I’ve finally finished the man socks of doom! Well, one of the pairs. The simple pair. Thankfully he didn’t want them to be too long so that saved some work on the leg. I much prefer the EoP heel on this version of the Vanilla Sock. Even simple socks seem a bit much in size eleven! I loved this Malabrigo yarn though.
I’ve also picked the Ogopogo socks back up. I’d forgotten how fiddly cabling on socks can be but I really like this pattern and it works so well with this yarn. These are going to be a very slow progress but it’s nice to have something like this to pick up for a few rows on an evening. Weirdly these socks seem very long compared to the Vanilla ones above. They are so weirdly long looking I keep making my partner try them on, but they definitely fit.
To offset the fiddly cabling I have cast on Boxy. I’ve been looking for a nice slouchy loose jumper to use up some of my fingering weight yarn and this looks a good choice. It’s bottom up which is a first for me in terms of construction. I’m about two inches into sixteen inches of body.
Because I like to throw caution to the wind I cast on first, then I read about the yarn, and then I did a gauge swatch. The yarn is Malabrigo Mechita in Eggplant and reviews suggest it grows quite a bit with blocking but I didn’t notice this too much on my samples. I didn’t quite make gauge but as it’s coming up smaller I don’t think that will be a problem given the pattern. One day I’ll be less reckless in my knitting, but not today!
I’m still working on my 12 days spinning project and planning my next project. I have a lot of fibre in stash that I’ve been acquiring for a breed study so I might start looking at that. I also want to finish my HTC gradient sweater spin.
In not yarny news I’m starting to get down to making plans for the garden. I’m at my favourite point in the gardening calendar where I have seed catalogues, paper charts and a cup of tea in front of the fire. I get less enthusiastic when the action moves outside! My audio book at the moment is Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson and he writes a lot about Da Vinci’s endlessly enquiring mind and his inability to see most projects through to completion. I like to think I’m modelling myself on a genius!
Ceulan Fibres 
Love your finished socks… what a beautiful color!
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Thank you, it’s hard when you’re buying online but they’re the exact shade I was hoping for!
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You’re so welcome and yes, it can be hard because colors look different online than in person.
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Those darn lying swatches!! I have tried stretching them, etc. and still the weight of the finished garment totally changes the gauge and I always end of with sweaters that are too big. I’ve even blocked half finished sweaters trying to get a better handle on fit. Oh well. Someday I’ll get it figured out (right!). Great point on the fiddliness of cables on socks. I think I’ll stick to cables on larger items. But your cable socks do look great.
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I know! I washed them quite harshly to encourage stretching but nothing. I’m willing to bet the sweater will grow so having it knit up a bit smaller probably won’t hurt.
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OMG….I’m just like DaVinci! LOL! Evidently great minds think alike….yours too! The socks are great. You must be a really fast knitter to knit that much with fingering yarn. I keep saying each year I won’t garden but I always cave. Yes, the planning is the most fun with all the seed catalogs. Have a good week!
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I do get very excited about the garden at this time of year, but I run out of interest in the summer. To be fair that’s when we tend to have weeks of rain here so it’s difficult to do much. I find it goes from just about under control to wildly out of control very quickly.
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Bright red socks just in time for Valentines Day. I love the EoP heel too. I will flip between that one and FLK heel. Depends on the sock and the yarn. I do like the cabling on the Ogopogo socks. I can only imagine how fiddly it is.
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I like the way you look at it, early for Valentine’s and not late for Christmas 😂
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I love the intensity of the dyeing they do at malabrigo. I made a cardigan with some malabrigo and it did grow when I blocked it but after wearing a little shrunk back to the size I’d knit it. I think with the boxy there’ll be no issues if it does grow. It seems flattering on everyone no matter how much positive ease. I am finding it a challenge to know what to write about the yarn I’m spinning for my breed study. Do you have any ideas on what sort of notes you’ll make on them. So far I’m doing my usual measurements and saying soft, toothy or scratchy 😂 Polwarth spun itself almost, barely needed to do any drafting at all.
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I’m not really sure about notes yet. I was interested in trying different preparations (I’m not sure if that would work with already pre-prepared fibre) and different ways of spinning and knitting those up. My experience of handling fleece to date is that I’m not very good as washing and prepping it so I thought roving would give me a better idea of how the fibres ‘should’ behave.
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I have a mix of top and fibre from various friends sheep breeds. Some has been washed and carded and some I still need to wash and May comb as they are longer locks. What I keep picking up to spin is 25g commercial top though. Once I get through those I’ll start on the stuff I got as raw fleece.
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Congrats on finishing up those socks! And I love the ones you’re currently working on. It is always nice to have a bit of a change-up between patterns with a mindless/easy one to balance the more complex ones. My favorite part of any project is the planning as well. I have been tempted to put more plants in the beds we have outside the back deck but yesterday there was a young doe standing directly in the bed attempting to eat dead shoots off the plants I have out there (which are all wrapped in chicken wire but that wasn’t stopping her), so maybe not.
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Oh I’d love to find something more exciting than next door’s cat in my garden, although I don’t know if I’d be so happy if it started eating everything!
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Lovely socks, and I just love the colour you chose for Boxy. Can’t wait to see it finished.
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Genius indeed I’d say. Love the purpley socks and that ogopogo pattern looks intriguing. Happy garden planning!
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Congrats on finishing the Socks of Doom (love that name!). I’m currently at the same stage of gardening. We’ll be planting some seeds next week (winter sowing and indoor with lights). I love watching the seeds sprout and the food we get, but the outdoor work is the pits!
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