Braided Pulse Warmers

Finished Pulse Warmers

Well it has been a long time and so it should come as no surprise that I completed my Braided Pulse Warmers.    In fact I finished them on the 16th of last month so a while ago.  Today I found a spot of sun and had my kid take pictures.  As you may be able to tell the pulse warmer goes up a good bit on my forearm.  The Braid is just at my wrist juncture.  It was a fun easy knit taking only a few days to complete although I spread this out.  I actually was worried about running out of my main color since I was using remnants.  I ended up with loads of yarn.  Okay not really:

Yarn Chicken…

I am currently working on a pair of socks for myself.  I came across a singleton while unpacking boxes so decided to finish up the pair.  As usual I left no notes for myself about what I was doing in regards to cast on, gusset stitches picked up and other niceties.  Thankfully, I had my handy dandy pins there counting rows and my needles were stuck in ball of yarn.  As long as my tension didn’t go too off since last winter we should be fine.  Lichen Ribbed Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks.  I have made this particular pattern at least twice that I can recall.  This version is being made in gray alpaca blend which means silky and super warm.  I hope to be finished with those this weekend so am mulling over knitting options.

yarny days and knitterly evenings to you all

~Elka

Done and Undone

I didn’t you guys the weirdest thing ever.  Mainly because it made me a bit salty but hey

So while I was knitting my beautiful blue cashmere socks of glory a few weeks ago a co-worker came up to me and asked me what I was doing.  She exclaimed that I was doing it all wrong.  I am, to the surprise of some, a ‘thrower’ and she moved her fingers to mimic ‘pickers’ repeating, more than once that my method was “primitive” I was, understandably, a bit undone by this.  After pausing to figure out a way to respond without being contentious I stated that there was no right way to knit and that I had done so professionally for over a decade–my knitting, primitive as it may be, was  comfortable to me, done for enjoyment, and the results were acceptable to others.

She then exclaimed about the ridiculousness of a book devoted solely to socks and not all types of knitting.

And then followed it up with it made no sense to be knitting socks because it was summertime.

At this point all I could think was:

I am like the freaking ant getting ready for winter.  A. Freaking. Ant.

In over 40 years of knitting I have never had anybody speak negatively of my knitting while in public.

Of course once I finished my socks I was weaving in the ends during my lunch and the same coworker came and said

Oh so fancy.  This takes a lot of concentration and skill.  I am sure you cannot watch tv and do something like this.  … If you ever want to get me a gift I would love a pair of socks.

Like

A

Ant

Okay so salt inducing incident aside I finished those socks, and knit a pair for the husband, and started a third pair.  The yarn for new pair is really old.  I think it was from my secret pal in ’05 aka SP6 but I cannot find those posts.  It was a difficult year… my fathers year long battle with cancer, his death, my marriage falling apart  yada yada.  I wasn’t very pleasant during that period.  Anyway pictures:

Finished husband socks and new socks in progress

My husband is quite pleased with his socks and has deemed them beautiful.  The picture from last post, of the cuffs, is more color accurate in my opinion but it is basically a marled yarn.  One strand is black, another tan, and then a brick red.  Well more than one strand of each color but that is the basic mix.  As stated last time I think it will look great with his entire wardrobe.  His shoe wardrobe at least.  He wears cordovan, black and then tannish colored climbing shoes.  The yarn has lost the tag over the years but I clearly recall buying the yarn for him about 8 or 9 years ago thinking they looked manly.  I recall being overjoyed at finding the Opal and Socka yarns since all the sock knitters blogging at the time were mad for them and they were not carried by my preferred local shops. Now I prefer solid or semi solid yarns but I am still entranced by the self striping every once in while.

The new pair of socks is also a marled yarn with black and navy being the predominate colors.  They also lost their tags but this one came in the tubes like blauband or wildfoot. There is some subtle striping going on as well.  I am not sure why I put socks in sunny places for photos.  They look way overexposed but then our spring storms were pretty dreadful this year and I guess I just wanted a bright spot when I had it!

His socks all alone:

For the Flame

Interestingly enough he is becoming a sock snob.  He stated that he thinks one toe is maybe a 1/4 too long –you know for the shorter foot–but he wasn’t quite sure.  This from a man who managed to live 50-some- years wearing store boughten socks.  Tis okay.  I like spoiling him when I can 🙂

yarny days and knitterly evenings

Elka

Hurray

 

Socks

 

My computer is fixed and at home–hurray!

As mentioned last time I finished a pair of socks for myself.  Nancy Bush’s Child’s First Sock in Shell Pattern from her Knitting Vintage Socks book.  The yarn is Juliespins MCN 355 in Erin’s Summer Blues.  I had knit these exact same socks in same yarn and color way back in Jan of 2010  The socks were lost to the ages–either given away or a hole developing although I don’t recall discarding them so most likely given away–and I missed them terribly every time I went through my projects on Ravelry.  I was able to acquire a hank of the coveted color way a while ago through a stash sale and am pleased as punch I once again own these socks.

