Harris Tweed Socks

Are we tired of socks yet? Apparently I'm not!

I finished these socks the same day I finished the Ravellenic Games socks. They were almost done and I had to put them aside for the Games. (These were the ones that felt like baler twine after the cashmere of the Ravellenic socks.)

I bought this yarn at a yarn shop in Goshen. It was the best of what I could find. After the busyness of my Hourglass socks, I wanted to try a pair where I toned down a variegated yarn with a matching solid.

I think it worked pretty well. I knit with both yarns, alternating rows. That made it kind of tricky to do short rows on the toes and heels, but since I was on double pointed needles, it was possible. (Instead of knitting across and back, I had to knit across with one and then go back to the beginning and go across with the other. Then once both yarns were at the same end, I could do it again. I just had to remember to work each row one stitch shorter than the previous.)

You can see in the picture below how there is subtle striping on the plain knit (see the sole on the right), and how the colours got mixed up by the pattern on the left.

I think this is one of my best marriages of yarn to pattern. It's very pleasing to look at.

Unlike the Ravellenic socks I just posted about on Sunday, I did my own thing with these socks while plugging in the pattern (which I didn't bother to download, but just picked up from the picture). I tried something different with the heel after having trouble with some socks being too tight across the top when I used the short row heel. I think I had heard/read the idea before, but Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato Heel also inspired me to try it.

I did the first half of the short row heel, and then knit eight rows all the way around the sock. (You can see the funny looking band in the middle of the heel.) Then I did the second half of the short row heel. It worked pretty well, but not as well as the heel on my Ravellenic socks that I will trying on future socks.

I added some fullness on the leg at the centre back. It's not the prettiest gusset, but I just added stitches in pattern as I went. By the time I increased enough stitches, it was time to do the ribbing.

I would have went a little further on the ribbing, but I had to watch the yarn. I ended with two little balls each no bigger than a large marble. (Why are you giving me that look? I didn't run out...)


Project Stats
Started: 17 Jun '12
Finished: 11 Aug '12
Pattern: Harris Tweed Socks by Ali Green (free)
Materials: Shibui Knits Sock, 1 skein each Honey (1395) and Brown (3001) ($18.80)

Travelogue with Fireworks

I had a bit of a whirlwind trip home for Canada Day this past weekend. It was a fun time with most of the  family there. Sunday was spent on the beach and was capped off with a great fireworks display.

I left on Friday and crossed the border at Sarnia. I had read about a yarn shop there, so I did some research and found three that I could visit within a close area. The first was Heaven is Handmade on Christina Street. I really liked the selection, especially since they carried brands I don't see much in my LYS.

I took home a couple skeins of aran-weight washable wool for a project I'll talk about later:

I started swatching on the trip because I couldn't wait to try it out.

I also took home a skein of sock yarn dyed by a local woman. I'm developing a habit of picking up a skein of sock yarn when travelling!

The colours were gorgeous and I chose this green because I thought it would be a nice darker colourer to wear with jeans (without getting too dark to work with or to see a pattern). When you open it up:

you can see that the colours are fairly spotty or random so I don't expect it to stripe too much when knit. We'll see. It's merino with 20% cashmere and feels very soft and squishy.

The second shop was Feather Your Nest on Front Street. It was a nice shop split about 50/50 with home decorator items, with the yarn in the back. (And chocolate. I shouldn't forget that they sell Godiva chocolate there too.) I had first heard about it because they hosted Stephanie Pearl-McPhee recently and I considered going. They stocked a lot of yarn that I can get at my LYS (Lorna's, madelinetosh, Handmaiden). It's all great stuff, but not what I'm looking for on vacation.

I did find it interesting to recognize their shop samples. They had a Honey Cowl out of madelinetosh. Oh wow, I made one of those for a shop sample. And they also had a Color Affection Shawl, which I haven't made but recognized right away because I've thought long and hard about making it. It soared in popularity after Stephanie mentioned it on her blog.

The address for the third shop turned out to be an empty store front. :( No hattrick for me.

