Whew. Thanks so much for forgiving my absence on Thursday and Friday knitters. Joe and I took a mini break, and headed up to hang out with his family at a cottage for just a little bit (20 hours, really) and we had a blast. We went swimming with Lou – and blew bubbles and played cards and hung out with Kelly and Ben (home from Madagascar, just for a little bit) and watched Carlos try to sail a little sailboat (Carlos wants you to know that in that picture he’s deliberately capsized the boat, so that he could learn how to handle that situation. He did not, I repeat, did not take a dunking that wasn’t of his own choosing.)
We knit (ok just me and my niece Savannah) and had a great meal and stayed up late and in the morning, before we came home, I convinced my very charming Mother-in-Law Carol to be a sock model.
It turns out that she was pretty keen on it (that’s what happens the first time. They’re thrilled. The charm wears off after you ask them a bunch more times) and she was a natural.
To boot, the socks fit her perfectly, which is a bit of a shame, since they were intended for me, but such is the lot of a knitter. It was just one of those times that the sock chooses someone else.
Pattern: Starry, Starry Night Socks. Yarn: Tanis Fiber Arts Blue label in Natural for the light colour, and the blue is Indigodragonfly’s Merino Nylon Sock in “People Are Particularly Stupid Today, I Cannot Speak To Any More Of Them”.
What happened with this sock is the curse of the small footed. Usually, a small footed sock knitter has nothing but advantages. It doesn’t take me long to make a pair of socks for myself, and I never need extra yarn. It’s awesome. The only drawback is illustrated perfectly by this pattern. It comes in one size, that size fits most, and I am not like most. I could make them fit lengthwise, but not widthwise, not without changing the gauge, and I like the gauge they’re at, and well. Into the Christmas box they go. (I bet you can guess who they’re probably going to end up for.)
Still, a gorgeous, fun knit. I love ’em. I might just knit them all over again.
Presents? Yup, I’m still working through the pile:
For Dawn W a beautiful kit for a knit your own bracelet from The Sitting Tree. Charming, am I right?
Thane, a very generous reader, will be sending this duo to Sherilyn F.
It’s one 4oz braid of Raven Ridge roving in a wool/alpaca/mohair blend, along with 4oz of coordinating Corriedale (Thane thinks you should try to say that five times fast).
Diane over at The Knotted Bag has a gorgeous sock sized project bag to give.
Dana Z will be enjoying that. Diane also (because she’s just that nice) has a Market bag to give away, and isn’t it nice too?
Diane says “It has open handles that knot together -the longer handles to create an adjustable bag, the shorter handles knot together to close the bag. It has pockets inside as well.” I think it’s really neat, and so will Barbara B.
Susanne Visch is a designer, and she’s got some patterns to give away. First up, The Sweet as Pi cardigan will go out to Carolyn S (I hope she knows someone who would love a baby cardi this delightfully geeky.)
Lee Anna E gets a copy of Handspun Delight. (Great for stash busting)
and Susan B’s going to look forward to The Easy Going Shawl. (Charming pattern for any gauge.)
Each of those three charming knitters will also receive a copy of Zomer Zilt:
Thanks Suzanne!
Behold, amazing gifts from Trish at Forest Mill Farm! This is a gorgeous 200 yd, 11.2 oz skein of Aran weight alpaca yarn from Trish’s beloved alpaca “Mugsy” and I think that Joy H is going to adore it.
Now, Trish isn’t the sort of person who’s going to see a spinner left out while she can help it, so look at this!
That’s a 7.3 oz. batt of alpaca roving from her big boy “Noah”. (I love knowing the names of animals that the fibre comes from. Don’t you?) Laura M should have a blast spinning it. It looks delicious.
Priscilla at Madsen Originals is going to make Liz W very happy. She’s donated a skein of her sock yarn, and isn’t it pretty?
Barbara B is going to have a nice day. She’s the lucky recipient of a collection of patterns from Jennifer at Will Run 4 Yarn.
It includes A Tremulous Light, Brisen, Low Tide Explorer, and Seaflower. Pretty, so pretty.
Finally, last (for today) but certainly not least, Jill has gone into the stash and come up with two beautiful gifts. First, a skein of Gales Art super wash sock yarn 90/10 wool/nylon 450 yards in “notes”, that she’ll be sending to Debbi M.
Second, she has this great trio of yarns.
Jill had planned a really great Color Affection for it, but ran out of steam, and thinks it should go onto a good home. It’s 3 skeins of cascade heritage silk, and Denise W, we hope it’s right up your alley.
There’s still more gifts to come, but that’s it for today. Thanks, as always to everyone. I think you’re great.
Those socks are so beautiful, and I have that Indigo Dragonfly colourway…seems like fate…
Wow! so excited to win! Thank you and Jill from the bottom of my heart!
Those socks do fit her very, very well.
