socks – Ceulan Fibres

Year of Projects 2021/22: Week Thirty

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!

Year of Projects Week Twenty Seven

It’s been a while since I posted anything but the end of last year was just so busy I found it difficult to get much crafting done. I have managed to make some progress over the Christmas period:

The Man-Socks of Doom are slowly getting there. They would have been finished by Christmas but I went wrong on the heel turn and lost heart at the thought of unravelling. This is definitely one to finish for January.

I finished my corespun yarn and I will do an update for this later in the week once I’ve worked out how much I have. I’m not sure whether I like this or not, and I have absolutely no idea what to actually do with it, but I really enjoyed the process of making it.

I’m making my way through my Hilltop Coloud 12 Days of Cristmas spin. I’ve decided to spin this as a traditional 3-ply mixing and matching the fibres in a combo spin. I’m enjoying it so far. This is my progress with the first six days.

I haven’t made any crafting goals for the year ahead beyond trying to make sure I do something every week, however small. I think for now finishing up some of my WIPs will be the main focus and I certainly have plenty of those. I’d like to try and use up some stash, I know there is some beautiful purple Malabrigo there somewhere. I’m hoping Wonderwool will run this year. It’s my local yarn festival and it’s been two years since it was about to run as a physical thing. I’m going to try and keep my yarn purchasing at a minimum with the exception of that.

Non-crafting goals are to get more books read this year, I’m aiming for 75. I do include audio books otherwise I find having to choose between crafting and reading difficult. I’m also hoping it increase my running this year so my January challenge is to run at least one mile a day. The weather here is pretty atrocious at the moment so it’s a hard call as to whether I should have made it a swimming challenge!

That’s it for my quick update. Wishing you a happy 2022 and good luck with your own projects and challenges for the year ahead.

Finished Object: Vanilla Socks

I’ve been in a sock mood these past few weeks, and I have finally finished up a pair. The pattern for these is Jo Torr’s Vanilla Sock with Gusset and Choice of Heel Ravelry link. The yarn is Third Vault Yarns in Librarian Sock blend which is 75% BFL 25% nylon.

What I really like about this pattern is it explains how to make a custom-fit sock, as well as explaining why the pattern asks you to do certain things. I’ve been knitting for over a decade but I’m still very reluctant to go off pattern in any way and I don’t always know why I’m doing the things I am, I just follow the pattern and hope it works out. So the little asides about measuring and working out the calculations for a perfect fit, why the heel flap increases work, and the benefits of different heel stitches were very welcome.

The pattern itself is very straightforward and adaptable. They’re toe up using Judy’s magic cast on. I used the heel stitch pattern for the heel, but I think I prefer Eye of Partridge as a stitch. I love the lack of tiny holes I tend to get at the heel of cuff-down socks. I cast off using Jenny’s Stretchy Bind-off which inserts a yarn over between cast off stitches to give it some extra stretch. I haven’t used it before and I think this has revolutionised my cast off! It’s great for getting socks over heels.

These socks are fantastic! I’ve never knitted a pair that fit this well before. I’ve already cast on a pair for my partner!

Year of Projects Week Seventeen

Image shows five knitted socks in various stages of completeness. — Socks!

What’s the collective noun for unfinished socks? I’m thinking it should be an ‘embarrassment’. Here’s my embarrassment of socks. I just can’t stop starting socks! I was on the home straight with my plain sock until I realised I had messed up the heel turn and I had to rip it all back. I’m hoping to finish it up this week. I’m committing myself right now to completing the rest before the new year. Maybe. I mean, have you seen the size of that one for my partner amongst all my size fours? It looks like a clown sock!

Other than knitting I have been trying to get some things straight in the garden. Dry days are very few and far between here at the moment but I did manage to clear a vegetable bed yesterday and get my autumn shallots planted. I have another set to go in but I might be waiting a while for another dry day. I also harvested the last of the veggies which included a reasonable haul of courgettes, some peppers, and one single, tiny aubergine! I was super excited at that as I didn’t expect to get anything at all from the plant given the weather.

That’s it for me. I’m hoping to find time for a bit more crafting activity over the next few weeks as I think (hope) I’m through the worst of my busy period at work.

Year of Projects Week Sixteen

I’m having a bit of a sock thing right now and I currently have three pairs on the go. I love how this sock fits so much that I’m casting on another for my partner (since he’s going to be waiting a very long time for the Ogopogo ones). They’re perfect TV knitting. I think I’ll change the heel in the next one and maybe go with Eye of Partridge as I prefer that to the rib. It’s nice to be knitting small socks!

