Again - so far behind

Let's just say there's a bit of knitting that has been done, but not a lot of writing. Too much work. Too damn much work. (And then, of course, an interesting federal election - but that's another story.)

Let's get started. These are the March socks:



This is Cascade Heritage - Cascade's sock weight yarn. I had been prepared not to like this yarn because there is just so much Cascade in the world. However, it was a very good yarn to knit. Consistent, good heft and with enough twist in the yarn that it didn't split. It's 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon, and if it's anything like the rest of the brand, it will wear well. The skeins are large and no-one should have a problem not getting a paid of socks from it. This is another that I would buy again.

This is April: Seacoast Handpainted in the Cowboy colourway. This is a yarn I bought years ago from Pick Up Sticks when Connie sold only sock yarn.



I thought it was a bit on the thin side, but it does have a nice feel. This one is 100% superwash merino and I'm not sure how well it will wear.

The other pair of socks I've finished (and quite like) are these:



This is Pagewood Farm's Alyeska - an MCN blend that is a delight to knit. It's got good heft (as most of the MCN's do) and reminds me of my all-time favourite yarn, Handmaiden Casbah. This yarn is so soft, it would make a great shawlette.

It's only problem (and it shares this problem with Casbah) is that the skeins are short. If you look at the photo, the toe on the second sock is a different colour. Most of the sock is Army Girl, but that one toe is Mississippi Mud. I'm too damn lazy to rip back the completed sock to make them the same, so they're not.

This is what I call my Butterscotch Sock (another "not quite Vanilla"). It's a six-stitch panel rib and gives good leg fit without being too fiddly.

I'll get on to May soon.

Too damn busy.

So far behind

So far behind: this is the final result from February:



Schaefer Anne - 60% superwash merino, 25% mohair, 15% nylon. The yarn has a beautiful halo and was a delight to knit. I find it on the fine side and if I was making another pair of socks, I'd go down a needle size and increase the number of stitches. It would make a wonderful scarf or shawl.

Not real keen on the colour. (Surely Elizabeth Zimmerman deserves better than camouflage? Had it not been her name, I wouldn't have bought this colourway.

The great mosaic challenge

Most months I try to do a pair of socks for the Ravelry group Sockknitters Anonymous (although, seriously, is anyone in this group actually trying to stop knitting socks???). The January challenge was mosaic knitting / slipped stitches. Ah - weakness. I enjoy slipping stitches. It's such an easy way of adding interest to a sock without having to do a lot of work.

So... instead of taking it easy in February, I hit the needles - two pair of Biscotti and two of my own. The Biscotti are done - it was January's hit pattern - Elizabeth Sullivan's Cranberry Biscotti. My version was a bit of an experiment. I used The Unique Sheep's Verve in the Doctors Without Borders Gradiance -

This is where I started: the #4 skein, the darkest, I saved for the cuff, heels and toes. The other three I used for the slip stitch pattern:



I'm not sure this was a great choice - and I'd use another gradiance again where there is a gradual transition from one colour to another. In this case, there was a lot of contrast within each skein and varying amounts of the three colours used - white, red and burgundy.

Keeping track of where I was proved to be difficult - and I couldn't swear that the two socks are identical. They are, however, lovely and I will enjoy wearing them.

Some progress

I don't think I could be any slower at this month's sock. The poets say that February is the cruelest month - and as far as I know, it's because of the weather. It's usually neither good nor bad: not the deep-freeze of January, but not quite spring. The days are long enough that you know summer is coming, but no-one in their right mind would step out of the door without boots and a winter coat. (At least, where I live.)

February should be good sock knitting weather, but so far, it's been dreary.

This is progress so far:



Part of the reason I haven't done a lot for this months sock is because of the Sockknitters' Anonymous challenge on Ravelry. (Ravelry is addictive. Do not attempt this at home.) I had great fun with a couple of slip stitch patterns from the Harmony Guides (also addictive) and then, just at the last minute, decided I'd cast on the simplest sock of all (well - almost the simplest). It's a plain old Toffee Sock with slip stitches with yarn in back every fourth row.

In Blue Moon Fiber Arts STR Lightweight, this is a fast knit - great for meetings.

February Sock Yarn Review - Schaefer Anne

Already February 6, and nothing about this month's yarn. Too much work (definitely too much driving), a fair bit of knitting in the early morning hours but no time to write. I've driven in and out of Winnipeg on business, and have been thinking a lot about quilting.

But there's always time to knit.

This month's yarn is one I have in my stash several times over, but have not yet knit - Schaefer Anne.

The Schaefer Yarn Company of Interloken, New York has is an American yarn dyer with several weights and blends of yarn. Schaefer Anne is a fingering weight yarn with superwash wool, mohair and nylon. It can be used for socks, scarves or mittens.

This colourway is Elizabeth Zimmerman.



Schaefer takes the majority of their colourway names from notable women. Elizabeth Zimmerman is a remarkable woman of American knitting, no longer with us, unfortunately, but in her lifetime and beyond a remarkable designer. Her Baby Surprise Jacket is still a great favourite for grandmothers (and everyone else who must knit an infant garment quickly. It's wonderful because it finishes in one piece and all the knitter needs to do is add a few buttons and sew in the ends. This is particularly wonderful for those of us who hate sewing together pieces of knitting.) Elizabeth Zimmerman's book, "The Opinionated Knitter" is worth reading, regardless of how experienced you are.

Whenever I look at Schaefer's offerings I wonder at how they chose colours for women's names. This one both intrigues and confuses me. I think of Elizabeth Zimmerman as being a colourful woman. How could she not have been and been as prolific a knitter as she was? This colourway is hardly, well.... colourful. To my mind, it's rather dull and a bit too much like camouflage for my taste.

January 2011 - Lucy Neatby's Celestial Merino

They're done. It took a bit of doing since I was very focused on getting some SKA socks done so my review yarn took a while.



This is a great yarn to knit - top class. It's firm with a good twist and both soft and springy. Good stitch definition and no problems with splitting or frayed spots. I couldn't ask for better.

I was also very keen on the way the yarn was dyed. There are no stripes and no pooling - just flashes of colour. In the photos it looks as if there is barber poling, but in person, you don't really see it.

A little of this, a little of that

January has been my back to work, nose to the grindstone, git-er-done month. Except when it comes to knitting. I have four sets of socks on the needles and all of them are progressing .... well, shall we say, slowly. Now, the quilt I'm making for my daughter is undoubtedly part of that, but .. I digress.

Here's where we are:

Monthly sock yarn review: Celestial Merino



We're up over the gusset on the first sock. Now, I should be much further along: these are the easiest socks in the world to make and I enjoy every stitch. Don't have to think about them, don't have to worry if I'm following the pattern. I sit, I knit, I am. That's why I love my Toffee Socks. Nevertheless, you see where I am.

And this is why (or at least one of the reasons why).



My Come Together Socks. The Sockknitters Anonymous challenge for January is mosaic knitting, where slipping the stitches does all the work. It's addicting. I worked through my Harmony Guides for a stitch I thought would work, and this is the result. I call them Come Together, because two yarns coming together makes for a much nicer sock than when they are apart. The yarns are Phildar Preface (the black) and Sliver Moon Farm's superwash in Rio.

Do you ever wonder why sock knitting is so addicting? I remember thinking I would never get them right - now I don't think twice. I know that five years from now this will have passed as one of the crazes of the 21st century, when young women made and wore hand-knit socks, and there won't be the yarns we have now, but when it happens, I'll be set for life!!