Fun Stripes
A couple of months ago the yarn shop I work at started carrying self-striping yarn. The morning Amy, the owner, pulled the yarn out of the shipment boxes was unreal. The customers (and, ahem, some of the staff) were RUNNING to the boxes and grabbing the hanks before we could put price labels on them! It was the first time in recent history that we've carried striping yarn and let's just say everyone was a little excited.
I purchased a couple of skeins myself (no surprise). And really I could justify these purchases because recently I noticed my hand-knit socks supply has been dwindling. A couple of pair have holes or are about to have holes - and I'm not really into darning my socks. I take the Yarn Harlot's approach to darning socks (see passage from The Secret Life of a Knitter). So it's time to go on a sock knitting binge (yay!!). I cast-on and have been using the short bouts of commuting time (on the bus and/or metro) to knit on the sock. And here is the first completed sock:
Because it's been so long since I've knit socks from the cuff down I forgot how much I hate the regular long-tail cast on for socks. If I knit anymore cuff-down I'll need to remember to use a more stretchy cast-on method. And for some reason my first sock was super loose, I think I had an issue with my tension. Very odd. The second sock fits well. These were initially for my mom but the second sock won't fit her so these are now for me. (oops!).
As for the sock yarn... it is nice. At 80% merino + 20% nylon blend, it's my favorite type of sock yarn. The fact that it stripes is just super fun. Sure I could have done something more interesting for a pattern but I have a couple students wanting to try socks for the first time and because it's been so long since I've knit plain-vanilla socks I figured I should have a go and practice. Besides, the simple sock really does make great metro knitting - easy to stop and pick up at anytime.
Watch for more socks in the next couple of months!
I purchased a couple of skeins myself (no surprise). And really I could justify these purchases because recently I noticed my hand-knit socks supply has been dwindling. A couple of pair have holes or are about to have holes - and I'm not really into darning my socks. I take the Yarn Harlot's approach to darning socks (see passage from The Secret Life of a Knitter). So it's time to go on a sock knitting binge (yay!!). I cast-on and have been using the short bouts of commuting time (on the bus and/or metro) to knit on the sock. And here is the first completed sock:
Project: Getting Back into Socks, Socks!
Pattern: How I Make My Socks by Susan B. Andersen
Started: September 7, 2014
Finished: October 16, 2014
Because it's been so long since I've knit socks from the cuff down I forgot how much I hate the regular long-tail cast on for socks. If I knit anymore cuff-down I'll need to remember to use a more stretchy cast-on method. And for some reason my first sock was super loose, I think I had an issue with my tension. Very odd. The second sock fits well. These were initially for my mom but the second sock won't fit her so these are now for me. (oops!).
As for the sock yarn... it is nice. At 80% merino + 20% nylon blend, it's my favorite type of sock yarn. The fact that it stripes is just super fun. Sure I could have done something more interesting for a pattern but I have a couple students wanting to try socks for the first time and because it's been so long since I've knit plain-vanilla socks I figured I should have a go and practice. Besides, the simple sock really does make great metro knitting - easy to stop and pick up at anytime.
Watch for more socks in the next couple of months!
Comments
Anyway, YOUR socks look lovely! After saying for years that I would never be a sock knitter, I have recently come to appreciate socks. They really are great travel projects, and the knitting can be as simple or complicated as you like.