Well, Socktober came and went, and I barely did a thing about it. Not too cool for a knit-blogger… I wanted to finish my Cupcake socks not only for Socktober, but also to be eligible for a prize in the Ravelry Sock Knitter’s Anonymous group. But alas. Not finished.

In the wake of Socktober, I will point out two sock-related blog posts that caught my eye:

• Maia’s toe-up gusseted heel Just the thing I was looking for – and in just the right amount of nerdy detail.
• B’s Toe-up two needle cast on I have seen her work this magic at our knitting group, but I have never been the recipient of the tutorial. Now I can learn any time – Thanks B.

Pride

The thing that sucked up all of my crafty-time in October was the Halloween costume for my Blythe doll. It got a pretty good reception at the Blythe Meet that I went to, but I was a little shocked that it got picked up by both the Craft blog, and Boing Boing. yeah Boing Boing. wow. And they classified it as ‘Art.’ Though I thought my friends were web-nerds, B was the only one that I think even really knew about boing boing. Make sure to scroll down and check out the comments there – I actually really enjoyed some negative feedback, but that may be because I like to cause trouble….

And as if that amount of web traffic wasn’t enough to make me happy, Not Martha posted a link to my monster finger chapstick holder pattern.

Thanks for the love Internets! It makes me feel better about being a Socktober slacker.

On a final note, I will generously point out that you can now advertise on Ravelry for a tiny sum. And I think it pays off… Indie shop owners, make sure you check it out.

Ravelry-induced weekend orders

• Toe-up self striping socks
  

  I added a little twisted stitch accent on the sides. Yarn is sport weight from Lovesticks

• Charity Miter

  
  My first non-garter stitch mitered square. For a charity blanket to be assembled by Moirae. Knit in Cascade 220.

• Cotton washcloths

  

  I have a few of these that my Mom bought in Amish country, and they are starting to fall apart. So I went to work on using up some partial balls of cotton. Fun!

Also, the new knitty is out. My faves? Neiman, Diamond Waffle (Props to you designer Danny for including 3 sizes in the pattern), and of course the Woodins.

When we arrived at the Frontier, we discovered that it is closing in two weeks. This made for a general sense of impending doom around our hotel, so that was a bit depressing. Nonetheless, I was happy to admire the old decor and awesome neon sign before it is gone. It is possible that I am a bit of a curse, since the Westward Ho faced the same fate shortly after my first visit.

from abmatic

I felt so vegasy sitting by the pool in 100 degree heat looking at palm trees and casinos (and no, I did not get in).

I also did a tiny bit of knitting (some by the pool). Socks from the top down of my own design for my lovely Twisted sock yarn. I am definitely reconsidering the idea of socks from the top down.

Thinking of knitting on vacation? i just noticed that the new Stash and Burn podcast is about just that. Check it out!

My Central Park Hoodie has a completed back, and I am working on one of the front pieces.

I accepted the fact that I am not a sock designer and ripped out this single sock that I designed myself.

It was too small for even me, and I somehow made the pattern almost impossible to size (and sock patterns without a S, M, and L size are one of my pet peeves). So the lovely STR will be reincarnated as a better fitting sock.

And I compeleted exactly half of a project by casting off one lonely sock.

Regia Canadian color #4733; 3 x 1 rib – my own pattern

And I do think the casting off was the best part. Why didn’t anyone tell me about the picot bind off featured in knitty? As a toe-up knitter, I was pretty happy to find these instructions and make a cute little bind off on these socks.

There. I have been knitting. Don’t forget about my contest – Midnight Pacific time tonight (sat june 10) is the cut off, so please tell me about your favorite knitting/crafting tool/material. I love reading all of the comments!

A beer cozy that I am calling “the Handyman special.” When you know a handy guy that welds a new piece for your ball-winder, you need to repay him somehow. I attempted a dramatic picture in front of sunset behind the golden gate bridge, but it didn’t work at all. This cozy is knit out of dishcloth cotton from our big order and was done on straight needles.

I have two other practically completed projects, but they won’t be around much longer. The first is a prototype for a sock pattern I am working on.

i like the pattern a lot. It has a little bit of yarn-over laciness, a little bit of ribbing, and a little bit of twistiness. unfortunately it is a little too small and needs to be reworked. This time I think I will use a normal weight sock yarn instead of the medium-weight socks that rock (in the color dreidel in case you were wondering). I think my standard 3×1 sock will be perfect for this str, just like the last. So this particular sock will be ripped out momentarily.

The second project destined for destruction: a square for larissa’s square-along using some of my solar dyed sock yarn. This is what it would look like if I was actually blocking it:

It’s an age old tale of knitting woe… I didn’t check my gauge and it is an inch too big. So it is getting ripped out and done again on smaller needles. Don’t know if I will be able to get it done by the deadline, though. Too much other stuff going on.

Edit: Larissa is accepting all squares, so I can send mine after all and I don’t need to rip it out and redo it. hooray!

