SKP2009 sock 3: Mosaic

On July 1 the 3rd sock for SKP2009 was revealed. I managed to finish in 4 days which made the colors of this sock even more patriotic!

Here are the details:

Pattern: "Samarkand" by Andrea Krüß-Anders (available as a free Ravelry download)
Yarn: Misc yarn from my stash
Needles: US#4/3.5 mm
Comments: My first mosaic knit!

Shopping

Last Friday I met up with Catherine (Ravelry: CathV-S) in Newburyport, MA. We had a great lunch and then went over to "A Loom With a View" for a little shopping. Look at the fun sock yarn I got:

Yes, it is as bright as it looks! I figured it would be fun for almost-summer knitting. The yarn is 'Superwash Me Sock' by J.Knits and the colorway is "Florida". I will probably use this for my June SKP2009 sock 3 which should be out in 2 weeks.

After that pair of socks, I need to work on some summer anklets. I will be designing a few pairs in Seawool...

Kool Aid socks

Way back in July of last year, Monthly Adventures (or MA) on Ravelry hosted a Kool Aid Swap and Dye. I received the lovely yarn below dyed by Kerrie, aka Destiknit (who has a great podcast that you should check out).

I finally got the chance to make a pair of socks with this yarn. Sock 2 for SKP2009 used an entrelac pattern. So, I got to use this yummy yarn, try entrelac for the first time, and learned to knit backwards (because the constant turning for entrelac got tiring!). Here's the end result:

This site by Knitty Otter helped me with the entrelac. And this video by Knit Witch helped with the backwards knitting.

And the pattern details:
Pattern: "Noro Entrelac Socks" by Buttercupia ; entrelac, top down
Yarn: Special and unique Kool Aid dyed yarn from Kerrie/Destiknit
Needles: US#1/2.25mm

Comments: I did a couple of modifications in the entrelac cuff and found the pattern a bit vague. I used an "Eye of the Partridge" Heel, with the standard heel turn, gusset, and toe. The socks look better on than the picture captured and I am happy with the end result. I can see why entrelac becomes addicting for some people!

SKP 2009, sock 1: Salida

Yesterday I finished the first sock for SKP 2009. It is a great pattern and I LOVE how these socks turned out:

The details:
Pattern: "Salida" by Janneke Maat aka Serena on Ravelry; magic loop, top down
Yarn: Fleece Artist SeaWool, colorway: amber; 3/4 skein
Gauge: 8 st/inch
Needles: US#2.5/3.0mm

Comments: The only change I made was to substitute an eye of partridge heel for the short row heel (just a personal preference). The twisted traveling stitches make a great design!

SKP sock 5 finished!

I have finally finished my last pair of socks from the 2008 Pentathlon. I actually finished them a few weeks ago, but finally got the time to post them here. But first, here is a recap of the pentathlon:

And the final sock:

Cable down back through heel
Lace around front and foot

Project Details:
Pattern: 2008 Summer Olympic Medals Socks by FrauHugs/char (group moderator); top down
Yarn: Lang Yarns Jawoll Superwash Solid, 1.5 skeins
Color: dark navy blue
Gauge (after blocking):
Needles: US#3/3.25mm

Thank you to the organizers of SKP2008 and the pattern contributors. And congrats to the winner, Barbros (an amazing knitter who completed every sock first). I have had a fun 11 month knitting adventure!

And now prepare for SKP2009...starting tomorrow! Click here for the Yahoo group or here for the Ravelry group.

SKP Sock 5 underway...

The pattern was released Nov 1 and I have started. It is a pretty lace and cable pattern and knitting up quickly, but I haven't had much time to work on them. Here is the yarn I am using:

And here's what I have so far:

Hopefully over the weekend I will have these both finished through the heel and gusset. I also need to finish a scarf this weekend for a swap. Can't show you pictures of that until it reaches its destination!

