sock darning

Happy weekend friends! I am doubly enjoying it because I have an extra long, four day weekend :) So far it feels very productive; I crossed off a resolution!

I have a pair of beautiful (purchased) Fair Isle socks that I haven't worn for a few years because I wore the heels thin. Besides the heels and toes, the socks are in good condition and I could never bring myself to throw them away! For a long time they sat in my sock drawer waiting to be fixed. Finally at the beginning of this year I decided they must be repaired, and moved them to my knitting shelf. One of the reasons I kept putting off fixing these socks was because I didn't have a darning egg. And the last time I went to my LYS they were out. There are always a lot of reasons not to do something, huh? ;)

The ultimate push was reading Hannah's superb tutorial on sock darning.

  

I used scrap yarn to darn, and I lucked out finding some that matched the socks! (the pink scraps I mean, I ended up not using the brown) But really, I wouldn't mind if the darned part mismatched the socks.

In lieu of a darning egg, I found a light bulb. I remember reading somewhere of someone using one... I also considered using a hard boiled egg, haha! It would work I think :) 

I'll post photos of my process, but you really should visit Hannah's blog for the tutorial.

so actually, this was the only process photo I took LOL

I am pretty pleased with my darning. I think gram would be too :) 

And the toes received a little love too.

Now I just wait for my hand knit socks to show signs.....


ETA: looks like I'll be needing to find a new "darning egg" as Scott used mine to replace the garage light. haha!

Spring is here!

these daffodils were only $1.99 and they spent the week slowly blooming :) they are so cheerful to have in the kitchen... money well spent! And I just returned from having my taxes filed...whew! I am so glad to have that done.

That little bunny nugget is knit from my handspun!! He turned out kind of big actually, because the yarn ended up being bulky! They are so much more squishable at this size :) he is being sent to my swap partner, along with this shawl:

The swap was organized on Instagram and is called I Yarn, U Stitch (or #yarnstitchswap). The idea is you knit or crochet for someone, and then you receive a sewn item (or vice versa, depending on your handicraft). Swappers aren't necessarily paired up with the same people they are making for, so it's very exciting!! My partner said she would like a scarf and that her favorite color is purple.

My Ravelry page has this named Once Upon a Time because I marathoned a season and a half of the show Once Upon a Time while knitting it :) and the color plus lace...it's kind of fairy tale-ish, right? :)

Pattern: Definitely Diagonal Scarf by Kris Basta

Yarn: Berroco Vintage

Needles: US 10 circular

Modifications: none! 

The drape is lovely and the worsted weight yarn makes for such a cozy and squishy shawl... I really want one for myself now!! This pattern is very easy to memorize and knitting went quickly. The rows become pretty long, but that is the only negative thing I have to say :)

I also finished a pair of socks:

These are the Monster Socks. I used about 252 yards of socks scraps! That's a pretty rough estimate. I know each stripe used about six yards of yarn because I measured and cut them to size (all except the last two stripes because I ran out of magic ball!)

Do you track your yardage through knitmeter.com? I am obsessed lately with knowing how much I've knit! So far this year, I have knit 1.5 miles!!

I used Hermione's Everyday Socks for the pattern and incorporated a Fish Lips Kiss Heel too.

Very pleased with them! They are pair 8/13.


Let's see, ongoing projects... I am eager to finish this gift:

It's a Hitchhiker knit in Knit Picks Glimmer, colorway Peacock. I love knitting with glitter yarn! This is another one that will be hard to part with... 

I also have a plain vanilla sock on the needles:

It's in Knit Picks Felici, colorway High Tide. It will have an afterthought heel.

I just realized it looks like a sushi roll when I do this... hehe

One last thing. I bought a Sock Sack and it's too cute:

Michelle from StudioInTheGreen sewed it.... I had to have it because of the kitties. But when it arrived, I fell in love with the mice too!

Midway through this post I remembered I've been soaking hand knit socks for about two hours... oops! Better take care of them.

I hope everyone has a joyful weekend xx

Monster socks and spinning

Hello everyone! Sorry for a little absence. I celebrated my birthday a few weeks ago, and I never quite know how to talk about it! My birthday is February 29 and it never came this year, so that in itself is kind of strange! I spent several days with family and friends to celebrate, and it was really nice. I have to share this story: Scott gave me yarn but hid it all around the house. When I came home from work, I found skeins in my slippers, in the coffee mugs, under my pillow...they were everywhere! It was really sweet :)

Ok, things to share. You might remember I started a cross stitch sampler of fairy tales; here is my progress:

I finished February! It is a very cute project to work on but it takes a lot more concentration than knitting.


I am also working on a pair of Monster socks:

I meant to blog about them sooner!! The socks are part of a KAL with Sheralynn from the Fibre Pigeonhole Podcast (it runs the month of March and it's not too late to join the KAL!)

Katie has already finished her pair and they look awesome! I am partial to purple so I loved them right away :):)

Monster socks are basically socks made from your yarn scraps. I decided to limit myself to six different leftovers, and made a magic ball:

I used the Russian join method and I have to say it works very well.

The pattern I am using are Hermione's Everyday socks and a Fish Lips Kiss heel. I considered using an afterthought heel...maybe the next pair. And yes, I have ideas for another pair of monster socks using self striping yarn!

I also cast on March socks, but I am feeling a little iffy on them:

The pattern is Shur'tugal; it's nice but a little challenging! I am on the fence about the yarn choice however. The pattern is not standing out so far (I have knit about another inch further than this, and it still seems unremarkable). For those of you who have knit this pattern, did the twisted stitches stand out right away or did it take several pattern repeats to notice them? I might frog this and find another pattern for this yarn!


I did finish a pair of socks:

The yarn is Zwerger Garn Opal Vincent Van Gogh in the Red Vineyards at Arles colorway. I like 64 stitches on 2.25 mm needles, and I used a modified Eye of the Partridge heel, which I also really like. This formula seems to fit me so well, so I use it all the time :) I am pretty happy that this is my seventh pair so far!


Ok, how about some spinning?

I purchased the Rambouillet roving from Dag and recently spun it up.... aren't the colors amazing?! It was my first time Navajo-plying and I really enjoyed it!

I also started spinning a batt from Moonrover:

It is a really fun assortment of fibers and I am enjoying every bit of it.


I hope everyone has a relaxing and happy weekend :)