More Socks, Socks, Socks

Clearly I have been knitting lots and lots of socks lately but I have not been taking the time to show them here.  Here’s a quick post to show you my latest socks. These “Shorty Socks” are a quick knit except for the fact that I knit one socks back in July 2020??? and I did not get around to the second socks until this past weekend.

The pattern is from a collection of patterns by Summer Lee. The pattern collection is called “Shorty Sock Set“.  Here is the link:  

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/shorty-sock-set-2

I knit these socks in yarn from Leading Men Fiber Arts “Show Stopper” and the color way is called “Yarn Hoarder”.  The contrasting heel and cuff are Plymouth Yarn “Dye for Me Happy Feet” in the color way called “Natural”.  I have never used yarn from “Leading Men Fiber Arts” before.  I will look for their yarn again.  It is very nice.  

Here’s a pair of socks knit in Sport Weight yarn from Knit Picks.  The yarn is from a kit my mom had purchased and I dyed the yarn with Easter egg dye last fall.  I’ll share more about that in another post.  For these socks I used a pattern called “Woodland Walk Socks”.  The pattern calls for fingering weight yarn.  Since I was using Sport Weight yarn, I modified the pattern by casting on only 52 stitches and I used larger needles than what the pattern called for.  The socks were fun to knit.  I did knit them cuff down, two at a time, on one long cable needle in Magic Loop.  This seemed like a good option since I was following a chart and knitting two at a time ensured they were identical.  I also opted to use a Strong Heel for my socks since I like that kind of heel when knitting two at a time in Magic Loop.

Here is the pattern link for the Woodland Walk Socks:

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/woodland-walk-socks

Here is a post about the Strong Heel: 

https://www.theknittingsquirrel.com/heather-socks-featuring-the-strong-heel/

Here’s fun knit. This is a pattern called “Solar”.  It looks great in self striping yarn, don’t you think?   

Here is the pattern link for “Solar”:

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/solar

For my socks, I opted to work a “Fish Lips Kiss Heel”:

Here is the Fish Lips Kiss Heel pattern link:

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fish-lips-kiss-heel

For my “Solar” socks I used yarn from Wisdom Yarn called “Prose” and the color way is called “Surf Shorts”.  I found this yarn at the store called “Tuesday Morning”.  I have purchased Wisdom Yarn brand yarn at Tuesday Morning a few times.  The colors in this color way are not my favorite but the socks fit great.  You can’t see it in the photos, but when these socks are worn, they are quite lacy with holes created from yarn overs.  They will be a good pair of socks to wear when the weather is a little warmer.  I have to admit I felt a little breeze blowing through my socks the other day when I wore them on a cold morning walk.  

And finally a pair of socks for my husband.  The yarn is Regia Design Line by Kate Fassett.  The color way is called “Jewel”.  I always like to knit with Regia yarn. This is just a plain sock that fits my husband well.  I use 72 stitches per round on 2.25 mm needles and I insert a Fish Lips Kiss Heel (pattern link noted above).  

So there you have it... our toes are toasty and our sock drawers are filled with colorful hand knits.

 

Happy Scrappy Socks

 

Scrappy Socks

Whoa!  It’s been a long time since I posted any completed projects here on my blog.  Let’s get caught up! Here is my most recent project. 

I have wanted to make Scrappy Socks for the longest time.  I have been making socks for years and I always have leftover bits of yarn.  Why, I even have leftover bits of yarn when I make Men’s US Size 14 socks for my husband.  The problem with making socks with leftover bits of yarn is that you have to come up with a good way to join new yarn and you don’t want to have a gazillion loose ends to weave in when you are done knitting the socks.  

I recently joined a Facebook group called “Strictly Sock Knitting” and I got a few pointers from folks in that group. I also noticed some folks on Instagram making lots of scrappy socks and I asked questions about yarn joins and weaving in loose ends.  Just recently I heard of a “new to me” yarn join.  It’s called Cate’s Clasp Weft Join. I watched a video and I was convinced this was just the technique I needed.  I think the video suggests you need not weave in the loose ends because the join is so strong.  I fretted about that a bit and ended up weaving in my loose ends. Truth be told... it did not take a million years to weave in the loose ends and it was not totally awful.  I think the inside of my socks look pretty darn tidy.  I am pleased I took the time to work in the loose ends; I will feel more confident about washing them in the washing machine.  Another thing I feel to compelled to point out is that, while my socks do look really colorful, I did not change yarns as many times as you might think. A lot of my yarns were very colorful, self-striping yarn so sometimes it appears I switched yarns when really it was just color changes in the yarn itself.  Looking at the photos of my socks just now, I would estimate that each sock contains 13 different yarns.  

I definitely see many Happy Scrappy Socks in my future. I have a tub of leftover bits.  I think Happy Scrappy Mittens would also be a fun project.

For my socks, I used 2.25 mm double pointed needles.

I used a long tail cast on at the cuff and the toes were grafted shut with the Kitchener Stitch.

My socks have 64 stitches per round and I used the Fish Lips Kiss Heel (pattern available on Ravelry for $1.00... totally worth it; it’s my favorite heel and I have it memorized).

Here is a link to the YouTube video showing how to join yarn using Cate’s Clasp Weft Join.  

Video link:  https://youtu.be/bsLUpFAxudI