He enjoyed chewing on my knitting during our afternoon ‘People’s Court’ dates.

The second is Emma. She is still a bit of a kitty and is tiny and cute cute cute. I am trying to set her up on a date with Apollo.

I decided that though I often think I really want a cat, i am pretty content to have one for only 1 week of the year.

On the knitting front, I made some progress on a nice pair of toe-up socks in regia Canadian Color (#4733)

I made a rather timid attempt at a second pair of socks using my leftover yarn…

A baby sock! So far i only have 1.5 baby socks finished, so maybe I will get the rest done at knitting tonight. to reiterate some of my knitting philosophy for any new readers

Babies: Not so much.
Knitting for Babies: awesome.

Baby projects are tiny and always cute (well, almost always) and usually pretty quick. I am a huge fan of baby socks because it lets you try out different sock knitting techniques (toes, heels, bind-offs) rather quickly since they are pretty small. I am writing up this pattern as I go and hopefully people will be able to use it to try out knitting a toe-up sock. stay tuned.

Here are a couple of socktober highlights that I want to link to for future reference.

• Stretchy Bind-off by Grumperina – This is fantastic for toe-up socks. It is by far the best thing i have found so far. and easy to memorize. B- you have to try it.
• Short row heels with wrapped stitches – Buried in this tutorial is the reason why the left and right side sides of short row heels with wrapped stitches look different. and how to fix it. when i understand, you’ll see it in action here
• Picot Edging for toe-up socks – Completely tested and verified with math, the best way to put a picot edging on a pair of toe up socks.

i am off to spend the last hours of Socktober in a bar with my knitting friends and others. I might get that second baby sock done, but probably I will just ruin it while knitting under the influence. Happy Halloween!

And much more in the spirit of Socktober than ripping out socks, I finished a pair of socks!

Pattern: my own; toe up; short row heel; 3×1 rib
Yarn: Socks that rock mediumweight in Carbon.

i think…. i guess it could actually be carbon dating. i can’t remember and i lost the ball band immediately. probably when i first brought it home and started rolling around in the big pile of new yarn. i lOVE knitting in the medium weight. The socks knit up quickly, and i don’t mind that the socks are a little thick. it is actually very useful since most of my shoes are too big and i need big socks to keep them on. and i know this probably isn’t new information to you, but man that yarn is nice. I have been coveting the new haul over at januaryone. Go look at it. I mean, does it get any better than that?

I thought I might answer some of the questions posed for socktoberfest, but was afraid they might be a bit boring so be warned!

• When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?

I made my first pair probably about 3 years ago. it was with yarn that I bought at stitches west. How cute and naive it was of me to not even understand how self-stiping yarn worked!

• What was your first pair? How have they “held up” over time?

They were made from a Lana grossa self-striping yarn, and have help up well!


• What would you have done differently?

They are knit too loosely. I would use smaller needles. My awareness of gauge is much greater nowadays

• What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?

The ‘Socks that Rock” that I am using on the current WIP socks is by far my favorite. Louet gems is nice too, but that is some tiny stuff. Oh! And blauband Maxiringel is fabulous.  I love the matching reinforcing thread.


• Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?

Knit them on two circs

• Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)

My current favorite is short row, and afterthought is a close second. I LOVE toe-up socks. I cannot imagine doing them any other way.

• How many pairs have you made?

i currently have one sock abandoned due to second sock syndrome, but i have 4 pairs.

Probably the best representation of my sock history reveals itself if you choose Socks from my tag cloud in the sidebar… Now back to work on those Socks that Rock….

I am also comfortable enough to declare that I have figured out how to do short-row heels for toe up socks…. EXACTLY the SAME way as for top down socks. Took me long enough to realize they were symmetric so it doesn’t matter what type of sock you use them on.

I also joined the Fall Cable Knit along. i did this because I thought the next thing I would start on would be the ‘Central Park Hoodie’ from the Fall Knitscene magazine.

I know that I swore off hoods after the rogue… they take too much yarn, they make it seem like you should be done with the sweater, but you’re not… But i can’t resist. And now I can;t say for sure that his will be my next sweater project… Problem is, Knitpicks knows I am a sucker. If you have ever bought something from them, they send you almost weekly emails advertising a new pattern or yarn. Being a sucker, I open them. And this time I love the pattern and the yarn. go take a look at Emma. Inticing because it has it all: steeking, knitting in the round ( no purling!), suggested yarn in colors i like, and an awesomely huge collar.

Whoa! I just had an awesome idea – I think this yarn would also work for the central park hoodie!! Ahhhh, a green cabled sweater, and a brownish jacket… wouldn’t that be nice.

Finally, shamelessly, since I have yarn lust and no yarn budget I have to pimp my etsy shop

I’ll give you free First class shipping (priority if you order more than one) on yarn if you comment when you purchase that you read about the yarn on my blog. WAIT for an invoice from me before submitting payment!