Hogwart Socks

They're finished. The design and charts needed to be modified more than once but the end result was okay. The pattern still needs a little tweeking, so I'll work on that.

Here are my "shadow knit" Hogwart socks, in Ravenclaw colors.

And when you tilt them:

The Hogwart's "H" is on the sock on the left and the Ravenclaw "R" is encased in a shield on the right sock.

Here are the details:
Pattern: Hogwart House Socks; my own design, not yet published; 2 needle; toe up pattern with short row heel; 8 inch cuff
Yarn: elann.com Sock It to Me 4 Ply; 1 ball 46460 Steel Blue, 1 ball 41759 Platinum
Color: 46460 Steel Blue, 41759 Platinum
Gauge: 8 st/inch
Needles: US#2.5/3.0mm

My comments:
This was not only my first design in shadow knitting, but also my first time shadow knitting anything. It was fun and I learned some design tips as I went along. Once I get the right colors, I look forward to designing a pair of socks for each of the houses.

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.

One down, one to go

Firestarter progress report:

It may not be a pretty picture right now, but trust me, it looks great on. I am saving the full blocked image for the completed project. I love this pattern! I just wish I was knitting these for me...

August Socks--Bamboozle

Okay, so I have finished my socks for August. To be fair though, I started these last fall. It's my first pair of "Toe-Up" socks with a flap heel and I really enjoyed them (even if it took me almost a year). Toe -up is perfect if you want to use all of your yarn up--just knit the cuff until you run out of yarn! I'm going to try a toe-up pair with a fancier cuff, but don't expect those until at least October.

So here are the details:
Pattern: "Bamboozle" by Red Bird Knits/Robyn Gallimore
Yarn: Regia Bamboo Color (45% bamboo 40% wool 15% nylon; machine washable)
Color: 1067
Gauge: 9 st/inch
Needles: US#1/2.5mm

I really liked the bamboo yarn. I will probably try to make a pair of anklets out of this yarn for next summer, after I see how these hold up.