Girl on the Rocks

formerly known as Knit This… Knitting, spinning, crafting - it’s all here.

 

Socktober - Self striping yarns Part II October 22, 2008

Filed under: Tales of Knitting, Things I like — karrie @ 7:53 am

A continuation from Part I - some of my favorite self striping sock yarns

The last two of my favorite self-stripers hold their own with creative color combos that always look good to me.

Sknitches




Photo courtesy of flickr user Wannabeknittin’

Take sknitches for example. Yes, I am clearly a fan of blue and brown, but don’t these socks look so good? Sknitches also has a wide array of non-striping yarn in beautiful colorways, so if you order from her site, you can get a great mix of sock yarns in fabulous colors.

Ravelry Yarn page

Knitterly things




Photo by Flickr user Wooly interlude

Some of the first handmade self-striping yarn that I ever heard about was Vesper sock yarn. As a spinner, the shop’s curator also has a beautiful assortment of hand-dyed roving. It can still be kind of a challenge to snag the sock yarn, but it seems like there are shop updates many Wednesdays, and the Ravelry Group can a be a useful guide to shop stalking.

Ravelry Yarn page

Speaking of ravelry groups…. a long time ago I started a Ravelry group for those that love stripes - Better with stripes. Pop on over and say ‘Hi’ if self-striping yarn is your sort of thing.

 
 

Socktober - Self striping yarns Part I October 10, 2008

Filed under: Karrie's Current Projects — karrie @ 7:32 am

Another socktober is upon us… Last year I didn’t do too much sock knitting during Socktober… but at least I thought about socks a lot. There is the slim possibility that I will cast on for sock this month. I can guarantee that I am not going to finish one sock, let alone a pair. So I’ll just have to write about socks.

Through the wonders of the internet, an intrepid knitter has at his/her needletips an amazing selection of sock yarns. The indie dyeing community is expanding everyday with beautiful new color combinations and dyeing techniques. I do a little dyeing myself, and I am usually on a tight budget. This makes justifying yarn purchase a difficult task. If I spring for a $20 pair of socks (that might spend a very long time as yarn) it has to be something good. I have two favorites that I can justify purchasing at almost any time: Socks that Rock and indie-dyed self-striping yarn. You have probably already heard about Socks that rock, so let’s talk about some of my favorite indie-stripers.

Lovesticks

Lovestick’s yarn makes an awesome striping pattern using three colors… Two colors make wide stripes separated by a thin stripe of a third color. Here - just look:




Photo from Flickr user Sock-a-holic

And my favorite thing about her shop… she has Sport-weight yarn. Perfect for a quick pair of socks.
Ravelry Yarn Page





Twisted

I first found Twisted on etsy, but she has since graduated to her own site. There is always a wide variety of base yarns available from sport weight SW merino to merino/bamboo or merino/tencel blends. I like nearly every colorway that Meg has produced, and I don’t think there is anything else like her subtle striping effect. Now she even has coordinating mini-skeins of heel and toe yarn available with come of her colorways.




Photo from flickr user Meg of Twisted

I use the Twisted Ravelry group to stay in the loop about shop updates and fiber clubs.
Ravelry Yarn Page

i have too many favorites for one post, so stay tuned for one more installment