Ribby Socks

When I was poking around in my scrap sock yarn bag, I rediscovered a fair amount of leftover Lisa Souza Sock! It had been a gift from my HSPS2 pal, way back in 2007. I had used this yarn in my Ribby Vest, which is still one of my favorite items that I have made.

So these are more socks made from my bag of leftovers, but I had enough to make a reasonable length pair even without doing the toes and heels in a contrasting color. And by working toe-up I could use every last yard of the yarn I had.

Yarn: Lisa Souza Sock! in Emerald City
Needles: US 1 / 2.25 mm
Pattern: toes up, figure 8 cast-on, short row heel

Actually these socks became a conversation piece on my commute home one day when I was finishing them. A woman came up to me, asking if she could look closer at the (sewn) bind-off I was working on. She had noticed me on the shuttle to the T-station, but had never seen anyone bind-off without just using the two knitting needles. So we stood on the train platform, demonstrating and discussing the relative merits of different cast-offs until my train came and we went our separate ways.

12 Year Old Socks

As of this weekend Chiquita is officially 12 years old. Crazy! She had a few friends over, and we all played Apples to Apples and ate Oreo ice cream cake. She got a few commercial gifts, but I also included a pair of anklets.

Main Yarn: Zitron Trekking (XXL) in color 78
Yarn Suppliers: Mind's Eye Yarns
Needles: US 1/ 2.5 mm
Pattern: 64 sts toe-up, figure-8 cast on, short row heel

The Trekking was leftover from the pair of Zombie socks I knit as part of March Madness a few years back. The heels, toes and cuffs were Jawoll Solid Superwash leftovers from a few projects over the years (Mer-tinis, Grey Stripey Socks and a pair of knee highs).

Happy birthday, baby girl. Enjoy your last year before teenage-hood. I know you are in a hurry to be grown-up, but enjoy twelve as much as you can first.

Rhythm

I stopped by Mind's Eye Yarns on Friday and got a chance to catch up with the incomparable Lucy. It has been ages since I had a chance to stop in while she was working, and having lots of life going on makes for little blogging.

While I was there I noticed that there was some Jojoland Rhythm in her clearance basket, and sure enough she confirmed the sad truth that she is no longer going to be carrying it. Sad! Apparently not everyone loved this yarn as much as me, but I did take home several skeins which I immediately cast on.

It is sort of like a Trekking XXL-type yarn in a worsted weight. Love those gradual color shifts! It has many of the joys of knitting with handspun (which I also have not been doing enough of) and has been moving very quickly despite quite a full long weekend. Plus since it is not sock yarn on US 1s/2.5 mm needles, it feels like it is flying towards completion.

Shetland Lace Shrug

Continuing with the trend of knitting sock yarn, I finished a cute shrug that is perfect for the amazingly temperate weather we have been having in New England. I finished it weeks ago, but due to an absurd amount of day-to-day crazy I have not had time to document the FO. And apparently I look terribly serious, but actually this was a very fun knit.

Pattern: Shetland Shorty by Gudrun Johnston
Size: XS
Pattern Source: Knitty Summer '08
Yarn: Mind's Eye Yarns Merino/Tencel
Yarn Source: Mind's Eye Yarns
Needles: US Size 4 & 5 / 3.5 & 3.75 mm
Mods: ties made according to size small directions

I was worried that I would run out of yarn since the extra small calls for 490 yards, and the Mind's Eye Yarns Merino/Tencel claims that it is only 400 yards per skein. Otherwise I might have opted to knit the small instead of the extra small. I suspect the put-up may be fairly conservative though, since I finished the shrug with the ties made in the next size up with yarn to spare.

The yarn choice was perfect for this design. The stitch has a lot of texture to it, and the shine of the tencel in it really highlights. Lucy's near solids are great for busier patterns like this. It has enough variation in it to have just a little bit of visual interest, without striking you as being variegated at all.

I love this sort of layering piece, but for some reason have not knit that many. I might have to watch out though, Chiquita keeps making pointed noises that she really likes how it came out as well.