New Socks again

I've put the Blossom socks on hold for now as they were proving too involved for relaxed knitting. So a few weekends ago, whilst watching a film with my sister, I cast on for some new socks.



I'm using Brooklyn Handspun Sock Yarn that I bought from Socktopus at Ally Pally last year. It is very beautiful and I love the colours and the softness. I've combined it with 2.75mm needles (completely enormous for me as I usually prefer 2.25mm needles for socks) so it is superfast. I'm using a ribbed cable pattern to give it extra elasticity and snug fitness.



I decided on a heel flap for the heel even though it makes the colour pattern start flashing. I put in some travelling stitches for a bit more interest on the heel and I'm really rather pleased with it.



Look, I'm nearly finished. However, it does occur to me that wool socks are now a little too warm in my trainers. My sock yarn stash is predominately wool so I sneaked off to Getknitted and purchased some Opal Cotton blend sock wool. It pays to be prepared after all.

This is not the intended effect

My short row yarnover heel is not holeless. why oh why oh, yo yo.



I had an inkling something was up when I was doing the yo's to knit of the front and back sections but didn't do any research on it and again, I could have avoided the ripping if I had planned ahead a little.


Never mind. It is still fun to knit and I just ate a chocolate with marmite in and it was goooooooood.

This is my swatch

One of the reasons I make up my socks as I go along is so that they fit me. A quick swatch and then lots of trying on sessions have given me some very satisfactory, custom fitted pairs and I like it that way. I've been put off of complicated sock patterns before because of the limitations in sizing. None of this crossed my mind when I embarked on Blossom.



I have knitted the foot section of Blossom and it occurred to me I should try it on. It is a trifle large and I think I will have to rip at least several inches. I'm now kicking myself (with a bare foot) as with a little foresight this could have been neatly avoided. The front of the instep is a lace panel and if you can't get gauge then there's very little in the way of simple alterations that you can do. However, the back panel is stocking stitch and has an increase section near the heel so you can tweak the width very easily and reduce or entirely remove the increases if like me it's coming out large. I really missed a trick here.

No matter. I'm enjoying the pattern and the yarn and will do some ripping with minimal fuss. It's not so bad once you've done it - just a bit painful to think about beforehand.
On a brighter note, I ordered some Unicorn yarn . I was a bit surprised to see it had pretty much sold out on Friday lunchtime but knew a second upload on Friday afternoon was planned. At 11.30pm on Friday I remembered the update but was too tired to go online. I was worried it would all have sold out again. Fyberspates was out of stock but Natural Dye Studio weren't so I chose aqua mark 2. It looks a bit more variegated than a semisolid but should show off stitch patterns nicely. I'm looking out for the postman (and also for a massive parcel that I accidentally ordered from Bliss online full of bathroom lotions and potions but one day I'll meet a billionaire. I used to think a millionaire would do but why limit myself?)

New socks project

I've started Blossom from Twist Collective and it has the most bonkers construction for a sock I've ever come across. That's one of the reasons I chose it. The last few pairs of socks I've made have been very simple so I thought it would be nice to try an actual pattern.
It is also very, very lovely to look at and goes incredibly well with some stash Fyberspates Dream sock yarn. It is much more purple than the photos show and has great stitch definition. I bought it on an impulse at Ally Pally and I almost gave it away at one stage but then rediscovered it when I was transferring sock yarn to my sofa.

The sock starts in the middle of the photograph above and is knitted outwards. It was a bit fiddly to start with but manageable and well worth it. A couple of the rounds have yo's at the beginning and end of each needle but I found working a double yarn over at the end of the needle and then transferring it on the next round was easier for me.

The designer is Stephanie van der Linden and she has several other designs in Twist Collective that are gorgeous. I've also got my eye on some Cookie A designs but I've noticed that sock designs these days are for solid or semi solid yarns whereas my stash is full of multi coloured stripy yarn. I'm thinking I'll have to queue up some older patterns (e.g Pomatomus) which also happens to be Cookie A. Fortunately, the Unicorn club is here and, which I didn't realise, there are several choices of colourways from both designers including stripy and semi solid. Life is indeed beautiful.

FO - sneaky baby socks

I couldn't resist.


In other knitting, I have finished the back of Colonial Cardi by Sublime in Fyberspates Scrumptious. I also have a cold.

FO: Quick Fyberspates socks

Yarn: Fyberspates Dream Sock
Amount: 1 skein with plenty leftover for new baby socks
Needles: 2.5mm Knitpicks dpns
When I started these, I wanted some quick socks that wouldn't be as ridiculously involved as my mum's pair (over 100 sts, 2mm needles) so I used much bigger needles than normal for me and cast on far fewer sts than normal and came up with some lovely yellow and blue socks. I did some ribbing and some calf decreases and a heel flap and boom, first sock done. The second sock was even quicker, especially when I relised I couldn't find my notes so decided to just pretend it was the first sock again and not worry about trying to make them identical.
They look small (and my feet look a bit stunted in the first photo) but they feel lovely and I can't wait to wear them. I love socks, so of course, my immediate reaction to finishing them was to want to cast on some new socks. I have managed to resist so far as I can't decide whether to make some mini socks for the new nephew/neice or start ball winding for a new pair for me. Decisions, decisions.

I went to Rome

and it was rather fun.