All the stripes!

 sock yarn on the left is by Caterpillargreen in the Concrete and Tulips colourway.

sock yarn on the right is by Turtlepurl yarn in the Trenchcoat colourway (previously known as Burberry I believe).

It would seem that I, along with every other sock knitter and knit blogger out there, have fallen hard for self striping sock yarns. Bonus points if the sock yarn has been hand dyed! I can't even imagine dyeing yarns this way. They are incredibly beautiful and lovely to knit with, but with every crisp colour shift I think to myself "my gawd! the work in this is off the charts!" Hats off to the clever and industrious hand dyers who are able to pull this off so beautifully, I don't think I have the precision for it. Which is totally cool by me because I'm happy to indulge in a little online yarn retail therapy once in a while and to support my fellow hand dyers! 

Anyways, ok, so knitting with these yarns is so much fun. I've got several more skeins in my stash (I went on a bit of a tear a few months ago) and at the moment I intend to knit lots of simple striped socks. I'm knitting both of these pairs toe up. Though I usually prefer top down, I find it so much easier to plan colour placement and maximize yardage with toe up socks. But then there is that pesky heel! I turned the heel on the sock on the right first, and I opted to do the new Fish Lips Kiss Heel that I've been reading about all over. You can't see it in this photo, I'll show more detailed shots when the pair is finished, but I'm not crazy about it... It was easy and clever but for self striping sock yarn like this it leaves a weird line right across the center of the heel. Also, I definitely wish that I had worked the heel from the other end of my ball of yarn so as not to disrupt the perfect stripes that I had going on. Lesson learnt the hard way. 

For the pair on the left I amended my heel knitting strategy and worked an afterthought heel so my stripes are absolutely perfect! Which really thrills me. I'm not usually so precise and have knit lots and lots of fraternal striped socks in the past and have lost absolutely no sleep over it, but for this pair I really wanted to aim high. 

Isn't it funny how the sock on the right would be described as "mostly beige, white, black with a bit of red" and the sock on the left would be described as "multicoloured rainbow", yet it's the beige sock that stands out as the brighter and more vivid of the two? The rainbow stripes are so subtle and delicate. I love them both to pieces, though sadly, neither pair is for me. 

Have you caught the self striping sock yarn bug?

Club - January 2014

The 2014 Year In Colour Club is in full swing! The January Club shipments went out earlier this month, the pattern has been sent out and projects are already starting to pop up on Ravelry, which is always the most exciting part! This year we've kicked off the Club with a bright and cheery pink shade I've called Orchid. Dyed up in Blue Label Fingering Weight yarn, a simple sock project is just the thing to get us all revved up for the 2014 knitting season (by "knitting season" I obviously mean the entire calendar year.) I designed the Cavalcade Socks to feature a few very pretty, yet deceptively simple, lace motifs. 

Club memberships are available all year long, it's never too late to sign up! Join now and you'll receive your skein of Orchid along with the next shipment of Club yarns in March. And don't forget! This year we're offering a "patterns only" option. So if you'd like to knit yourself a pair of Cavalcade socks, you totally can! 

Iris Patina Socks

Pattern: Patina Socks by me!

Yarn: TFA Blue Label Fingering Weight yarn in Iris.

Ravelry project page here. 

My Iris Patina socks are all finished and have been stashed away in the sock drawer. These may get gifted as I already have a pair of Patina socks in the TFA Club's March Patina colourway. However these socks are kinda super, so I may not be able to part with them. There may come a day when I no longer feel like knitting socks and I'll be glad that I've amassed a life time supply of hand knit socks while I've still got a taste for them. 

I've already discussed this pattern and that I'm very pleased with it. I think that it makes for a really well fitting pair of socks and there are lots of little details that I love. The slipped stitches down the sides give me a thrill. They stand out so beautifully, each stitch a different colour. I'm also really happy with how the Iris colourway knit up. I prefer semi-solid yarns for most of my knitting projects. Multi's and variegated yarns are so gorgeous in the skein but often result in frustrating pooling and are unpredictable. Chris and I have worked hard to develop colourways that have lots of dynamism and interest, look beautiful in the skein, have unexpected colours AND knit up nicely. No small challenge! I think that we're getting somewhere because the colours in these socks really sing. Yes!  

Happy Feet

There is lots of talk about how much knitting time one loses when she welcomes a baby into her life. I'm trying to prepare myself for that reality, but it's a tough pill to swallow. What I didn't realize was how much doctor's-office-waiting-room-knitting-time would be thrown my way during this pregnancy. My once monthly appointments, mingled in with occasional ultrasounds and blood tests have now been bumped up to once ever 2 weeks and soon will go to weekly. This all adds up to hours of time spent sitting in waiting rooms. Fine by me! I've got my knitting. I look around and see all the other people reading gossip magazines or playing games on their phones and think how much happier everyone would be if they were just knitting. It makes the time spent waiting feel like time spent being productive. 

These socks were knit over the last few months, most of the knitting was done in waiting rooms, and that's totally ok with that.

Ravelry project page here.