B & B Socks

B&B Socks

Yay!  It feels good to finish something. I've been working on these socks for about a month and I am glad to have them done so that I can focus on something else.  As always, I have too many projects on the needles.  As you can see from the yarn label, this yarn contains some silver bling-y threads, but you can't really see that in the photos. 

The B&B in this pattern title refer to the basket weave and the braided cable design elements.  The braided cable runs from the cuff to the toes along the front of the leg and the top of the foot.  It was a bit labor intensive and you have to keep track of the rows closely of course, but well worth the effort.  As I was knitting these socks, I kept thinking how my friend Mrs. W would love the colors in this yarn so these socks will be a gift for her.

Now I am focusing my attention on some socks I am making for my baby boy. I started them in August when he was about to leave for college. He is back for the summer after completing his first year of college, so I really need to finish these socks!  They will be done soon.  In the mean time, I will try to not cast on any more new projects. 

De-stashing

Here's Marilyn (AKA "My Knitting Guru"). She's an amazing knitter.  I am lucky enough to spend quite a bit of time with her at my local yarn shop, The Yarn Shop at Words of Life. 

I've been feeling overwhelmed by my stash of yarn. It felt as if the floor space in my craft room kept getting smaller, like the walls were closing in. I went through all of my yarn a few weeks back and brought some yarn down to the shop to donate. Some of the yarn was worsted weight acrylic yarn and I knew I'd never use it.  Many folks at the shop are knitting for our local Humane Society and I knew some one would grab it for a little cat blanket. 

I also had this yarn called "Nancy" and I've been struggling to find a pattern for it. After several failed attempts and/or false starts, I admitted defeat. 

I offered the yarn to Marilyn and she said she'd love to knit something with it. I saw her about a week later and she had whipped up this great asymmetrical sweater. And doesn't she look just fabulous in it?  I think it really suits her. 

And Done

Ampersand Socks 

I hiked 9 1/2 miles over the past two days. My feet are tired. I put my feet up this afternoon and finished these socks. It does feel good to finish something.

The wavy design adds a little interest to the look of the socks and it is a little more interesting to knit, as compared to plain old Vanilla Socks. 

I changed the pattern to work these up two at a time from the toe up. I used a Fleegle Heel. The socks are not the best fitting pair I have made but I love these squishy warm socks to wear around the house.

The yarn is Bernat Sox Multi in the "camouflage" colorway. The yarn is from my Mom's stash. Thanks, Mom!!!!

Here is the pattern link on Ravelry:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ampersand

Nubby Cowl #2

Nubby Möbius Cowl

Here is a recent cowl I made. I actually have made two of these cowls, but haven't taken photos of #1 yet. I am sending this off in the mail today so I snapped some quick photos. Rainy/snowy today so the lighting and photos are not great. 

This is a möbius cowl which means it has  a twist in it. It's a very simple pattern, cast on an ODD number of stitches and join to knit in the round. Normally patterns say "be careful not to twist the stitches when joining in the round", but this pattern instructs you to twist the stitches on purpose to put the twist in the cowl. For this pattern, you just knit 1, purl 1, over and over, which creates seed stitch.  You just need an odd number of stitches for it to work. There is no need to mark the end/beginning of the round because there is no beginning or end in a möbius design.  For this cowl, I cast on 111 stitches on US Size 11 needles. 

This yarn is some hand dyed and hand spun yarn which was gifted to me. My mother-in-law found this beautiful yarn at a Farmers Market in Iowa. 

This last photo looks a bit yellow but I included it to show a close up of the texture. 

Entrelac Socks

Entrelac Socks

Oh, somebody stop me. Why did I start another pair of socks?

This is actually my third attempt at entrelac socks.  I decided I wanted to use this great pea green yarn from Knit Picks and I kept pairing the green yarn with scraps of sock yarn. I was never happy with the yarn combination I selected... until now.  I have the first cuff completed as you can see in the photo above.  Boy, oh BOY!  Entrelac is a lot of work.  I am already worried about Second Sock Syndrome for sock #2 in this pair. 

I've recently finished up two Mobius cowls. I just need to take photos.  I'll get to that soon.

Until then... happy knitting!

Ampersand Socks

Ampersand Socks

I am knitting another pair of socks and the pattern is called "Ampersand".  The yarn is Bernat Sox and the colorway is "Camouflage". The pattern is written for knitting from the cuff down on two circular needles; I am making the socks two at a time, from the toe up, on one long circular needle (40 inches, 2.75 mm needles). 

I had to Google "ampersand". I kept picturing "@" but that seemed incorrect. 

Yep, turns out an ampersand is this... "&". 

I am not sure why these socks are called Ampersand, but I tell you... I sure got educated about the history of the ampersand when I was poking around on Google. I find languages and their history fascinating. If you would like to read an interesting article about "&", you can find the article at the following link: 

http://blog.dictionary.com/ampersand/

Yep, I am a nerd.  It's a rainy/snowy day in Colorado. Definitely good knitting weather. 

Happy Knitting!

B & B Socks

B & B Socks 

I cast on two new pairs of socks this week.  

This means I have about five different pairs of socks in progress. Crazy... I know. 

The socks pictured above are B & B Socks, which stands for basket weave and braided cable. Here is the pattern link:

http://www.cascadeyarns.com/patternsFree/FW02_Heritage.pdf

Here is the yarn label. Yes, this yarn contains silk and it's made in the U.S.A. 

The colorway is "Victorian Dusk".  I found this yarn at my local yarn shop. It's very nice and it has a little silver thread running through it for some sparkle. 

I am enjoying using my knitting abacus bracelet for this project. The pattern is an eight row repeat. Every time I finish a row, I slide a bead. 

I'll share about my other new socks some time soon.