My god, am I first? I'm usually 200th. I like that yearn. I'm sock obsessed myself at the moment.

Beautiful, as usual...can't wait to see you in Victoria in June!

Donald and Rosie!! Nicole Richie!! That brought a smile to my face -
Love the socks...

Diane

dear steph,
i have been reading your blog and buying your books over here in england for some time now. today i just had to put fingers on keypad and simply thank you for your inspiration. i started knitting 6 months ago after seeing the clapotis at knitty.com and wanting it so badly i learnt to knit it. yesterday you posted about the rowan juno which i have coveted for eternity! so today i picked up my needles and that funny little cable thingy and 2 hours later...i can cable!! there is no stopping me now!!! juno here i come! but socks? made 1 and 1/2 so far in 6 months...yours are so gorgeous, i may just have to finish mine after all. bless you.

Steph, So sorry to hear that the disease-fighting packet I gave you in Denver worked not-at-all! With all your travelling, it was inevitable I guess. At least, being sick is a good excuse to get lots of knitting done! I have been doing it myself. I am now a little disillusioned with Zicam, since it did not save me this time.
take care of yourself!
question I forgot to ask in Denver: Did Joe ever get tickets to the Police?

I'm thinking maybe I should start feeling a little "under the weather" soon. You're having too much fun!

Gorgeous Socks! I wasn't too sure about henpecked when I saw it on the site, but now I think it's great! Of course, I have to work on my April STR club sock, so new yarn isn't on the horizon, yet.

Hope you are feeling better!

Beautiful socks. Love the colors, love how you take a pattern and make it your own along the way.

Will you guys ostracize me if I confess that I haven't yet knitted socks? (There, I've outed myself. Better I did it than someone else.)

Maybe if I were your daughter, Steph, I'd knit my first pair. Hey, would you adopt me? (Think of the possibilities: I could help you edit your MSs before you send them to the publisher. And that's just one benefit... I'd even clean my room, maybe.)

And totally fabulous! I hope you're feeling even better, too. My feelings exactly about the book.

Those are wonderful socks! Thanks for sharing the recipe you used. The garter heel is neat. Having a size 9 foot myself, I'm wondering if you made them for me? :)

I just ordered "Favorite Socks." Having just started my Interweave Knits Subscription, these patterns will all be new to me. WOO HOO

HURRY UP mail carrier! I have some new homespun sock yarn that's calling me......

Beautiful socks. Just beautiful.
Found your new book at Chapters (sorry - no local bookstores up here) yesterday. Still working on knitting while reading the book balanced precariously on the arm of the chair or my knees. It's great! Can't wait for the audio versions to appear!

Unfortunately the book is not error free. There's a charting error on the Merino Lace Socks that wasn't in the magazine. I wonder how that happened :)

Oh I do love that colorway even more now that I have seen it knit up. Rosie and Donald at an etiq....Nicolie Ritchie and dessert...you crack me up woman!

Dee-lish socks! Take a recipe & make it your own...that's home cookin'! Am genuinely inspired to kick my socks up a notch!

Glad you're feeling better too :o )

Lovely! Thanks for the recipe. Hope you're feeling better soon!

So cute - I adore that colorway, and may have to save up and finally indulge in some STR yarn. And I like that heel...I've always done a flap, so thanks for the tutorial link! I hope you have a lovely day and continue to feel better! :)

I love those socks. I have some Henpecked and the Favorite Socks books, so I think I see where this is going. Of course, I could just send my evil sock fairies over to steal those. Hmm. . . .

Nice--yeah, I do agree that the one thing that makes me want to learn a bullseye heel is that it doesn't disturb the neato-jets striping pattern...

Great colourway!
Are you "frolicking" this weekend?

Those darn models can be so temperamental.
:-)
I like the socks, especially the colors. Have a fabu weekend and continue to get better!

I really like that yarn. Thanks for the pics.

Love those colours.

I agree on the book - having all those patterns in one place is definitely worth it.

The socks look great!

Again - I am so PSYCHED about learning to make socks! I cannot wait to be able to do it! I only hope that I can! :):):) They are beautiful!

Would someone cough on me already so I can finish my socks? (Wait till I cast on, please.) Thank you!

I LOVE the spiral look. I'm sitting here making my brain hurt trying to figure out how I could make a pair of socks that do that on purpose. The colors are also quite lovely.

