No Post This Week!

There will be no post this week because I was out of town all weekend and didn't have time to write one up.  Look out for the beginning of the In and Out sock next week.

In and Out: The Beginning

Sock:  In and Out
Yarn:  Crystal Palace Mini Mochi in color 101 (Intense Rainbow)
Needles:  6'' Harmony Wood Double Point needles, size 1 (2.25mm)


I already knit the first sock in three days.  To be fair, two of those days were my days off from work and I was also very sick and couldn't do much of anything else except read Harry Potter and American Gods.  And I guess work on this post.  


I'm feeling a bit better today, although I find it hard to talk and now my left ear feels clogged (which may or may not be related to the original illness).  I thought I was just having bad allergies, but it turns out I just have a nasty little cold.  


Anyway on to the sock!


I'm using a new yarn I have not tried before on this sock.  It's some Mini Mochi!  I've always wanted to use this yarn.  Since my local  yarn store was having a sale on it in April I snatched up two balls of intense rainbow.  I cannot describe how excited I was about this yarn.  Now that I've said that, let me just say I will probably never buy this yarn again.  I don't know if I just had an old ball or what, but the yarn fell apart six times during this sock.  Large sections of this single ply yarn was spun so loosely it was like knitting with unspun roving.   Maybe I was holding it too tight?  I don't know.  All I know is that we didn't get along.  Because of the yarn I'm naming this sock 'Really Yarn?  Really?' because that's what I kept saying. 

This unspun mess was found in the middle of my first ball of Mochi.

I will say that I do still love the color.  And it's pretty soft.  That's all it has going for itself.  I am tempted to try their new 2-ply yarn.  Maybe it will hold up a little better.  


I'm using the same needles as the Wedge sock.  It seems to be the size of choice for this book and that's alright with me.  I broke one of them working on this first sock, but that's not really a reflection of the strength of the needle.  It's more of an example to not try on a tight sock a few rounds after the heel when you're only knitting on three needles.  I think I might get a second pair of needles, maybe try out some square needles.  


Stay tuned next week for a breakdown of the first sock.

Wedge: Cast Off and Final Thoughts

It's finished!  And beautiful!  And comfy!

Socks!

Check out that garter stitch short row toe.

Yeah, garter stitch short row heel. 

It's me!  I accidentally dyed my hair really red.  

Don't bother trying to look up my skirt, perv.

I'm pretty sure this is probably the easiest sock in the book and I'm okay with that.  The look of the sock is so nice that I don't think the difficulty matters.  The end result is a comfortable sock that you can wear any time.  The garter stitch adds some cushion to the heel, ball, and toe section of the foot.  

Overall, this is a pretty awesome sock.  It'd make a nice children's and men's sock too!

Wedge: Round 2. Fight!

I cast on the second sock immediately after the first to hopefully avoid Second Sock Syndrome.  I think immediately casting on the next sock and keeping this blog will solve this problem.  I depend on the writing process to keep me motivated and accountable even though it's taking time away from knitting.  I think all sock knitters can identify with this problem.

After I finished the first sock and cast on the second, I knitted the cuff and increase wedge then went to bed.  The next morning I thought about which yarn I wanted to use next and what patterns would look good with each one.  To pass more time before working on my sock again I worked on the blog.  Finished two posts and started writing this one.

The next day I was able to pick up the sock and blow through the leg.  Then I didn't work on it for three days.  I found out one of my cousins is having a baby and of course had to start on a baby blanket.  I'm casting on for square C and am taking a break from the blanket to go back to the sock to make sure I get these posts in.

If it isn't too obvious to you, I am writing all of these posts in advance.  This is to create a back log of posts to go up once a week rather than have a lot of down time.  I might even get around to writing a bit about projects that aren't socks (gasp)!  In fact, I have one more knee length sock to knit before July 14th.

I picked up this sock again and am currently on the foot.  Hopefully I'll finish it this week, cast on the next sock, write some posts, then promptly put away the new sock to work on these other projects.  I take on way too many projects at one time.

So yeah, the sock.  It's knitting up as well and as fast as the first (minus my many breaks).  I am still in love with the beauty of this pattern.  It's a good project for someone wanting to practice short row shaping.  I'd take a picture of this sock, but I'd have to use Henry's phone and that's in another room.  Right now I feel way too lazy to get up.

Back to the sock!

Wedge: The First Sock

Woo!  The first sock is complete!

This sock took absolutely no time at all.  I started the sock on Tuesday and finished Saturday night.  I absolutely love this pattern.  Besides Monkey, I'd say this is probably one of her easiest patterns.  I had no trouble reading the instructions and really enjoyed the short rows.

I had never used short rows in a sock that wasn't a part of the heel or toe shaping.  They made the time fly by.  I typically don't like projects that are only knit and purl; too boring and cannot hold my attention.  But the short rows held my attention and I was able to suffer through the twelve rows of knit only.

Wedge: The Setup

Sock:  Wedge
Yarn:  Stroll Multi Sock Yarn in Atmosphere (2 balls)
Needles:  6'' Harmony Wood Double Point needles, size 1 (2.25mm)

I'm probably the only person in the world who looked at Cookie A's most recent book Knit. Sock. Love. and thought the Wedge sock was the coolest, most comfortable looking sock ever.  My friend lent me her copy and I immediately went to my yarn drawer and pulled out Atmosphere.  It's been sitting in that drawer since January waiting for the right pattern to come along.

The Stroll yarn is a superwash merino and atmosphere is a beautiful multi color for this pattern.  One of the examples in the book used a dark multi color yarn which I don't think shows off the wedges as well as a lighter yarn.  Atmosphere looks like the sky on a cloudy day where rain threatens to fall but never does.  It's mostly grey with streaks of white and blue.  I plan on calling these my 'Rainy Day Socks.'  The yarn is soft, warm, and a good value.

I cast on that night and made it over half way through the cuff of the first sock.  It is an incredibly fast knit.  The short rows fly by and before you know it, the sock is almost complete.