Socktoberfest kick-off!
Today marks the first of my Socktoberfest posts (see Lolly’s blog for more info). It’s gonna be all socks all the time this month, girlfriends!
My first finished pair of the month are my Opal socks. I finished them last night, promptly put them on to take a photo, and haven’t taken them off since! Nice and cozy. I love the colors in this colorway. If your wondering, this is from the Inspiration line. I can’t read German, but I’m thinking that the colorway is #5022. It’s really pretty with shades of salmon, pink, blue and black on a white background. I started these probably about 4 times because I didn’t feel that I was getting the correct pattern. The pattern still looks wonky in some places but oh well. I think you are supposed to get a checkerboard pattern between the stripes.
I found a pattern for Opal sock yarn on the internet and followed it. I can’t find the exact pattern that I used at the moment, but here is another one . For mine, I cast on 60 on size 1 double pointed needles, divided the stitches on four needles (15 stitches per needle), k1p1 for 24 rows, and then knit around in stockinette stitch until my cuff was 6 inches. I then put 30 stitches on one needle and knit the heel until it was as long as it was wide. I used a stitch that I also used for my Koigu socks. On the knit side you slip 1, knit 1 all the way across. Then you purl all of the stitches on the purl side.
The pattern I used gave instructions for a “half hankerchief heel.” It creates a cute little point. The directions were a little fuzzy so I also refered to E.Z.’s “knitting without tears” to fill in the blanks a bit.
The rest of the sock was pretty standard. I used the Three Needle Bind-off instead of Kitchener’s stitch because I just think it’s easier.
One thing I thought I would do is take a picture of all of my sock yarn. This doesn’t include yarn that is technically sock yarn but is slated to be used for other, non-sock, projects. On the left of the picture are my three pairs of Claudia’s Handpainted (I swear I hand another pair of that laying around somewhere but I didn’t find it). I love the colors of this yarn. The orange is just fantastic! I also love the muted shaded pair, too. I think I might knit up some lacy socks with those. My Lorna’s Laces is on the right. I only have two pairs of that at the moment. The pair on top right is the colorway Jeans, and the pair on the far right is the colorway Forest. The pink and blue is also Lorna’s Laces. Currently I am using that for some baby sockies. The yarn in the middle is that horrendous Knitpicks sock garden in Morning Glory, and then I have some light blue Jawool that I won in Almost Felted Lauren’s “guess what date I finish Rouge” contest.
Oh, one more thing. I also just ordered Nancy Bush’s Knitting Vintage Socks, too! I am so set for Socktoberfest.
Happy Monday!
10 comments October 10th, 2005