Self-Imposed Sock Club on Ravelry

Yesterday, someone on the Yarn Harlot Fans Ravelry group started a Self-Imposed Sock Club Ravelry group. If there are any other Ravelers doing a self-imposed sock club (or wants to start), check it out! 169 members already, each just a sock-crazy as you are.

In other knitting news, I'm almost done with Finn's Ogre Slippers.

I took this pic Monday night. Since then I finished the first one and made it more than halfway through the second one. Bulky yarn and size 10 needles make for fast work. This is my 4th pair.

Bloody Socks

This month's sock of the month is Bloody Socks from the book Vampire Knits. I'm halfway through the second sock already, mainly because it's a very short sock. The lace pattern on the instep looks like droplets. Shows up better in a solid yarn, but this is what I had and I like the texture. I'm knitting it in Panda Silk, an orphan skein from Shuttles Spindles and Skeins in Boulder. So far, so good. I did a couple of things differently, but for the most part I've followed the pattern.

I used the turkish cast on instead of the one called for in the pattern so I would not have to worry about twisted stitches on the second half of the first round. It's designed to be knit on 2 circular needles, but I had a hard time keeping the tension snug enough to prevent ladders where the purls turn to knits.

Interestingly, the heel on this toe up sock is identical in construction to the October sock, which is knitted cuff down. The bottom of the heel on the toe up socks becomes the back of the heel on the cuff down sock. Pretty  groovy! I have done mostly short row heels that are the same in both directions, but I didn't know other heels could be used the same way.

Handweavers Guild Show and Sale

Today was the first day we were open to the public, and it was a very good day. The highlight for me was being introduced to Margaret Stove. I've learned tons from her lace book. She's in town visiting, so Maggie Casey brought her by. She said Margaret had been admiring some of my lace in the sale. Does it get any better than this?

Funny and Fancy Socks

I did finish the Funny and Fancy socks, just not until 11pm on November 1st. So I only missed the deadline I set for myself by 23 hours, not even an entire day. Not bad for a month with so many things going on, really. Here they are, in all their splendor:

 

Although the start was a little fiddly with 10 separate yarn balls to juggle, it was a very enjoyable knit. I'm not usually that crazy about doing intarsia, but since I just had to knit strips and remember whether to connect them or not it wasn't bad. I wasn't tied to a chart, so it was relatively simple to knit in public (so long as I was in a place where I could count to 8 reliably). There was a mistake in the instructions, but it was minor and any experienced knitter would be able to spot it without a problem. On page 119, line 2, it reads "Next round knit". What it should say is something like "Next Round knit needles one and three, work needle 2 in rib"

I gave them to Devi tonight, and someday I'll get a picture of them on her. If we're both home. At the same time. During daylight hours. And one of us thinks of it. When the other on isn't on their way out the door. And we can find the camera.