Week of Socks!: Fargyles for Jon

I have seven brand news pairs of socks to present, because I did knit this summer, but through a combination of being away from my computer for extended periods of time, not being able to find my camera, not being able to find my camera's USB cord, laziness, etc., I haven't found the time to post them. But today, while I caught up with last (and increasingly terrible) season of Heroes, I've finally finished them and taken some barely adequate photographs of them. Yay, progress!
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(tiny tissue box included in photo for scale. Jon's feet are gigantic)

I finished these ages ago, sometime in late April/early May. But, actually wrangling Jon into taking pictures with them on was hard, since he's constantly wandering off or losing them or both. In any case, what this means is that I am (more or less) done with the sock queue! Check it:

1. Charade socks for Brian
2. River Rapid socks for Jennie
3. Vinnland socks for Van (permanent hiatus)
   
4. Millicent socks for Sam
5. Rhiannon socks for Mandy
6. Spiral boots socks for Leila
   
7. Socks for Mom
8. Socks for Stepdad
9. Something sockish for Dani (possibly booties?)
   
10. Indestructible socks for Jon

Awesome. Finally. Guess this means I need to start a new one, though. Which, since I am now officially out of sock yarn (the Week of Socks flood of productivity ate through my stash), means I need to buy more yarn. Food for thought. But back to the socks:

Yarn - The foot/leg were worked in Peace Fleece DK (70% wool, 30% mohair). It took one skein in violet (Jon specifically requested purple socks). But, as his feet are massive, there wasn't quite enough to go around, so I did the toes/heels with some Knitpicks Swish DK (123 yards, 100% superwash merino) in mist leftover from these. The Peace Fleece, in addition to being a total hippie yarn that tries to end what's left of the cold war, is pleasantly sheep-smelling. Lots of lanolin.

Needles - magic looped 'em on my trusty 40" size 3 addi turbo circulars.

Pattern - Based it off the Fargyle pattern from Knitty, which is a nice mindless sort of pattern if you don't mind all the purling. I made the following modifications:

• I did them toe-up instead of top-down.
  
• I worked an afterthought heel instead of a dutch heel/gusset.
• The original pattern calls for a 23 stitch wide fargyle pattern, and I increased this to 30 stitches. I just took the logic of the existing pattern and made it bigger for the most part.
  

First FO of 2009: Wheelie Socks for Dani

(click for bigger)

They are very, very, late, but Dani has her socks! And she loves them, too, which is nice for everyone involved. She should though, since I let her go through my socks and pick a pattern she liked and go through my sock yarn and pick what she wanted them made out of. That mercifully took the guesswork out of it for me. Of course, this means that the sock queue needs updating:

1. Charade socks for Brian
2. River Rapid socks for Jennie
3. Vinnland socks for Van
4. Millicent socks for Sam
5. Rhiannon socks for Mandy
6. Spiral boots socks for Leila
   
7. Socks for Mom
8. Socks for Stepdad
9. Something sockish for Dani (possibly booties?)
   
10. Indestructible socks for Jon

So close to done! Actually, I'm closer than this would suggest - for reasons to be detailed at some later point I think Van's socks are on permanent hiatus, and I've actually started Jon's socks (which will hopefully be durable) already. I will conquer you yet, Sock Queue!!

Yarn - Hipknits sock yarn in pudding (100 grams, 100% wool). I bought this yarn way, way back when I first started the sock queue because I liked the contrast in the colorway, and planned to make socks for myself from them. I even started a sock, once, but I didn't like the way the pattern looked and ripped it. It's found a better home now.

Needles - Addi turbo size 1 circulars. So trusty.

Pattern - I used this pattern, which I adapted from the Wheelie steering wheel cover from Knitty. I love this pattern, and will probably mae myself another pair of these socks. They're stretchy without being all lose and floppy and still fun to knit because of the dropped stitiches. Here are the modifications:

• I did these toe-up with a short-row heel instead of top-down.
  
• I shifted the pattern on the top of the foot over by one stitch, so that the first and last stitiches were purls instead of doing it as a straight 2x2 rib.
• I worked a 2x2 rib (no increases or drops) on the back of the leg for the five rounds at the start of the leg section. It just looked nicer this way.

