ThatLoganChick's Socks

The Sock Count:
I ended 2005 with 1 pair. Now I have (cough) 9 pairs.
DH ended 2005 with 7 pairs. He still has 7 pairs.



Huckleberry Trout:
- Finished: 25th of Feb, 2006 (3 days)
- Construction: Toe up, short row toe & heels, 56 stitches, increased to 64 for instep, then to 66 for 11 stitch pattern repeat on leg. Garter stitch cuff.
- Yarn: Little Lola from Schaefer, 100% superwash merino, sport weight (280 yards in 4 ounces, and I used almost all of it)
- Needles: 3.0mm Addi Turbo circ
- Stitch Pattern Detail: I used an 11 stitch chevron rib on the leg to break up the more obvious purple striping (mission successful - love the chevron pattern, and will use it again). The repeat was k2tog, k2, (k1,yo,k1)into next stitch, k2, ssk, p2, then knit the 9 pattern stitches on the alternate rounds, keeping up the p2 rib.
- Washing: not yet
- Comments: The Schaefer Little Lola is a great quick knit for socks - there is more in my stash, which I'm happy about, as it sells really fast, and is rather difficult to find. The chevrons on the leg took up a lot of yarn, and don't have much give, so from now on I will only use them with fingering weight yarns that have oodles of yardage. These shorter socks are comfortable and soft, but don't look good with my green Birkis. Oh well, they're Huckleberry Trout, so I love them anyway.


Safe Place Socks:
- Finished: 22nd of Feb, 2006 (10 days of intermittent knitting)
- Construction: Toe up, improved short row toe & heels (actually followed directions!), 60 stitches, up to 66 for instep, then to 72 for my calves, plain stocking stitch, 3x1 ribbed cuff
- Yarn: Soft Touch Heather in "Loganberry" from Shelridge Farms (a Canadian farm/yarn producer), 85% wool with 15% nylon, two 50g (175m) skeins. The yarn is a deep, dark aubergine, with heathered yellow, blue, and red (the primaries). I simply couldn't capture the beauty of this yarn on camera, but spend a lot of time staring at my socks in glee.
- Needles: 2.5mm Addi Turbo circ
- Stitch Pattern Detail: none
- Washing: not yet
- Comments: I knitted until I was almost out of yarn (to see how far the skeins would go), and got really long socks. As I generally prefer my socks shorter (about 8" is good), I wear these in a slouch manner. They are my Safe Place Socks because they enabled me to retreat to a comfort zone when life and pressure around me got too hot to handle. I really like this Canadian yarn, and will be making more with this brand.


Sprouts:
- Finished: 5th of Feb, 2006 (2 days, maybe 18 hours for the pair, which is really, really fast for me)
- Construction: Toe up, short row heels & toes, 51 stitches, lace front & back panels, 1x1 ribbing at top
- Yarn: Speed Demon in the Willow colourway, from Felicia (Sweet Georgia) at The Sweet Shop. This is a sport weight yarn, 100% superwash merino. Used all but 1/4 ounce of 4 ounce skein (the small ball in the photo is all that was left)
- Needles: 3.25mm Aero circular for magic loop (one at a time)
- Stitch Pattern Detail: lace pattern on back and front of leg, made up, 17 stitches wide
- Washing: maintained fabric integrity perfectly after machine washing & drying, and are very soft and squishy
- Comments: This yarn really is a speed demon. I pumped out the first sock on Friday, after finishing off the Butterscotch Curls that morning, then the second sock on Saturday. The yarn is extremely soft, so I am leary of how it will machine wash. I love the colour, and with the lace, these socks make me think Spring!


Butterscotch Curls:
- Finished: 3rd of Feb, 2006 (6 days to knit)
- Construction: Toe up, short row toes & heels, 67 stitches, lace back panel, 1x1 ribbing at top
- Yarn: 3.25 ounces of "Sock!" from Lisa Souza, hand dyed in the Pumpkin colourway. Sock! is 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon. The skein was 4 ounces (488 yards).
- Needles: 2.5mm Addi Turbo for magic loop (both socks, one at a time).
- Stitch Pattern Detail: lace pattern on back of leg, over 23 stitches, from Barbara G. Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns, pg 210, "Twin Leaf Lace". Love it!
- Washing: no blooming (already washed during the dyeing process). Machine washed and dried very well, with minimal halo and no pilling.
- Comments: I really like the lace pattern on the back of the leg, and will use this again. When I next knit with Sock! I will use a smaller needle (maybe 2.25mm) as I forgot there wouldn't be any bloom, and would like to see slightly denser fabric. The colour makes me want to bake something.


