No new socks

hehe. I have 8 days to finish two pairs. I'm knitting toe-up and I'm past the heels in all 4, but I need to get a move on.

Keep getting distracted by spinning, though. I'm on holidays... and getting nothing finished!

Oh well. I've added a few more things to the pile of handspun.

Golden Moss (polwarth/bamboo) and Land Under Sea (merino/suri/silk)

The gold one goes with the Autumn from last post, but I'm thinking of weaving these two together for a scarf.

Tundra (merino/qiviut/cashmere/angora/silk/tencel!)

Kelly gave me this one (well, yarn money, with which I bought this very soft mix). It wasn't very easy to spin (angora is short fibres that tend to felt together, and I've never spun Qiviut before, which was 25%) but it's so, so soft. I spun all the grey first, then the colored one. Not sure exactly what to make yet, but probably something for around my neck! (Soft!!)


I knit up Jasmine's hat (though she wasn't in a modelling mood, as it was hot. lol)

and used the Crank to make this double-thick cowl. The start and finish are Kitchenered together, and the wool is Cormo from the Tonne of Wool Project. It's warm as toast.

All those nights off and that's all I've done. Well, back to it. These purple socks have the oddest heel. You increase on the top of the foot, separate the right and left around the heel (so the line of XO cables works) and then Kitchener the up the back of the heel.

Kitchenering the back of the heel. Check out how the knitting needles are almost the same size as the darning needle. Hehe.

Then you pick up stitches along the sides of the heel (top edge of the cable) and knit the leg straight up. Odd. I think I'll have to knit a pair or two of patterned socks every now and then, just for the experience. I hope to get my Speedster soon (there were tariffs and taxes to pay! Didn't know it would cost so much, especially with the US-AUD exchange rate, but it's apparently on its way).

Hope I can figure it out!

Favorites

These are my favorites of all the new socks this year. (These are Pair 9. I was going for 15 in 2015, but haven't quite gotten there yet.) I'm quite the Doctor Who fan, so these have been on my list for a while.

Police Box Sox :)

These are the Indigo socks of my little rainbow collection. I got the yarn for free when I bought some things from Lorna's Laces one time. It's totally merino, so not what I would have chosen (as I wear through socks quick enough without using soft yarn.) This is Malabrigo Sock in the colorway "Shery", and it's a dark blue with vague hints of purple and green.

I reinforced the balls of the feet again, and did an afterthought heel in the "Graphite" BFL/nylon (Hedgehog Twist Sock) to add some strength there. Hopefully they'll last me a while.

And so I have one more patterned sock to go, in purple, and then a simple-pattern colorwork sock in all the rainbow leftovers, and then... hopefully... it will be dozens of plain CSM socks for a while!

The SCF fibre arrived. I'm on holidays now for 4 weeks, and plan to spin away some of the stash. So I started with the "Autumn" one in my last post.

Navajo plied to keep those lovely colors separated. Not sure what I'll do with it, yet, but I hope to make something with the coordinating yellow. We'll see :)

Also finished my Mission spinning, which was three colors spun together. It's a huge fat skein weighing 300g :) and will hopefully be enough to make something for Zac's birthday.

I haven't made too many other projects; it's all socks and spinning, but I did finally finish 3 pairs of little mitts for the kids. I bought them each a yarn from Bendigo last July with the intention of making a hat and handwarmers. These ones are very simple:

Cast on 40.
Knit 10 rounds of 2x2 ribbing.
Knit 10 rounds of stocking stitch.
Knit 10 rows (back and forth) of stocking stitch (to make the thumb hole)
Knit 10 rounds of stocking stitch.
Knit 10 rounds of 2x2 knitting.
Cast off.

I used a stretchy cast on (Twisted German caston, I think it's called) and a stretchy cast off (Jeny's Surprisingly stretchy Bind Off) and so, as you may notice, they look just the same if you turn them upside down. I think gloves that you can wear on either hand or upside down are good for small kids. If I made the whole things in 2x2 rib (or something reversible) they could have worn them inside out, too, but I like the stocking stitch. They're a good size, too. Not too big for a 5yo, but easily fit my hands, too.

More spinning to come. I'm half finished some colorful and soft fibre. Also started the purple socks and Jasmine's multicolored hat (to match the mitts).