The following day, we went out to the "Blue Box," which is a second hand place. (A "blue box" being the municipal container that you use to put out your recyclables.) My sister found some yarn leftovers to use for her constant making of hats. I found some old plastic needles:

I enjoy them so much, and these will be nice additions to the ones I have from my grandmother's supply. I really liked finding the dpns; I didn't have any of them. I love the bright colours, and even if they were the cheapest of the cheap needles at the time, a few decades have bestowed on them value and worth.

Later on Saturday I attended a baby shower for my niece, and now I can reveal the little package I showed a few weeks ago. This:

contained all this:

Two receiving blankets ("spit" cloths) and two bibs. I couldn't believe it when I found this pink elephant fabric. (I always have my eyes out for elephant fabric but there's not a lot of nice options out there.) I actually resisted it the first time I saw it because I didn't think I had a use for it. Well, then I invented a use and went out and got some. The coordinating fabrics are part of what sold me on it. Pink argyle elephants! Come on, how could I resist that?

Here is a detail of each bib:

And Brooke opening her gift:

Here is another handmade gift:

One of my sisters likes to make play blankets from two pieces of flannel with satin trim. Very simple, but very cute. She's happy because the trim company has finally come out with some updated colours.

Later in the day, I went to visit a friend who built a new house over the last year. She and her family were out of town for the weekend, so I actually just visited the house! But they said I was welcome and I decided it was worth it because I didn't know when I would be home next and really wanted to see the new house. I had prepared a gift to leave as a house warming, but forgot it at my mom's. Complete bummer. I'll show you anyway:

It's the latest set of "walking dishcloths" that I finished right before leaving for the trip. I truly hope that it's the thought that counts, because it isn't worth mailing them! (Sorry, Y!)

Sunday was spent on the beach and in between food runs, trips to the shoreline and visits to the art tents, I knit on my latest socks:

I decided on the Harris Tweed pattern by Ali Green. I think the pattern is perfect with this yarn combination. I finished the first sock before I left, and took the second one to work on. I made some good time on it on Sunday.

Monday I got zero knitting done because I had to drive the whole way home. Next time I won't forget to pack the hubby so he can drive!!

A Long-Awaited Finish and a New Start (and Restart)

Once there was a pair of socks...almost. I worked on these last year on our trip to Kentucky. (You may recall this is the project during which I broke a needle on the trip and lost my notes about modifications...twice.)

I did not put the socks in time out--this is not why they waited so long to be finished. I had planned to use them as a sample to demonstrate my invisible cast off (or bind off, if you prefer).

Project Stats
Started: 6 Mar '11
Finished: 16 Jun '12
Pattern: Hourglass by Bev Elicerio (free)
Materials: Apple Laine Apple Pie in Arizona colourway, 2 skeins ($21.67) I've made several socks since then and each time considered using them for a demonstration, but never did. I  finished them and wore them. This morning I finished up my zigzag socks (I'll show them later, don't worry, but I don't have pictures yet) and finishing them just made me think that I couldn't wait any longer to finish these orange socks. I'll make a swatch to demonstrate the cast off method.

Meanwhile I'll enjoy wearing these (well when the weather's a little cooler, perhaps) and the memories they recall of my trip to Ottawa where I bought the yarn.

Straight forward short-row heel.

I'm not too crazy about wearing lacy socks (I don't like the look of the skin showing through) but I'm hoping that they will prevent my feet from overheating in them. Surprise, surprise...wool socks are warm. And, I know, I am a woman of cold feet, but there is such a thing as too warm. (It starts at "hot and sweaty"--no one likes that!)

Also, the colour of the yarn is way too crazy busy to let the pattern show, so it's not a great match of pattern to yarn. But it was the pattern I wanted to use at the time and the yarn is still very pretty.

Now that these are done, I can turn my attention to another pair that I started the other day:

I'm hoping to avoid the "too busy" thing by mixing a variegated with a matching solid.

It looks a little stripey, but there are patches of solid colour as well. I'll keep the pattern simple just in case. Not that I know what I'll be doing. I got as far as the toe plus a few rows but it was too big. Now to decide whether to go down a needle size or cast on fewer stitches?? I'll let you know...