SKP sock 4- Ziggy

Another fun pattern. And I love the color of the yarn. These are my socks for September, also knit for SKP sock 4.

Here are the details:
Pattern: "Ziggy" by Meg Meredith published in Knitty Summer 2008; 2 needle, toe up, wrap and turn heel/gusset
Yarn: ShibuiKnits Sock, 100% superwash merino
Color: 220 Peony and 4103 Roppongi; 1 skein each
Gauge (after blocking):
Needles: US#2.5/3.0mm

Comments: For me, stranded-knit socks are not easy to get the fit right (see Birdfoot bag). My gauge was right on, but I still found the wrap and turn heel/gusset too tight. So for the second sock I increased the number of stitches I worked the heel over to 39 (from 33). This gave a more comfortable fit. If I were to make these again, with the same yarn and needles, I would add 6 stitches (1 pattern repeat).

For my October socks, I will be working with a Harry Potter-inspired theme as part of the Hogwart's Sock Swap 4 (HSS4). I will be using my own pattern and plan on making something similar to my HSS3 socks, but this time I will be knitting for a 4th year Gryffindor, so the colors will be scarlet and gold. I have a tweed yarn that I will be Kool Aid-Dyeing and I hope the colors come out right (Pineapple for the gold and Black Cherry for the maroon). We'll know after this weekend!

SKP3 finished - Rattlesnake Creek Socks

I finished these socks on the very last possible day, August 31. And I managed to get them posted to the SKP group with 90 minutes to spare.

Here are the details of this pattern:
Pattern: Rattlesnake Creek Socks -SKP2008 sock ＃3 ; top down, magic loop
Yarn: Nova Sock; 100% merino wool, washable
Colors: Peacock
Needles: US 2 / 2.75 mm

Notes: I started with US1 needles, but switched to US2 for the cuff and all of the second sock. The cabling made these socks less elastic then others. It was a fun pattern to knit.

Rattlesnake Creek Socks-SKP sock 3, WIP

Once the Olympics and Ravelympics start (early Friday morning here in Maine!), I will not have much time for the computer and will likely only be blogging about my Ravelympic projects. So to tie up some loose ends before then, I will share some WIPs and knitting misc over the next couple fo days.

Remember SKP (Sock Knitters Pentathalon)? Well, sock 3 was released on July 1 st and I am nowhere near finished. Here is my WIP:

And no, I have not completed the first sock yet. It is a fun and easy pattern; I just have not had the time. The pattern is "Rattlesnake Creek" and I am using Nova Sock colorway Peacock. These socks will be top priority after the Olympics.

The details for Sock 4 were released August 3. They will be stranded knit socks in 2 colors. If I wasn't so overwhelmed with all of the knitting I have in front of me for the next few weeks, I would be really excited about this!

Already August?

Is that really possible? Wow. As I mentioned yesterday, not much knitting happened in July, but that will certainly change for August. Ravelry is hosting the Ravelympics 2008, similar to Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics which are held every 4 years during the Winter Olympics. Being the Ravelry junkie that I am, I of course have entered. So this month's knitting goals will revolve around the Ravelympics. Basically, I have from the start of the Olympics (Aug 8) until the closing ceremony (Aug 24) to complete my "events" (see below).

I am on 2 teams and doing a number of events. Here is the summary:
Team Monthly Adventures (my very active swapping group)

• Project: Start and Complete "Hanami Stole" from start to finish (pattern from June swap). Can swatch ahead of time (considered training). Events this project is entered in:
  1. Balance Beads
  2. Lace Weight Long Jump
  3. Shawl Relay
  4. Hand Dyed Hurdles (I will be dyeing the yarn sometime during the next week, but I did buy yarn that would work in case my first-ever dyeing attempt does not produce the results I am looking for!).