It could be worse, you could be cursed with large, OMG wide, feet and then no sock pattern ever would NOT need some amount or resizing to work. I have followed a pattern for a sock exactly once (Skew) and I had to use heavier yarn, larger needles, designer indicated mods for higher insteps and thicker ankles AND come up with my own mods for still thicker legs. All that and I have socks I have to fight to get into (they fit nice once on though!) and I freely admit I should have increased the over all stitch count by about eight to have a better fit.
I will knit them again one day, because Skew is just an neat pattern. However most of my socks? I do my own thing two at a time and toe up so I will not run out of yarn (except that one time that I did).
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Love Starry, Starry Night socks. Alas, I am small footed as well. Glad you made some hubby time…good to have you back.
Very nice, very nice… but what’s Savannah knitting? I like what I can see of it!
I want to know what Savannah is knitting too!
I’m making this for a friend’s new baby!
http://www.purlbee.com/2011/09/15/whits-knits-chevron-baby-blanket/
Those socks are absolutely the prettiest.
And boy do I hear you on the small size feet. Not that I knit socks like you do, but. Commercial socks dangling off the ends of your toes are a strange thing.
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Those socks rock!! You deserve well deserved downtime! My hubby is a cyclist & greatly admired your grit to finish the ride;)
I love what Savannah is knitting, say hi to Kelly!
Love the socks, it’s funny how finished objects sometimes land in someone else’s care!
Your Starry, Starry Night socks are beauties. Over at Ravelry I swooned when I saw all the color variations of these.
A minibreak is a wonderful thing. Cheers to ya!
Lucky you and your small feet. My feet are humongous! In my whole life (65 years) I have never had a pretty pair of socks. When I buy lady socks, the heel hits me in the middle of my instep. I’ve taken up knitting again, after a fifty year hiatus, so that I can knit my own pretty socks. You are such an inspiration to me. I am half way through my first sock. 🙂 Maybe someday I’ll be able to knit those amazing blue and white socks.
PamelaR
(a huge fan from Arizona)
I thought I died and went to heaven when I started knitting socks for my Women’s size 12 AAAA feet.
Totally off topic: I was at Steven Be’s yesterday and found an autographed copy of one of your books missing from my library!
Happy to have it.
Aldo received a lovely note from my Good Karma recipient…
HOLY MOLEY!!!!!! While I think the Harlot got our names a bit mixed up, I’ll go with the email I received from her.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANKYOU. Such a perty bag of my “string” as my husband calls it!!!
Carol is smiling like she already owns those socks.
Be still my beating heart. It said Laura M, but I have no email, so it must be some other Laura M. Congratulations to her. Glad you had a good time on your mini-vacation, and those Starry Night socks are just outstanding!
gorgeous socks! … i wish i were your mother in law 🙂
“Well, It isn’t like I didn’t warn you that those fancy blue and white ‘superstar’ socks weren’t for you. Hmmmph! Yes, they fascinated you with their challenging ‘hard-to-knit’ attitude, but they were just toying with your affections. Admit it. You sensed they were not your ‘sole-mates’ by the time you started the toes. Block them all you want, sweetie; those fickle things were just using you to get them knitted; they were planning to leave you from the start!”
…signed, the Poor, Neglected, Maligned, and Otherwise Insulted “Plain Vanilla” Self-Striping Socks
If you re-knit those socks, could you make the leg a half repeat longer so the toes work out right?
Such a lovely time spent with your family. Wonderful sucks, lucky mother in law.
Socks, I meant socks !!!
The best part of sailing a Laser is dumping a Laser. You should never go on a sailboat alone if you don’t know how to get it righted, just in case.
The socks are beautiful, I’m behind in my sock knitting (maybe because I haven’t figured out how to sail and knit?)
Lovely socks! Do you usually block your socks on sock blockers? …I’ve knitted for over 10 years, and I am about to embark on my first pair of socks! I have done mittens and hats and lace, but never socks…
Gorgeous socks. I wish I were on your Christmas list. No but I have serious sock envy.
Very. Awesome. Socks.
Love, love, love the socks!!
The socks are beautiful. I love the soles, and how the snowflakes align, stunning.
good godddd those socks are amazing.
one day, grasshopper.
Carol is clearly a delightful person with superior moral character. You know how I know? She let you have the socks back. (I bet it was hard, too.)
Wow, I hope that Denise W. is me! I never win anything, and this will be a wonderful project for me to work on. Grey and yellow will work beautifully together for a color affection.
I love the socks but I like the name of the colour more. It needs a partner colour of “I need more tea”.
I have big wide feet, one size socks never fit me which is why I’m a dab hand at hacking sock patterns.
(and now we return to my post holiday laundry pile. Blessed is the dog for he wears no clothes)
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Those are lovely. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. Greatly appreciated.