How The West Was Spun

Pattern Re-Release: Hollow Oak Socks

A quick note to announce the re-release of my Hollow Oak Socks. I originally knit these in a sportweight handspun for the Ennea magazine, but I've reworked the numbers and redone charts to suit a more typical fingering-weight yarn (435 yards/100 g).

These are toe-up construction with a shaped gusset and heel flap.  The charts are reversible, however, so if cuff-down is more your thing, you could easily plug in the numbers and work them that way too.  The pattern contains two sizes for women's feet and is a fairly quick knit - the cables are easy to memorize and my super sample knitter finished hers up in about a week!

The samples in the pictures are knit using the shop's Rhiannon Sock in the "Oak Leaves" colorway, but I think would also be great in any semisolid/solid yarn to wear with jeans or khakis this fall!

All for now.....

 

Pattern Release: Molly Brown Socks

I'm excited to announce a brand-new sock pattern, the Molly Brown Socks.

These were inspired by the intricate wrought-iron staircase (the Grand Staircase) in the Titanic, as well as the more delicate metalwork in the Ballroom. They are knit from the top down, featuring a heel flap and wide toe.  There are instructions for S/M and M/L women's sizing.

Since the pattern is fairly chart-heavy, I wouldn't recommend it for novice knitters, but with a little patience, these are knit-able if you have some basic chart-reading and sock construction skills.  Both sizes take one 435-yard skein of sock-weight yarn.  They'd be perfect in the Aerten Sock I carry in the shop.  (My test knitter knit hers in the Pewter colorway, and they are beautiful!)

All for now......

Pattern Release: Berry Patch Socks

A new pattern for a pair of handspun socks - the Berry Patch Socks are an easy summery lace sock pattern.  These are knit from the toe-up, although the lace pattern is straight-forward enough if you are a cuff-down fanatic, they'd be easy enough to convert to that technique. 

I knit mine from a 3-ply of heavy fingering-weight handspun.  The original roving was a SW merino in the colorway "Sugared Beets" from FatCatKnits, but these will work with any fingering-weight yarn.  They have a gusset for better fit, and a square heel flap.  The lace pattern is a simple 4-row repeat.

I was able to squeak a pair out of only about 315 yards by shortening the leg length an inch from the pattern as written.  These are a quick, easy summer project, and would work well with any sock yarn - a solid, semi-solid or even a fairly wild hand-paint, and of course, would be great in handspun!

A VERY big thank-you to my test knitters for getting their socks finished up so quickly!  All for now....

WIP Wednesday: January 18, 2012

SPINNING PROJECTS

I finished up the batts I posted a picture of last Wednesday - those will be unveiled on Friday.  I dove back into the batts bin and selected 4 oz of BFL wool with sparkles blended in from Funky Carolina, in the "Pinko" colorway.

These two batts, while sold as a set, aren't actually matchy-matchy.  One has a lot more dark pink in it (the batt on the left) and one has more gray in it (the batt on the right).  Since each of the batts is 2 oz, I'm going to spin them individually and then ply them together, which I think will work nicely to blend the slightly differing colors.

KNITTING PROJECTS

• Still plugging along with the Vitamin D Cardi.  I did finish the fourth of the 5 increase sections to be done.  I will pick away at this more this week but I have another knitting project that I need to concentrate on, assuming the yarn arrives for it this week.
• Froggie:  Another set of foot/leg done and attached.  Might switch it up a bit and tackle the eyeballs this week.  :)

DESIGN PROJECTS

• I focused a lot this week on my Shakespeare socks and actually got these knitted up to the heel turn.  I'm going to forge along on these this week.
• A new Sekret Knitting Project that's on a bit of a deadline (actually due before the Shakespeare project, which is for April 1st).  Whenever my yarn arrives for that, I need to get cracking on it, but I'm going to try to alternate between these two projects so I can get both samples knit up.

All for now...

Fall 2011 - Ennea Collective

The Fall 2011 edition of the Ennea Collective magazine is live!  We've got some great articles and a product review, and as always, some fun knitting patterns to go along with all of that.

Y'all have already seen previews of my Hollow Oak Socks, which are a heavy fingering-weight wool yarn written for small/medium and medium/large feet. These featured a 3-ply yarn I spun from 4 ounces of mixed BFL from Two If By Hand, and I've already worn these once this season during a cold snap (it's now quite warm and sunny again here tho!).  I think they are going to be a go-to pair for the winter, however.