• Project: Finish my Seaglass Beaded Bag (from our swap back in March and April). Events entered:
  1. Balance Beads
  2. Bag n Tote Backstroke
     
  3. Holiday Handball
  4. WIPs Wrestling
     

Team Countrywool (with Claudia, the fearless leader of my knitting/spinning retreats)

• Project: Finish my February Lady Cardigan. Events this project is entered in:
  1. WIPs Wrestling
     
  2. Sweater Sprint
  
  

I will be really happy if I can get all of this done in 17 days. I'm not even sure it is possible, but I am willing to lose sleep trying!

After the Olympics, I need to finish my SKP sock 3 before the end of the month (I have barely started). Those are my knitting goals for August.

SKP Sock 2 complete

I finished my second pair of socks for SKP: the Berlin socks. The original pattern sent out had a few translation errors (the pattern was originally in German), but once that was all straightened out, it was a fun lace pattern to knit.

Here are the details:

Pattern: Berlin-Pattern/Wollkistchens by Kristin Benecken (and if you are up for some German translations, here are some more great patterns by Kristen: http://www.von-stroh-zu-gold.de/muster/

Yarn: Seacoast Handpainted Yarns; Merino/Tencel
Color: Bubble Gum (and that is the perfect name to describe it!)
Gauge: 7.25 st/inch, unblocked
Needles: US#2.5/3.0mm

Comments: I think I need to attempt Kristen's Bremen-Muster and Hannover-Socken patterns in the near future...

SKP Sock 2: Berlin Sock

And.....they're off!

SKP Pattern 2 has been released. Here is my yarn:

And here is my first sock in progress.

It will be a busy weekend! As of this moment, 12 (total competitive participants around 228) people have already completed BOTH socks...

Jacobean socks

Well, I'm tired, but I finished my SKP2008 socks 2 days ago. Then I decided not to knit yesterday, but I'm jumping back in today.

So here are the details:
Pattern: Jacobean by Julie Persinger for SKP2008 sock1; toe-up pattern with short row heel; magic loop or 2 circular needles
Yarn: "Jitterbug" from Colinette; 1 ball (Recommended yarn=fingering wt)
Color: Velvet Damson #118
Required Gauge: 8 st/inch; My gauge: 7 st/inch, but I was making these for a Men's size US10 and the pattern was written for Women's size US7-9, so I did not adjust the pattern.
Recommended Needles: US 1.5 /2.5 mm (I used 2 circ US4/3.5mm)
Comments: Fun pattern to knit. I hope the short row heel holds up (I usually only use short row heels for baby socks and Christmas stockings).

You really can't see the diamond design in these pictures, but the design looks nice in person.

And here is a close up of the short row heel:

Back to knitting today. I hope to finish up my Firestarter socks.

How fast do you knit?

How much knitting can I get done while riding from Rochester, NY to Portland, Maine?

I can cast on a toe-up sock and work the toe, foot and gusset. This will help me guesstimate how long it will take to knit a pair of socks using an intermediate -difficult pattern. Let me explain.

I am not a speed knitter by any means, but I am not slow either. I knit because I enjoy it and it relaxes me. But last week when I was catching up on my blog reading, Purl Diva had to show me this: the SKP: Sock Knitters Pentathlon (click button below for Yahoo group).

The basic idea is to "challenge yourself by knitting in ways you don't normally knit and in the process become a better, stronger knitter". We will knit 5 different pairs of socks over the next 9 months. The patterns will be released at predetermined times, each about 2 months apart and will be intermediate -challenging in difficulty rating. As you finish a pair, you are given a number (first person done = 1, second = 2, etc). At the end of the year, the person with the lowest score wins the Pentathlon and some fun prizes. So far there are over 500 participants from 30 countries. Do I expect to "win a medal"? Of course not, but it will be fun "racing"!

Here is my yarn for SKP Sock 1 (needed to be solid/semi solid). It is "Jitterbug" from Colinette (color: Velvet Damson 118) which I have not knit with before, so I will be checking my gauge this week.

PS...I think it will take me a minimum of 1 week to knit a pair of socks and not neglect the rest of my life.