There’s been a new yarn purchase for said socks. I love the colour and feel of this Malabrigo yarn.

There was one other purchase this week which was a Hilltop Cloud 12 Days of Christmas fibre calendar so that’s my festive spinning sorted. Other than these I’m hoping to see the year out making my way through some stash yarn. Probably.

That’s it for this week. I’m hoping work will get a bit less frantic soon as it does tend to get in the way of crafting!

Year of Projects 2021/22 Week Fifteen

This week I’ve been enjoying an easy knit. I’m so impressed with how quickly these can knit up. I haven’t managed to find a lot of opportunities to knit this week but I’ve still managed to mostly complete one sock. Knitting for small feet is definitely much more fun! Most small sock patterns I’ve knitted have tended to be 64 stitches but I’ve found that these, at 58, are a much better fit.

I’m been feeling a bit guilty for leaving my Librarian’s Socks untouched this week but I just didn’t have the concentration. As consolation I have ordered some red sock yarn so that I can cast on simple socks for my partner while he’s waiting. He’ll probably get these before I finish the others!

It finally stopped pouring down this week so we managed to get in our logs for the winter. My autumn shallots have arrived so if it stays dry over the next week I’m going to try and sort out my vegetable beds to get those in. I’m also starting to look forward to planning next year in the garden. Once again I’m not sure if I’ve ordered one lot of seed potatoes or two but I’m sure I’ll plant (and eat) however many turn up.

Year of Projects 2021/22 Week Fourteen

It’s pretty much just socks for me this week. I’ve made progress on my Ogopogo socks for my partner or as I’m calling them Librarian Sock for Librarian’s Socks as they use Third Vault Yarns Librarian Sock blend. Given my partner’s profession it seemed an apt yarn. I’m starting to wonder why I knit socks for people with big feet. I have size four feet and I have decided I’m not knitting socks for anyone with feet bigger than mine again! Well that’s probably not true, but I’d be almost to the cuff by now if I was knitting them for me.

Size eleven socks don’t quite work on a size four sock blocker

I’ve struggled a bit this week as the heel turn seemed unusual to me and I couldn’t make sense of it. Once I stopped trying to make sense of it and just did it, it all worked out fine. I need to remember heels are mostly magic and no good comes of trying to understand why they work, just accept they will and all will be well.

I really like the pattern but they do take a bit more concentration than I really want on some evenings at the moment so I’ve also cast on a pair of simple vanilla socks for me (so short, yay!) for more mindless knitting when I’m a bit frazzled. This is most evenings right now.

I’m struggling with both reading physical books and knitting at the moment (not at the same time, I’ve always struggled with that!) I’m now at an age where my eyes don’t want to do close work without a lot of effort and I don’t think the light in my living room helps. It’s cosy and ready for winter, but I need something brighter for the darker evenings (and the darker days given that it hasn’t stopped raining here all week) so I think that’s going to be my task for this week. Oh and finding some bright red sock yarn as I’ve been asked for a pair of red socks and this is just about the only colour I don’t have in stash.

Year of Projects 2021/22 Week Eight

It’s been a hectic couple of weeks so I didn’t get around to posting last week. I’ve been making some steady progress on my Mothed jumper and I’m now onto the final couple of inches on the body. I went with 3/4 sleeves, partly because that’s what I like but also I’m a bit worried about having enough yarn to finish the body! I’m keeping this as my TV knit this week.

Image shows jumper knitted top down with three quarter sleeves and an incomplete body. — Mothed

Despite having some WIPs still to finish up I cast on a new project this weekend because I found the yarn and had to use it. This is Third Vault Yarns in Deep Space on the Librarian Sock base. I love this colourway and it’s knitting up great with the Ogopogo sock pattern.

I also decided to try out the School of SweetGeorgia fibre craft school with two weeks access for $1 at the moment. I enjoyed Felicia Lo’s Craftsy classes on dyeing several years ago and her SweetGeorgia platform has dyeing classes as well as knitting, weaving, spinning, and more. I’ve dipped in and out of a couple of classes and watched most of the one on blending boards as that’s my next project I think. There are opportunities to attend live sessions online although I’ve not looked into how that will work out with the time difference. I can imagine I’ll dip in and out of this with a monthly subscription here and there but I don’t know whether it would be worth a subscription for a whole year.