FO: Purple Striped Socks

Pattern: Basic Ribbed Socks by Kate Atherley
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock (Mediumweight)
Needles: US 1

That’s right, FO Friday 3 weeks in a row. Don’t hold your breath that there will be one next week. I’m plumb out of finished projects and not knitting much right now.

Stripes!

Let me start the project review with this. These are the best fitting socks I have ever knit for me to date. That’s right. Best. Ever. I don’t know if it’s the pattern, the gauge, the yarn, my screw ups, or a rare aligning of the planets, but I really like the fit of these socks. That’s not to say that my other socks don’t fit. In fact, Skew kicks ass on fit. It’s just these really, really work.

I suspect it’s the pattern. It’s just a really good pattern—simple and easy to understand. Of course, I need to add a caveat.

Are you checking out my caveat?

I didn’t like how the pattern did the heels. I prefer having knit 1 slip 1 on the back of my heel. Maybe it’s because that’s how I’ve always done it or maybe it’s an irrational belief that it will create a thicker fabric and thus not wear as much. Whatever it is, I decided to do the type of heel I liked. Except (and there’s always that pesky except), it didn’t work out right to the pattern. I needed an extra stitch and had to rework a couple things. If you look at the picture, you can see that the gusset is smaller than the width of my heel. I don’t know if that’s normal, but it’s much smaller than on all my other socks. That said, it doesn’t bother me in the slightest.

Again I’ve used Socks that Rock because I have a ton from several yarn fumes-induced craziness at Rhinebeck. That happens a lot. I’m not in love with Socks that Rock despite the aforementioned fume craziness, but I do like how it stripes and it’s a good, solid yarn. Although, saying that it’s a solid yarn is much like saying that homely girl over there has good birthing hips. It’s nice, but it’s not as nice as it seems. Of course, both thisand Skew really are beautiful because of the striping from Socks that Rock, so I’m very happy. Although Makoto uses Socks that Rock, the striping isn’t really there, but then, it’s a subtle colorway and a different type of pattern.

I have good birthing heels.

FO: Legwarmers

Pattern: Super-Easy Leg Warmers (sort of)
Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns Alpaca Sox
Needles: US 1

It’s FO Friday!!! That’s two weeks in a row! Top that! Yeah, I know.

At a distant Rhinebeck (maybe 4 years ago), I went Alpaca Sox crazy. I bought 3 different colorways that I JUST HAD TO HAVE and then never touched them. When I looked at them while cataloging my stash, I wondered what the heck was I thinking? I must have been high on fumes. They are nice, but not really something that I had to have. I took my least favorite of the 3 and made something for OP (Optimus Prime for those new to the blog).

OP LOVES yarn. I give her scrap yarn that I would otherwise throw out and she “knits” with it. She also knits with my tape measure. I wanted to make something for her that she would like, would grow with her, and could be adapted if she did hated.

I decided on leg warmers because they don’t have a foot, are super cute, and would be a quit knit. I took a look at the Super-Easy Leg Warmers to see how they did it, then just sort of when on my own pattern. I made the leg warmers wide enough that they could fit on my arm if she didn’t like them or so she could wear them when she was older. I tried to make them long enough to grow with her, but I think at 12 inches it’s a bit short for future OP. The length works for now, but I think I will add a couple more inches after the season is over. I have enough yarn for them. There was some weird pooling and my gauge was off which I blame on trying to relax on a plane flight and then switching to normal gauge. I’m fine with the pooling because this isn’t a project I really care about, which feels horrible to say but is true. It’s a project that will most likely get lost or torn, so it is what it is.

She loved that I was making something for her, which is what I wanted with this project. When I pulled it out it was her yarn. OP seems to like them and wore them several times as soon as they were done; although she hasn’t really worn them much lately. Of course, they ended up in a bag of outdoor winter clothing and were out of line of sight. I’ll put them back in rotation and see what happens. If she doesn’t wear them again, I’ve just scored a new pair of arm warmers!

FO: Charity Hat

Pattern: Marcie’s Epilogue
Yarn: Forest Edge Farm Angora
Needles: ??? US 10, maybe? I need to keep better track of these things.

Warning: bad phone picture to port.

It’s FO Friday!!! Do you see what I did there? I declared Fridays to be FO Fridays!!! I suspect it’s only going to last about 4 weeks, maybe 5, until I run through the queue of finished projects. I doubt I’m going to keep up the trend, but still. Work with me.

Remember  Operation Provide Warmth? I think they are still accepting items. I made this hat for them in hopes someone who is going through an extremely rough winter would have something warm and super snuggly on their heads. And this yarn is super snuggly. A coworker gave the angora to me when she realized she was allergic. It’s like petting the actual bunny it came from.

Last I heard from the OPW site (which I think was around Christmas), people are still without power. That’s right. No power in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. So if you can knit/crochet something really, really fast go do it and send it to the coordinator.

Oh look, I’m trying to look like a teenager.

 

FO: Doctor Who Potholders

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Spor
Needles: ??? US 8, maybe?

Several years ago, I made a Doctor Who scarf for a friend. As most projects go, I had extra yarn. Unfortunately, since the Doctor Who scarf uses 7 different colors, I had a lot of extra yarn, but not really a lot of a single color. I had a skein of purple, part of a red, two green, etc. So, what to do with an odd assortment? I made a felted Doctor Who bag which I’m still finishing up. I thought for sure it would finish the yarn I had left. Yeah right. Doctor Who yarn is much like the TARDIS–bigger on the inside than it looks. So I thought I would use up the excess yarn by making potholders.

So three potholders later, and I’ve used up the yarn. Except for some odds and ends that OP uses to pretend she’s knitting. I did one mitered potholder, although it seemed to get drunk at the end (or my gauge went crazy) because it was a diamond shape. Which, quite honestly, I didn’t care about too much because it was getting felted and I have scissors! The other two were just random patterns since I wasn’t sure how much yarn I’d have left. And since I thought teach potholder would be the last, I didn’t want to rely too heavily on a set pattern.

If you’ve never made or used felted pot holders, do it. They are AWESOME.  They block the heat. repel water, and are easy to clean. Extra bonus is that you can try techniques you’ve been thinking about and not worry too much if it goes to Hell. The only thing I hate is that I didn’t make them sooner.

FO: Norwegian Star Scarf

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Cascade 220 Sport
Needles: US 5

It took almost a year, but I did it. I finished the scarf and I’m very happy with it. Originally, when the Husband and I designed the pattern, we originally planned on fringe. Then, we made it a smidge long so I did a single crochet on the end. I like that better because I hate making fringe and I never was thrilled with the idea of it.

The scarf definitely would have gone faster if not for the sheer boredom inherent in scarves. Is it just me or do you also want to burn your scarf about halfway through making it no matter how intricate the pattern, too?

The Husband says he loves it. However, because I knit him a scarf we will have a warm winter.