Skew 2

I finished my February socks on Saturday, way early. I am totally in love with the Skew pattern by Lana Holden. In the above pic, you can see the inside part of one sock (left), and the outside part of the other (right). See how the chevron direction is different? It's so easy to knit, but so totally cool. All in all, a very elegant (and elegantly designed) project.

bottom of foot (top), top of foot (bottom)

 

They look odd and un-anatomical on the needles, but once they are on feet, they fit perfectly.

 I really like them in this yarn, too. Soxx Appeal is a great match. The elasticized wool is super-soft, and the elastic makes getting the sock on over the ankle much easier than the pair I knitted in Trekking. I was all set to keep them, but DD#2 claimed them at the last minute.

I made it!

Yes folks, I finished my Trekking Skew socks at 10:50pm MST. Ends darned in and everything!

 I was hoping they would fit Tara or Finn because they both liked the yarn and don't mind wool socks, but they fit me just great. I have a drawer-full of handmade socks, but these are a welcome addition. I don't have any others in these colors, and they look great with my brown corduroy pants.

Not that it would have made much difference to have finished today (or tomorrow for that matter), but I'll take all the little victories that life hands me. I even got to see Craig Fergusen, because I stayed up until midnight darning a hole in my favorite wool socks. I don't usually darn socks, but this time the hole was on the side of the foot, not the bottom, and I noticed it when it was just about 1 stitch gone instead of a gigantic, gaping mess. So now all my socks are finished and in good repair.

I pulled out a  new sock bag this morning, but the yarn weight didn't suit the pattern as well as I thought, so I did some rearranging. I decided the yarn in the bag (Soxx Appeal) would look great in Skew, so that'll be my February. The stretchiness will work well, too. I can make this pair smaller so as not to be a sock-hog, too.

Morgana Fingerless Gloves Knitting Pattern

Here's my latest, hot off the presses:

Morgana Fingerless Gloves Knitting Pattern

Cascade Fixation Solids #6388

For the past couple of years I’ve been trying to come up with a glove pattern that will fit both my teenage daughters and myself. These fit the bill. Because the yarn had elastic spun into it, I can knit a glove small enough for my petite younger daughter (Morgana is her middle name) that still fit me without being too tight. The cuff is knitted sideways, back and forth on 2 needles and grafted into a tube. Then the hand stitches are picked up and knitted on the round. While you may decide to knit the hand on shorter dpns, the cuff needs to knitted on long ones or circular needles. These gloves use either one ball of Cascade Fixation (98.3% cotton/ 1.7% elastic, 50g) or one ball of K1C2 Soxx Appeal (96% super- wash merino wool, 3%nylon, 1% elastic, 50g)

Finished size: hand circumference 6” (easily stretches to 8.5”). Total length 7”

Soxx Appeal #9627

Some folks have been asking if this would work with yarns that aren't so stretchy. I think it would work without alteration if you have small hands. If your hands are significantly larger around than the gloves, you would need to alter the gauge or add cuff repeats and hand stitches. Both could be done without much fuss. I would encourage you, however, to try one of these soft, wonderful yarns.

Cascade Fixation Effect #9967

I've used the Fixation for socks before, they are very comfortable and never sag. I really like the way the colors stripe and pool with the effects and spray dyed colors. After wearing the gloves for a few days, I can tell you they are nice for cool weather knitting and driving (thought I wouldn't recommend doing them at the same time!) No trouble getting things out of my pockets, and there was no gap between my gloves and my sleeves.

Cascade Fixation Spray Dyed #9816

Soxx Appeal is a new yarn for me, and I like it a lot! It is softer than it looks, very supple and, since it is mostly wool, toasty warm and soft. The colors pool more than stripe because the color changes every inch or so. I already bought a ball of solid navy to make myself another pair.