it out himself. From the Red Neck Goat Farm near Calgary. Here is a closer look:


I've started my January socks for the Socks from Stash Club. They're made from Natural Dye Studio alpaca and silk in Amazon colourway. The yarn is really soft, but knitting up a bit muddy looking. This is three days knitting on the bus back and forth to work. Wendy Johnson's fingering weight toe-up sock with gusset, my favourite pattern. And these are my socks.

Black Hole!

Well, that's what it seems like. I disappeared for the fall. Once Socks of summer was over, there wasn't the same need to blog. And work got crazy busy, as it usually does. September = new school year = utter crazy madness. Every time I thought I'd update the blog, something else popped up. So, my New Year's resolution (well, one at least) is to blog more often.

But I kept knitting and managed to finish 7 1/2 pairs of socks since June 2007. Should have finished the second Frogwarts sock for my dd while I was off at Christmas, but, well, I didn't. Stroked my now considerable yarn stash, did a bit of shopping, relaxed a little and started three socks instead. Ummhum. Prepped three toes ready to just grab one and take off with it. A variety of colours and textures. Got a skein of Dream in Color Smooshy in Cocoa Kiss from Pick Up Sticks' Christmas yarn exchange and started Nagini, a Harry Potter design, nice cably snakeskin. Perfect!

Finally started the Branched Fern socks after fussing for months about what to use. The winner is the yarn I'd originally picked: DG Confetti in hunter green. The third is a generic toe-up sock with some alpaca-silk yarn from the Natural Dye Studio in England. Soft, soft, soft and a bit furry. That will be my entry in the Socks from Stash Club for January and will be the bus sock, too.

I figure if I keep busy enough the long dark month of January will whizz by.

Reprieve ...

Last Friday evening I found out that my friend's departure was delayed for a week. Good thing, 'cause I'd made a mistake and had to frog the heel flap of the second sock. Anyway the alpaca socks are finished and ready to give to her. Whoohoo!!

The Socks of Summer is ending tonight. The time has gone by very quickly. I've completed three pairs and have two partial socks. I've had a lot of fun, learned a lot, and acquired a significant sock yarn stash. So, although I didn't achieve all my goals, I'm ready to declare success! Sock on!

Will I make it?

So, I'm down to the wire with this pair of alpaca socks for my friend. She leaves on Monday and I have one more pattern repeat before the heel flap on the second sock, but I'm going to try to finish this.

Another friend suggested that I give only one sock. That way the pair won't be worn out and the single could go into a drawer with a nice bar of soap or sachet and be a memento. Last resort, I'm thinking. But bright idea for using a single sock!

When I was practising the figure 8 toe, I used this lovely ombre Trekking yarn. During my holidays I decided to continue it and it's ready for the gusset shaping. I really like how this yarn knits up and how the colours work. It will be my bus sock next week.




Wave a bit of red-orange in front of me and I'm hooked!

Oh yes, I joined the Branched Fern KAL, too. I've had so much fun with the Campanuals, that I jumped in another lace sock KAL. It looks like such a nice pattern. Not sure what I'll use yet. Possibly some DG Confetti in a dark green. But I'll have to do more work on the Campanuals.

Yarn Goldilocks

... looking for the one that is juuust right! That was my daughter's comment when I was fussing about what yarn to use for the Campanulas. Having discarded the pink Regia Silk after swatching, and starting one with some lovely Apple Laine in Cotton Candy and then rejecting that because it was a bit too thick, (bamboo needles have a lot of give!!) I was whinging on about my requirements. Humph! Kids give you no sympathy! Anyway, I took another look at the Regia silk and decided to go ahead with it and now have one sock completed to above the heel. Because I was on holidays, I spent some time learning Judy's Magic cast on and trying to figure out the short row heels. The cast on is truly magic and one I'll use but I'm not too sure about the short row heels. I'll have to practice more because these turned out kinda messy and lumpy. But lovely yarn to work with! I have some more in burgundy.



And I finished the Cotton Fantasy socks for my daughter. Too cool! Made them as close as possible. I want a pair too, now. Love the toe up method.


And corrected the mistake in the alpaca lace socks and started to shape the toe. Deadline is fast approaching and I have another week to finish the pair.

I told my friend I was knitting her socks and asked for her shoe size so I could get these to fit. She said an 8 or a 9. Dear friend, but what woman doesn't know her exact shoe size??? A little humour to disguise the fact that I will miss her a great deal.

Easily diverted and amused ...

So I thought that I'd better try a toe-up sock before starting the Campanulas and cast on some Meilenweit Cotton Fantasy last Friday. I finished the sock today. I used Knitpicks steel needles 2.25 mm, a figure 8 cast-on and Wendy's toe-up sock with gusset. This sock went really quickly and it was such fun watching the stripes appear.


My daughter saw it early on and said: "Is that my sock?" Other than getting the foot a bit too long for her and having to frog it past the heel turn, it went fairly smoothly. Except this morning on the bus, the needles kept slipping out of the ribbing and into my lap! Aaarrgh! But just love the colours! Now for sock 2.

And if they don't fit my daughter, I'll have another pair of socks!

A pair at last!

My Fleece Artist socks are finished! Grafted the toe of the second sock this morning on the bus. There are still a few ends to hide, but they're done! Not an identical pair since the two heels are slightly different and the second is slightly longer than the other. But close enough.

And here they are on the feet!



Last Friday I was going gung ho on the alpaca sock and made a mistake that needs to be frogged, so I put it down and started back on these. Now to fix the alpaca sock and carry on. Whoohoo!