Is anyone surprised that I’m knitting more socks? Last month, I finished knitting my four at a time socks. Which makes the total hand-knit socks I’ve knit for 2017 to be five. Yes, I knit five socks in January! That’s the most I’ve knit in such a short time frame.

 

These are the current socks that I’m knitting. Of course I’m knitting them four at a time. The colors are a bit subdued, which is a first for me and to be honest. I’m not liking the colors as much, but I’m still knitting them. To be perfectly honest, I’m not knitting them as fast as the other socks I’ve created and I know that has everything to do with the somber colors. Crazy right? But there you go. The socks on the right are made from sportsweight yarn in a blend of merino wool and polyamide. I think the pattern is very ‘masculine’ and I’ve decided to knit these for my father. Since they are machine washable (I’m using superwash wool) I don’t have to worry about mom handwashing his socks.

The socks on the right are for my daughter. I really need to start taking more pictures with my good camera so it captures the colors correctly. The above socks are navy blue. I searched for about three days before I found this navy blue sock yarn. This is fingering weight yarn is superfine merino wool and silk. It’s extremely soft and slippery. It’s a fingering weight yarn and it’s a delight to work with although the dark color makes it a challenge to see under dim light. However, I’ve rectified that situation by purchasing a portable clamp on light that I can attach to an object near me and knit with properly illuminated stitches.

 

 

For socks, I typically knit with needles ranging in size from 0-2; however, for these socks, the needle size is 000. Since I’m using fingering and sports weight yarn, at such a small gauge this makes for incredibly stretchy socks. Because the needle size is so small, the stitches are tiny. Hopefully these socks should last for a long time. Then again, all my handknit socks are holding up just fine and I knit most of my socks with 100% natural fiber.

Since it’s obvious that I’m stuck on sock knitting, I finally purchased the Hiya Hiya Sharp Sock interchangeable set. It should be here on Monday! I cannot wait to use them. I already have the small and large Hiya Hiya Sharp Steel set. What have I been using to knit socks? My size 2 knitting needles from my Hiya Hiya Sharp interchangeable set (Small) and also my Hiya Hiya fixed circular knitting needles size 0 and 000.

It’s been so busy the past few months which has caused me to be quiet on my websites. During that time, I’ve been dealing with life… its highs and lows and to round that out, I had two wrist sprains (yes at the same time) in November. But despite the occasional hurdles, I still have so much to be thankful for… and I have been! I did have a few months of much needed extra time with my daughter and for that I’m grateful. We’re very close.

In 2017, I have knit a lot of socks, five pairs to be exact. The last four pairs of socks, were knit, four at a time, toe-up. So twice, I’ve knit four socks at a time and I don’t plan on slowing down. Two days ago, I cast on four socks at a time.

Some might think knitting four socks a a time is a bit much, but suppose I’ve tell you that I’ve knit six socks at a time? I have seen some ladies (via various Facebook groups online) knit eight at a time. Now granted, ‘four at a timers and up’ are a rare breed of sock knitters but we’re out there! Although I have made six at a time socks, I know I won’t be doing that regularly! Six skeins of yarn means six more times there can be tangles. My standard way of knitting socks will most likely will be four at a time. Why four at a time? My daughter loves hand-knit socks as much as myself, but… she also feels bad if she has freshly made socks and mom doesn’t have any. Even though I’ve told her she shouldn’t feel terrible, she does. She’s such a tenderhearted girl. Making four socks at a time, erases those feelings for her.

Here’s the latest hand-knit socks that I’ve made. I’ll be posting additional pictures soon, just to document what I went into creating these socks. However, you can get the sock patterns free on Raverly. For the variegated socks I used the pattern Petty Harbour and the ivory colored socks used the pattern Hermoine’s Everyday socks. Yes, I knit two different patterns at the same time for the four at a time socks. It wasn’t complicated and the stitch patterns were similar. I just had to remember which was which. 🙂 I ended these socks by dropping down to my size 0 Hiya Hiya fixed circulars and doing a rib stitch (k2,p2) for about an inch.

The ivory hand-knit socks were made for my daughter and the variegated pair, well.. I’m wearing them now. I have more pictures of those socks and will eventually getting around to posting about them.

I’m hoping to start writing a bit more regularly here. Be warned, most of my crafting has centered around sock knitting; however, I’ll be posting about some of my spinning and sewing adventures too.

I think this yarn is lovely. The colors make me think of Van Gogh’s painting, Starry Night Over the Rhone.

Yes, these are more socks. Two at a time, toe-up. My cast on was 32 stitches (divided between two needles) per sock. I ended with 56. Originally, I was going to go up to 62, but measuring against my foot, that would have been to big. Since I’m only using one yarn ball, these will be mismatched… which I adore. It’s sock weight merino yarn and I’m using my Hiya Hiya Sharp fixed circular needles, size 0.

 

No pattern is being used. I’ll make it up as I go. I already have an idea of the design I want to incorporate within these socks. By the time these are completed, I’m guessing I will have knit about 47,000 stitches? Or… perhaps a bit more. 🤔The completed socks will be able to be worn in almost any shoe.

Happiness is….
Discovering your first pair of toe-up socks that you knitted. This morning, they literally dropped on the floor from their ‘hidden’ location. A few weeks ago (ok maybe a month) I put them in a secret place. Sadly the place was so obscure that I hid them from myself. These aren’t the first socks I’ve knitted. I used to knit cuff down. These are the FIRST socks I knit toe-up. Still, two at a time. (There is no way you can convince me to knit one at a time.) Flaws and all (which I corrected with my next pair) I adore these socks and they are my favorite, even though I’ve knit two additional pair, for myself, since then. ❤️

In other news…

I still have wrist pain, but this morning, after dropping my daughter off at school I am going to sit in the sauna.

My goodness, where has the time gone?

I’m still around although my posting has come to a standstill. It’s been that busy. My newest venture is knitting socks four at a time, toe-up. I normally knit them two at a time, although recently I have not done much of anything due to wrist pain. But here are the socks that I started a while ago. Perhaps I’ll be able to finish them before Christmas? We’ll see how my wrists feel.