Stephanie - is that also known as the "hourglass heel"? I think I did that heel from the Twisted Sisters sock book, but I can't tell for sure. I looked at the tutorial you linked and my eyes glazed over............

Would someone cough on me already so I can finish my socks? (Wait till I cast on, please.) Thank you!

I love those!

*wiping water off screen* "Done like Rosie and Donald at an etiquette seminar"?? I love it!

The socks look great. I now feel the urge to play around with short row heels. I haven't cared for them in the past as they just don't seem to fit my foot right but maybe by now I've learned enough about sock construction to be able to finesse a better fit.

Thank you for the short row heel link! I just knit my first short row heel the other night, thanks to 14 pages of Cosmic Pluto's tutorial, but I LOVE the way the heel looks in garter stitch! Pretty, pretty yarn.

I liked them at Sock Camp, and love them finished! I really like the garter short-row heel much better than I ever thought that I would. I am also glad to know that I am not the only mom with uncooperative feet running around the house (that aren't my own)

I liked them at Sock Camp, and love them finished! I really like the garter short-row heel much better than I ever thought that I would. I am also glad to know that I am not the only mom with uncooperative feet running around the house (that aren't my own)

she didn't want to stomp off i new socks? >LOL, i would have waited.

Lovely! I'll have to check out that book...

You have uncooperative models too, eh?

Who is Nicole Richie? On second thought, never mind: I do not want to know.

lol Meds haven't all worked out of the system, have they :) Rosie totally kicks his arse in my thought bubble.

Wow! That colourway is beautiful. If you don't mind, I think I might steal the heel (hee, hee!) I tend to do mostly short row heels and I like the look of the garter stitch immensely.

Cool. Maybe my next pair of socks won't take two years like the last one. Inspiration goes a long way, so, thank you!

Lovely socks as always! Just be forewarned- the merino lace sock pattern chart has an error in the instep chart- it's missing the purls between the lacy bits.

I completely agree on Favorite Socks! A fabulous book and I love the format--able to leave the book open while working. As a fairly new sock knitter (oh, about 15 months) the patterns are new to ME, but with the added benefit of mostly being well tested and like you point out, error free. I have just about every sock book out there, but I think this is the book I will most often turn to. Several of the patterns are destined to be repeated many times (notably Waving Lace and Embossed Leaves).

I'm really enjoying reading your new book Stephanie! I treat myself to a section each evening before bed and I know that while my tour of Knitting via your book may soon be over, my actual travels will continue for a long time!

I think is Rosie, Donald and Nicole had some lovely hand knit socks, they would find comfort and peace in their lives. Or maybe they are too far gone for even the miracle properties of wool.

I am a knitting newbie and do not have the back issues to interweave, so I bought the book and LOVE it. I have completed one pair (lace that sort of zigzags and for the life of me can't remember the name of it) and have finished one sock for the cabled one, again, can't remember the name (total brain freeze). I loved your talk in Chicago (one of the last in the autograph line) and love your books and blog!

I sense a sense of humor... seems you are starting to feel better? That's good. socks are loverly as always!!

Tee Hee at Rosie and Donald. Poor Nicole, that girl needs to knit herself something warm to cover all those bones.
Love the socks. I cast on my first pair last night....Using your book of course. We shall see how far, (and fast) I go.

Love those socks! I too am guilty of constantly, uhh, updating patterns as I go. So nice to see yours come out well. I like the broken look of the ribbing down the leg. Enjoy your bed and your sofa!

Socks are good sick-time knitting. Yay, people who totally have an upper respiratory infection!

Done like The Donald in a headwind...

but I've been doing a whole lot of sitting down this week too and I don't have a 'done' thing to show for it...

oh. right. the part where the sitting is at the place that expects me not to knit if I'd like them to continue helping me pay for things like food and shelter. damn.

I am pretty sure I can guess that your model was a teenager. The stomping off if the clue. I like the colors and the pattern.

Some of the patterns in the book that were in the magazine do have errors. Grumperina has already found that out.

Nice. Sorry about the stomping, can you threaten no more socks (oh wait, one of them makes awesome ones on her own). I did do my fair share of stomping.

Oh and please talk to me. Where the heck do you find shoes? Here my foot seems only to wear kids shoes and even with that the size is shrinking. (now a 33/US2-3) I'm starting to look at leather and wondering if instead of socks and stuff I can knit or crochet something. *sigh*

Awesome Socks! I am so proud, I finished my first sock the other night thanks to your recipe! I even figured out how to convert it to 2 circulars (sorry, not really a dpn girl). And, I even cast on the second one immediately. Down with SSS!

