These are destined to appear in someone's stocking on Christmas morning, but I'm not going to say whose. Notice that the toes do not appear pointed, nor are they finished with a 3-needle bind-off. Yes, folks, I have FINALLY learned the kitchener stitch! Yippee! And I finished these socks off a bit differently than normal. Instead of decreasing down to 8 stitches in total and then grafting, I started the decreases later in the foot area and decreased down to 28 stitches. Makes for a less pointed toe, and I believe a nicer look.The yarn was purchased several years ago at the Knitter's Frolic, and is from Lana Grossa. As this was deeply discounted, I suspect it has been discontinued.
The gift exchange in which I participated has concluded and my exchange partner has received her gift. Consequently, I am able to show yet another pair of socks:
Altho not quite as boring as my plain-jane holiday socks, these are socks. Notice that the toes are more pointed than the first photo. These socks required a short-row toe and heel, and confirmed to me that I really don't enjoy doing this type of toe or heel. Give me a good heel flap any day. These socks were knit with Knit Picks wool ... discontinued.I'm really beginning to sense a theme here. Why is it that as soon as I start knitting with a yarn/colour combination, it gets discontinued? From the last post, two of the projects are in a discontinued yarn, and two (so far) today. A girl could get paranoid ...
This past summer, I found some Debbie Bliss Cotton/Angora yarn in my stash, and a pattern called the Rusted Root from Zephyr. With a few tweaks, the yarn worked with the pattern, and I made this:
The pattern calls for a double-knitting weight yarn, and the Debbie Bliss yarn was really a worsted weight. I used the appropriate size needles for the yarn and made the small size. The result is a very, very nice sweater for me. I'm not accustomed to wearing such tight-fitting clothes, but everyone tells me that it fits beautifully. (I would, of course, expect Doug to like the close fit, so the fact that so many other folks also like it comforts me!) Again, the Debbie Bliss yarn has been discontinued. While perusing the fall knitting magazines, I noticed that Elsebeth Lavold had a new book out. I immediately browsed my supplier's website and look what I found:
Not one, but two -- count 'em -- TWO new books! Elsebeth Lavold is one of my favorite designers. I love cables, and she has figured out how to incorporate cables into her designs without making the cables overpower the wearer. I especially enjoy The ThirdViking Knits Collection. My general rule of thumb is that if I find enough patterns in a book to bring the per pattern cost down to around $7 per pattern, I can buy it. At $27, this book needed only four designs to pique my interest. That wasn't hard to do. In fact, I've sold three copies of this book in the store already ... and have folks still drooling -- er -- looking at it.
In fact, I liked one of the designs in this book enough that I am planning a knit-along for January:
(Better picture here) This design is called "Inggun" is made from a worsted weight yarn; if we can finish it off for March, would be a reasonable transition piece for winter to spring. Select your yarn now and get your needles cleared! I can't wait! (Hmm. Would it be cheating to start early so that I can "teach" this project? Should I trouble-shoot this design? Wanders off to fondle some wool ...)
2 comments:
I love that blue sweater/shirt that you knit! It looks so good on you!
Congrats on mastering the Kitchener stitch. It's a handy thing to know. I like the finished sock with the wider toe box, too. I need to try that with the next pair of socks I make. My co-reproducer and offspring, not to mention myself, don't fit into the "8 stitches" for toes kind of socks.
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