September Lendrum Socks

Well how about that...a pair of socks completed before the end of the month.  Proves once again that if knitting occurs then one can produce a finished item.  This pattern has been in the queue for sometime.  I first found it on the Yarn Harlot's blog a few years back, but since I did not knit socks "toe up" at the time I filed it away.   Thrilled that I remembered these when I was searching for a September sock pattern.  The Harlot was right when she said that this pattern always seems to knit up fast.  I finished the pair 5 days early.  It has been somewhat surprising given the fact that by evening my hands have been achy from sanding and refinishing kitchen cabinets.  That's a whole other story...maybe I should document that project.
 
As a reward I cast on for a cardigan...Acer.  I figured I could knit a bit on the cardi rather than cast on more socks because to be honest I wanted to knit with bigger needles...achy hands and wrists like bigger needles!   The yarn traveled across the country with the knitting bag it deserves to be out in the fresh air.  It's Springvale DK from Three Irish Sisters in a lovely neutral shade of grayish brown called driftwood.  It's knitting up rather nicely.

Enough about that this is supposed to be about my September socks.  The Leyburns knit up pretty darn quick just like the Yarn Harlot said.  A very interesting pattern that would be perfect for most any yarn.  I used a solid color, but I think that it would work extremely well with a variegated yarn.  The yarn manipulation definitely would break up any pooling and the patterning would still be visible.  I certainly can see knitting this one again with a wildly patterned yarn.  The pattern looks complicated, but it was very easy to remember and execute. 

Details:

Pattern:  Leyburn by Mintyfresh;

Yarn:  2 skeins of Shibui Socks; Fingering / 4 ply; 100% Merino; 191 yards / 50 gram.  I used most of both skeins with 10 grams leftover from each one.

Needles:  2 US 1.5 24" circulars

Gauge:  7 stitches per inch

Modifications:  I used a Turkish cast on for the toes...casting on 20 stitches and increasing upwards according to the pattern although I stopped increasing at 68 stitches because it fits my narrow foot much better..

Rather than a traditional short row heel I did my favorite- Fleegle heel.  Reading through a few pattern notes on Ravelry I noticed that others had complained that the sock was difficult to get over the heel.  I decided to go ahead and add a few extra stitches in the heel area as called for in the pattern.   I had no problem getting socks on and off.   I don't know if it was the Fleegle heel or the few extra stitches, but the heel fits nicely.  No sagging or slouchiness in the ankles.

I finished off the sock using my favorite Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off.  Not sure if the modifications made any difference or not, but these socks do fit very nicely.

August in September

Loco Monkey Socks

As everyone knows I decided to decrease my sock yarn stash by setting up a Self Imposed Sock Club for 2012.  It really has been a good way to force me to knit from my rather large sock yarn stash rather than continually adding yarns to it...for the most part anyway.   Unfortunately my summer travels interrupted the process...significantly some would say.  After not missing a single deadline I missed both July and August while we were wandering throughout the West.  I did manage to get my August socks done a mere 5 days late...or maybe they were July's socks.  Who really knows (or cares) at this point.   I actually had  Magic Mirror on the needles for July, but kept having trouble with the pattern so it was abandoned and I started these.

The pattern name is certainly appropriate for our busy summer...some would have called it Loco (crazy).  Someone did call me loco for taking up 'so much room' with my knitting bag...it never left the car.  What?  Sad, but true...never touched my knitting bag except to shove it aside looking for camping gear.  My small project bag did make it out on a few occasions when I had time to sit and knit...usually when the other half was recovering from a strenuous hike and wanted a nap.

I need to somehow catch up and knit 2 pairs in a month's time...one can dream.


For the August sock I used a couple of skeins of yarn that I had from way back...Brown Sheep's Wildfoote.   According to my Ravelry page it was put in my online stash September 2007 so to celebrate 5 years of marinating in the stash it has been turned into a pair of socks.   The pattern is one I have knit before, but the end result always turned out slightly bigger than desired.  This pair fits nicely.  I don't know if it's the technique versus I am a better knitter.  Either way I like these much better than my original pair of Monkey's.

Details
Pattern:  Los Monos Locos/The Crazy Monkeys by Jennifer O'Sullivan (and Cookie A)

Yarn:  Brown Sheep's Wildfoote in the colorway Mums; 75% Washable Wool, 25% Nylon; 215 yards per 50 gram skein; 2 skeins used, but I had 14 grams and 15 grams leftover from the skeins.

Needles:  2 US 1.5 mm 24" circulars

Gauge:  36 stitches and 44 rows over 4 inches of stockinette

Modifications:   I once again knit a fleegle heel and bound off using the Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off.  Both techniques are my current favorites for heels and sock bind offs.  These monkey socks do not have any purl stitches and were knit toe up.  It was really a nice way to knit Cookie A's pattern.  I could monitor the amount of yarn used and check the fit as I went.  Maybe that is what helped the socks fit so much better than my original Monkeys.

Still not sure which pattern to do for September...hopefully I'll settle on it tonight and cast on.  Better get cracking!

Missed Times 2

What can one say when one misses yet another deadline?  Well one says "don't bring as much knitting next time".   I did finish the August socks...in September.  At least it's early enough that I should be able to get September socks done as well. 

Unless I get myself totally sidetracked by the knitting of 'chicken sweaters'.  These are actually sweaters for chickens...not little chickens on a sweater.  Confused yet?  While in Montana a request was made for me to knit some chicken sweaters for a flock that had yet to be acquired.  They had a coop in the backyard and figured they'd get chickens.  One problem...the winters in Bozeman can be somewhat cold and the rookie farmer thought the sweaters would help keep the chickens warm.

Who could resist a request for knitting a few chicken sweaters?  Super simple and a great use of all of the leftover blanket yarns (yes I knit another one)...just need to remember to save some time for my September socks which I have yet to choose.