The world of knitting patterns is quite amazing, just the way it is, but to think of all the possible 'artistic options' open to us as we knit, it boggles the mind. I'm not sure how long it took me to make my first venture off the pattern-path, but it was quite exhilarating! (Especially since it worked.) Your repeated announcements that the knitting police do not actually exist helped me tremendously. Thanks, Stephanie!
~ Dar

But did you weave in the ends before taking the pictures?

I want that book so badly. I am loving knitting socks. I have knit two pair so far one for me and one for a soon to be born baby(not mine), but they don't look nearly as nice as yours. By the way, very nice toe pointing. It looks very ballerina-like.

You crack me up! Love the socks, hope there is less stomppage tomorrow.

A short row heel?! By choice as a pattern mod!! I am amazed.

Those are amazing socks and no need to apologize for tweaking the pattern, it's all about what tickles your fancy, not what is dictated in a pattern.

I do hope you feel better.

Hi! I love the Interweave Book of Favorite Socks. I bought the book just to do the pattern on the front cover--the Waving Lace Socks by Evelyn Clark. It just so happened that I bought the same yarn AND color. And they turned out beautiful. They are among my favorite socks, and they really hug the foot and leg nicely.

Also, I wanted to say that I am over half way through your new book, "CAST OFF," and I love it! It is well done, and very clever. (Veldig flink--as my Norwegian mother would say--a major complement in Norway.) As usual, you bring a smile to my day--you definitely have a gift for writing.

okay, so I know I'm like the two millionth commenter BUT...

would you mind commenting on garter stitch short-row heel vs. stockinette? I am doing a lot of heel experimentation lately, and it looks intruiging... is it sturdier than the stockinette short row?

thanks! get well, if you're not already!

annemarie

Love the way that color stripes so perfectly! Very nice!

I believe all the sitting down has also given you a surge in creative wordsmithing ... loved all the metaphors! You sure know how to paint an intersting picture with words.

Have a great weekend and hope you continue to feel better.

O, to knit like the Harlot - wild, abandoned, yet controlled and steady - to vary patterns and change heels. I can't even get my 3rd pair of socks done right...! :) Maybe one day the mojo will sink in. :-)

Henpecked happens to be one of the colorways I bought in my STR-solidarity first purchase. I've been seeing it on blogs everywhere. I lurve it intensely and am halfway done with the second sock. Nothing near as pretty as yours, though.

Great socks! I like the way you "changed" the pattern...it looks great, and I really like that colourway!

I like the heel. Only other time that I've seen it done that was was Lucy Neatby's Mermaid Socks. Nice.

Lovely! Great stripes in that colorway!

Am I mistaken or do those Jaywalkers come out whenever you're sick? ;)

Love the sock, love the pattern, super love the yarn and the humor was excellent. ;) Nicole Richie doesn't know what she is missing. haha.

I really like how the varying ribs play with the colors spiral/stripe. I'm also happy to know that the garter version of a short row heel looks so good. I like the texture it brings, and it pops the colors out nicely. I love my Favorite Socks book too.

Love the sock, love the pattern, super love the yarn and the humor was excellent. ;) Nicole Richie doesn't know what she is missing. haha.

Though I've only knit 2 pair so far, sock construction has recently become my current knitting obsession after several years of no interest in sock knitting.

I liked the short-rowed heels better than the flap-and-gusset ones, but the technique I tried (Wendy's generic pattern) had double wraps to pick up. The YO method looks much less finicky and yarn tortuous, even with P3togtbl. Thanks so much for the link.

I'd also be interested in your thoughts on garter vs stockinette heels. Is your preference for garter more than just not having to P3togtbl?

Small world note - Melinda at Purlwise is taking the certificate program I was just contemplating on my neighbor's recommendation. I have to think carefully about the time involved, though.

I'm SO glad I'm not the only person who can't leave a pattern alone! Only yours turn out right while I end up knitting socks for the Grinch.

Holy Smoly what's going on with all this chicken stuff ? haha the henpecked is lovely tho and by the way --have you ever counted how many pair of socks you knit in a year ? I bet it would boggle your mind . Would LOVE to see Rosie and the Donald at an etiquette seminar, now that would be worth watching . You are funny even when sick . Do get ALL better soon.