 

I've also decided to join up with the KAL for Lori's Mystery Shawl, which will be released in installments (the first one is already available) over the next few weeks.  This is another fingering weight project.  She knit her original from the same mixed BFL colorway from Two If By Hand.  I opted to go stash-diving and came up with a skein of 440 yards of 50/50 silk/cashmere in the "Forest" colorway from Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks that I think it going to be beautiful with this pattern.  Here's the first clue.

 

And.... today Lori is arriving from Toronto after a long day en route through Dallas/Fort Worth.  Once she recovers, we are heading out to Taos Sheep and Wool this weekend for a little R&R and vino and dinner out!

All for now......

 

September/October SAL/KAL

I am really excited to announce another collaborative SAL/KAL that'll be kicking off today with the Two If By Hand gals and a pattern I've designed for Ennea.

Do y'all remember this pretty fiber?

 

This is the We Took To the Woods colorway on mixed BFL that I spun up into a heavy fingering-weight 3-ply yarn earlier this year (350 yards/4 oz).

 

Maria and Ceylan will be offering this fiber in the month of September as a pre-order (meaning, you order it, they dye it to order and then ship it out, so a bit more time than if you were able to snag something from one of their updates, but they have awesome turnaround time on custom orders, so I don't think much of a wait).  You can find the preorder selections on their Big Cartel site.  They will be offering this colorway in mixed BFL, but also in SW BFL, so you can pick which you prefer.

Then, when our fall edition of the Ennea Collective magazine comes out, we'll be offering SAL/KAL a coupon to purchase the pattern for my Hollow Oak Socks.

 

These are a unisex sock (sizes for both men and ladies in the pattern), with a cabled pattern running up the feet and legs of the socks.  These are a toe-up pattern with a gusset heel (and really... I know... I used to HATE toe-up socks, but the 2 techniques I've used for these make them my new ALL-TIME FAVORITE construction).  The pattern can be customized to suit the length of the leg and foot.  We have details on how to spin a matching yarn over at Ennea.  The yarn doesn't have to be spun as a 3-ply tho.  A firmly spun 2-ply will also work great for these, and should allow you to get enough yardage for even a larger men's size out of the 4 oz. (You can, of course, also knit these in a commercial yarn.  If you have something a little lighter weight - more like 400-425 yards per 4 oz - try knitting the larger size numbers but go down to a size 1.5 US needle and I would bet that would work just fine!)

I hope you'll join us with these great socks, just in time for cooler weather this fall!

All for now....

FO: Fireside Socks

I finished these up this weekend. I needed a little break from the Fargo Boot Camp program with 2 hours of get-yer-rear-in-gear-boy! every day for this last week, so D and I "slept in" until 6 on Saturday, got up, fed, and then took Zel and Sam out for just an hour and then I parked it in the AC - it's hot here already...sigh - and did some knitting and finished this pretty pair up.

Here they are, in all their quirky, mismatched glory:

 

I would highly recommend these if you want to tip your toe (hah - toe - sock - pun!) into colorwork, as this is an easy way to get started with limited rounds to work, but the flowers sure are pretty.

Project Specs:

Pattern:  Fireside Socks from Oceanwind Knits.  The pattern comes in multiple sizes.  I made the size 7s.
Yarn:  Oceanwind Knits Merino Sock yarn.  This came as a kit from the (I think) 2008 sock club Lori hosted.
Needles:  Size 1 and 2 US DPNs.
Mods:  Because I am a total dweeb and screwed up the specially dyed colors Lori did for me, I ran short of the blue as the main colorwork color after sock #1, so I switched them up for the second sock and used the purple as the main color.  I decreased an extra 4 stitches at the gusset as I have narrow-ish feet and wanted them to fit a little more snugly.  Otherwise as written.

Another stash project down!  All for now.....

WIP Wednesday: June 1, 2011

Making good progress on the Fireside Socks.

Sock #2 is worked through the leg, plus the heel, and the gusset is done.  I just have the foot left to finish up.

 

Goal:  Finish up sock #2!

WIP Wednesday: May 25, 2011

Shortest, most boring WIP blog post evah (and without a picture even!):

I knit the Fireside Sock cuff #2.

The end.

Goal:  Work the colorwork portion of sock #2 and the rest of the leg.  Lively, aren't I?

WIP Wednesday: May 18, 2011

Sock #1 is finis! 

 

My goal this week is a small one - just cast on sock #2 and get the cuff completed.  I took a long hard look at some other design things and the schedule thereof that I need to work on, and personal knitting is going to be slow for a while.  The good news is that I'll have some design projects on the go soon I can share with you..... AND... I'll be back to talk about a bunch of spinning things shortly as well!

All for now.....