Flirting with Pink:
- Finished: 24th of Jan, 2006 (7 days to knit)
- Construction: Toe up, short row toes @ 72 stitches, increased to 80 stitches for instep, short row heel, 2x2 ribbing to shape ankle, picot edge cuff
- Yarn: 2.25 ounces of Schaefer "Anne" in one-off red mix. Anne is 60% merino superwash, 25% mohair, and 15% nylon, and is sold in 4 ounce skeins (560 yards). I used just over half of the skein for these ankle socks.
- Needles: 2.0mm Addi Turbo for magic loop (both socks, one at a time)
- Stitch Pattern Detail: none
- Washing: bloomed slightly after machine washing (gentle, cold) & drying with no fuzzing or pilling, making these the socks with the best record so far for holding up after machine washing & drying
- Comments: These socks feel terrific - smooth, soft, and warm. The yarn has less "spring" than pure wool, but does knit up very nicely. My gauge was 10.5 stitches per inch, and I had to increase by 8 stitches to comfortably fit my high instep. These are my first entries in the Red Hot Sizzling Socks KAL (see sidebar for link). I call them "Flirting with Pink" because I chose the yarn for the rich reds, was a bit surprised by how much the pink stood out when it was knitted, and became quickly enamoured by the yummy pink highlights. I hope to move beyond flirting, and actually knit with pink soon.


Feet a l'Orange:
- Finished: 16th of Jan, 2006 (6 days to knit)
- Construction: Short Row Toes & Heels, Toe up construction over 64 stitches, 72 stitches for calf, 2x2 ribbed cuff
- Yarn: slightly less than one 100g ball of Lana Grossa Meilenweit Mega Boots Stretch, in colour #708
- Needles: 2.5mm Addi Turbo for magic loop
- Stitch Pattern Detail: mostly plain stocking stitch, but with 2x2 rib up the back of the leg for shaping
- Washing: the wool bloomed nicely after being machine washed (cold, gentle) and dried (low heat)
- Comments: These are so soft! The yarn was very nice to work with, although a bit splity (three plies plus the stretchy center). The colour change was fun to watch, and what I found really entertaining is that if you look at my feet only, they look identical. Then, the colour shift changed on the leg. Apparently Mega Boots Stretch does not have a consistent colour repeat at all. Fun!


Carbon Steel Socks:
- Finished: 10th of Jan, 2006 (4 days to knit)
- Construction: Precursor Toes & Afterthought Heels, Toe up construction over 64 stitches, 68 stitches for calf, picot edge cuff
- Yarn: less than one skein of Socks that Rock in "Carbon" for the body, and less than half a 50g ball of Regia Stretch (steel blue) for toes & heels
- Needles: 2.5mm dpns for toes & heels, 2.5mm Addi Turbo for magic loop (body of both socks, one at a time)
- Stitch Pattern Detail: 2x2 garter stitch rib
- Washing: held up okay during machine washing and drying, but getting quite fuzzy (a halo has appeared after a few washes)
- Comments: had hoped for more pooling or flashing, but am happy with striping on legs. This was my first use of the "magic loop" construction, and went really fast. I will use the single circular needle knitting method again.


Winter Brights:
- Finished: 4th of Jan, 2006 (5 days to knit)
- Construction: Precursor Toes & Afterthought Heels, Toe up construction over 56 stitches, up to 62 for calf, 1x1 ribbed cuff
- Yarn: Sandnes SMART Superwash 100% wool DK weight(2 skeins varigated, half a skein of solid green for toes & heels)
- Needles: 2.75mm dpns (Aero Teflon coated)
- Stitch Pattern Detail: 3x1 garter stitch rib
- Washing: softened beautifully after machine washing & drying, but developing a slight halo with repeated washes
- Comments: an enjoyable, fast knit, but 2 balls of yarn would not have been enough to work a standard pair of socks. Loved the pooling!


Socks in 2005:
- DH socks (blue pair, charcoal with green, grey with red, charcoal with red, fuzzy feet)
Note: DH isn't so thrilled about posing his socked feet for photo shoots. Sorry.

Denim Camo:
- Finished: Dec 22nd, 2005(3 weeks to knit)
- Construction: Short Row Toes & Afterthought Heels, Toe up construction over 72 stitches, 3x3 ribbed cuff
- Yarn: 2 50g balls of Regia Stretch (colour 84), with plenty left over.
- Needles: 2.5mm dpns (Aero Teflon coated)
- Stitch Pattern Detail: 5x1 rib
- Washing: softened and bloomed nicely after machine washing & drying
- Comments: This was my first time working with sock weight yarn, and I learned that they relax a little after the first wash. I have since switched to using a 64 stitch foot. Love the colouration - they go really well with jeans, and have a "camoflauge" look to them. Will knit future socks a little longer in the leg.