I love your latest socks - too pretty! I just bought your latest book, I can't wait to read it! :)

Done like the Harlot after a book tour...

Haha. I change sock patterns all the time too. I like the modifications you did.

Nice looking socks...there's a lucky pair of size 9 feet somewhere!

I always know that I'm finally on the mend when I give up the second pillow (used to prop me up at night). I hadn't thought of gauging recovery by sock completion...also good.

Geez, I feel like cooking you some chicken soup. Are you taking anything for your cough? Sick though you may be, you've inspired me to cast on a pair of socks, because my last pair came off the needles over a month ago. Why isn't there a way to type and knit? There should be. I love your new book, by the way.

Shine On,
Lill

Stephanie,

Great socks...you sure are fast. I hope you remember me...I met you in Denver...my friend, Jill, is the person who gave you the oddly shaped dishcloth to represent CO? Anyway, while you were here I mentioned to you that the very night we came to the Tattered Cover to meet you was the very night that Jill started her very first sock. Yep, she was a sock knitting virgin.

Well, I am happy to report that just 3 to 3 1/2 weeks later she is now starting her 5th pair! Yes...I wrote PAIR! These are real socks, on real sock yarn, with really small needles (size 2 US)! You have inspired her as much as you have inspired me; and I want to say thank you!

Marly aka Yarn Thing
knitthing.blogspot.com
knitthing.mypodcast.com

you are a sock fiend!

Okay so this is totally away from the topic of this blog post, but I was told I just simply had to share this tale with you because only you could truly appreciate it.

I was talking to a friend of mine whose mother spins and knits. In other words he has to hear it from both ends about yarn obsession, so he's used to it.

I was talking to him about my rather sizeable stash when I regailed him with this tale of horror:

"I can imagine some day all of my yarn gaining a life of its own and creating this huge mass of yarn with this muppet-like voice. And it will cry out 'Knit me or face the hungry wrath of my insatiable hunger for human flesh'

And I'll save the world by knitting it all into a giant muppet that eats only corn. I shall call him flax. Flax will be oh so soft and cuddly. I'll have to make patches and sew them all together. He shall be a patchwork corn-eating monster with vague memories of once craving the flesh of his human compatriots."

Along the same vein as the tale you regailed us with at your talk in New York about what the world would be like if all the sheep were bald.

I hope you enjoy.

Oh, those models, they can be so temperamental. Whoever coined the phrase, "Save the drama for your Mama" can bite me.
I love that word, btw, temperamental, it says it all "temper" and ah "mental".
Very pretty socks, I like the colorway. One of these days I'm gonna have to get me some of that STR yarn. First I have to knit the Canada socks for the Knitting on the Road Kal. I'm using Kroy, think that's Canadian enough?

Sorry you've been sick but I'm glad that you have some time to knit with your hectic schedule and all. I love all of your socks and I can't believe how fast you make them. You've inspired me to try the Jaywalker pattern. I've only knitted basic socks so far. Oh, and I love the garter stitch heel. Hope you feel better soon.

I too have spent many of the past 10 nights on the couch due to uncontrollable coughing jags. But unlike you, who contracted a mystery illness while traveling abroad amongst adoring throngs, I merely caught my crud from the little people at the day care center where I work. But on the plus side, here's to guilt free knitting time! You are quite productive and the Henpecked colourway looks fabulous. Can't wait to see your version of Juno! Rest up and get well soon.

thank you so much for this post! i just started undulating rib, and was getting sort of worried that doing it in a varigated yarn might be a huge waste of time. your socks are gorgeous, even if they meandered from where they started. i hope y'all have a great shopping day!

Beautiful. Glad you're feeling better though!

The Interweave Book is my new favorite books. Travels with me and my bag of sock yarn (okay, it is a largish bag). Socks, why are they so addicting? Love, love, love socks.

Those are so purdy! Wouldn't you know it, thanks to a wonderful case of serendipity, the gods at Amazon just delivered that very book to my mailbox! I can see that you didn't do quite as much 'undulating.' hehe. Gorgeous variation, though. Love the toes! I think the changes are significant enough that you can give the sock a different name. Another word for undulation is 'swell.' And those sure are some swell socks :)

Good site! It very impressive, easy to find helpful information. Keep up the great work.

Good site! It very impressive, easy to find helpful information. Keep up the great work.