Something I hadn’t noticed the first time I knit them, that I recall, is how pleasant the wrong side of pattern is.  Although I doubt I would ever wear them inside out I believe my weaving in of ends is nice enough to do so and if you decide to pick up this pattern  you might want to take care in finishing.  Here is a washed out picture of the sock pattern both right and wrong side:

Child’s First Socks Inside and Outside of Shell pattern

My mother and I had a nice visit.  I hadn’t seen her in almost 2 years since my sisters are all over the place.  My youngest sister lives in the UK near the Scottish border and has 3 children.  My mom has traveled there for each birth since my sis was in medical school then interning and taking care of children while on rotation is impossible as I am sure you can imagine.  My youngest sister is significantly younger than I.  I recall getting off the bus when in high school to pick her up from sitters and watch her while my mom worked on her college degree.  I believe Anna is 16 years younger than I am although that depends on which month of the year you are looking at… it is what is stuck in my head.  Just like my husband is 10 years older than I … one week out of every year 🙂

In the photo above you can see that the next pair of socks actually look pretty with the last and I am only halfway done with the pair.  I hesitated to knit this yarn for the longest thinking why did I buy it?  So ugly.  Well the marl is knitting up gloriously:

Marled socks

I believe my husband will like these since he wears quite a bit of tan and black pants.  One of his dress shoes are Cordovan and I think this will look particularly good with them.  When I finish these I will still be 2 pairs behind in my goal for him.  I will need two as well to make goal but Tyler is ahead of the game with 3 out of 4 pairs gifted.

I cast on the second sock last night and have finished the 30 rows of rib so am onto the relatively quick stocking stitch.

I am following the numbers from Nancy Bush’s Classic Sock in her Folk Socks book.  My poor copy is falling apart. I purchased it over 20 years ago so I may break down and pick up the new ‘updated’ version.

Nancy Bush is a Sock Knitting Treasure.

yarny days and knitterly evenings

Elka

 


YOP#6 Week 18

YOP6_Banner_perfect_lines_slightly_larger_medium

 

Last week I knit a pair of socks for my husband.  Unfortunately I misread how long the foot is to be, I keep such notes on Ravelry, and did 7″ from back of heel instead of 7″ from end of heel shaping.  Socks are now for Tyler who has scored 3 pairs of socks since YOP goals were assembled.  This pair, and the last pair, are to be Christmas gifts.

This August we went to MidAmericon in Kansas City and I purchased Tyler a piece of artwork from art show.  It was a relatively expensive gift and he was told to not expect anything for Christmas so the socks are all the unwrapping he will be doing this year.

So the yarn is an oldie from my stash.  There was a time, say 11  yrs ago or so, when I purchased several hanks of Mountain Colors Bearfoot sock yarn and I am down to 3 hanks after this one called Moose Creek. For some reason it always looked like a brownish plum color but honestly it is a brown and my eyes were just drawn to the flashes of plum or burgundy in it.  Here is the hank wound up into a yarn cocoon:

Mountain Colors Bearfoot Moose Creek yarn cocoon.

Mountain Colors Bearfoot Moose Creek yarn cocoon.

 

See the plum and reddish tints?

Here is the finished sock, overexposed and unwashed.  You can see how the colors pooled but it isn’t nearly as obvious in the actual sock:

Finished sock

Finished sock

 

One nice thing about Bearfoot sock yarn is the mohair content which makes it super warm and cushy.  Usually whenever I wash a pair I reach inside and take out yarn pills.  Sometimes I let them gather for a while and it is extra padding on sole of foot.  For some reason it just pills inside the foot.  I have knit textured socks and the texture is basically lost after several washes.  But these have made my warmest and longest lasting socks.  I have  pair going back 8 years.  My Mad Color Weave socks.  I also have a couple of pairs even older than that but I don’t have them saved anywhere handy picture wise. Most were Michelle’s Basic Sock pattern.

Another awesome thing about this sock yarn is that it is slightly heavier than fingering weight.  I think it is the mohair again.  The yarn feels dense and plush and fills in any place that would normally have a gap such as the gusset area.  Here is a close up of heel and gusset to once again show color of socks {not overexposed}:

Sock heel and gusset

Feel free to click to embiggen 🙂

The pattern is A Classic Sock from Nancy Bush’s Folk Socks book.  I purchased my copy when Zoe was a baby so about 21 yrs ago and it is falling apart at this point.

In a few days Wovember starts.  I have been anticipating Wovember for weeks.  I have cast on Strokkur and am hoping I don’t have the same tension woes that caused me to rip and reknit this sweater 3 times so far.  I have switched from my Trusty Grays {aka Aero needles} to bamboo ones hoping that will help.  I am also planning on measuring every 20 rows or so which is annoying but should end up with a finally FO.  It is expected to be in the mid-80’s on Tuesday, not the least bit Wovemberish at all, but such is St. Louis weather.  Winters here tend to be relatively warm and drizzly instead of snowy.  It makes me sad but home is where the heart is and I do heart my family.

yarny days and knitterly evenings

~Elka