FO: Rhiannon Knee Socks for Mandy

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These have been done for awhile too, although not since August, like Sam's. More like late-September/early October. These socks will be showing up for Mandy at Christmas, which I feel a little bad about since everyone else has had their socks for awhile now. But it is a more appropriate time to get knee socks....so I guess it all works out. And now for the really satisfying part of finishing them:

1. Charade socks for Brian
2. River Rapid socks for Jennie
3. Vinnland socks for Van
4. Millicent socks for Sam
5. Rhiannon socks for Mandy
6. Spiral boots socks for Leila
   
7. Socks for Mom
8. Socks for Stepdad
9. Something sockish for Dani (possibly booties?)
   
10. Indestructible socks for Jon

On to the knitting specs!

Yarn - maybe 3 1/2 skeins of possibly Lang Jawoll Cotton (49% new wool, 35% cotton, and 16% nylon)? I'm really not sure about the yarn. It's a great thing black and green tweed with a strang of gold running through it, and I know I picked something with a decent amount of cotton in it so that Mandy's legs would bake in the socks. I'm pretty sure that it's Lang Jawoll because it came with reinforcement thread (which I totally didn't use), and I think that brand does that. Note to self - take better notes.

Needles - addi turbo 1's, same as Sam's

Pattern - Rhiannon by Cookie A. Again, I didn't actually read the pattern, just references the charts (noticing a pattern with this?). Here are the mods...well the one's I'm aware of and remember making:

• worked it toe up with a short row heel. Woo! Toe up 4-eva!
  
• according to Mandy's measurements, I bet the calf shaping got tweaked a bit. I ended up increasing every other row about 2 inches past the ankle
• I didn't knit foldover cuffs, just ribbed ones
• I threaded elastic thread around the top edge of the cuffs to prevent them from falling down, like Leila and Sam's reportedly have been doing (Note to Leila and Sam: check out the inside of Mandy's socks to see how you should fix yours, if you so desire).

FO: River Rapids Socks

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Yeah, so, sorry for the delayed absence (again). These have been done for awhile, but I couldn't fine the cable to my digital camera for the longest time....and I've been completely taken over by warcraft. In fact, if you're interested, you can read about it here. But this is a knitting blog, so I'll stick to that.

Yay! Another one scratched off the Dreaded Sock Queue!

1. Charade socks for Brian
2. River Rapid socks for Jennie
3. Vinnland socks for Van
4. Millicent socks for Sam
5. Rhiannon socks for Mandy
6. Spiral boots socks for Leila
   
7. Socks for Mom
8. Socks for Stepdad
9. Something sockish for Dani (possibly booties?)
   
10. Indestructible socks for Jon

Look at that! Finally making some progress. I've actually already started Sam's Millicent socks, but it'll be awhile before they're done. BUT THEY WILL GET DONE, goddammit.

Yarn - Hipknits, but I don't remember the colorway and I can't for the life of me find the tag (when did I start losing everything? I swear, I'm inches away from becoming that doddering old woman with the plastic bag wrapped over her blue 'do mumbling to herself in the supermarket. This close.).

Needles - 32" (I think) size 1 addi turbos. Although, they are bigger than my size 1 bamboo dpns, which I think means they're really size 1.5. But whatever.

Pattern - River Rapids by Sock Bug. This is a really simple, really pretty pattern that was kind of ridiculously fast to knit. As always, there were mods:

• worked it toe up, substituting a short-row heel
• I didn't work 1, 2, 8, or 9 of the chart. I dropped them because it made the chart easier to memorize and I am a lazy, lazy girl.

FO: Spiral Boot Socks

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Look, they're done! My sister will be so happy...you know, because feet get really cold in May in Texas. Ah well, better late than never, right? In any case, I do get the satisfaction of scratching one more pair off the infamous sock queue:

1. Charade socks for Brian
2. River Rapid socks for Jennie
3. Vinnland socks for Van
4. Millicent socks for Sam
5. Rhiannon socks for Mandy
6. Spiral boots socks for Leila
   
7. Socks for Mom
8. Socks for Stepdad
9. Something sockish for Dani (possibly booties?)
   
10. Indestructible socks for Jon

Ah. Finally making progress! Speaking of which, I'll likely be done with another pair really soon, so stay tuned - it could be yours!

Yarn - 2 skeins Knitpicks Gloss (70% merino, 30% silk) in burgundy. This is really nice shiny yarn, especially for the price. I found it to be kind of splitty, though, and not as soft as I was expecting.

Needles - I merrily magic looped away on 32" size 2 addi turbos.

Pattern - Spiral Boot Socks from Interweave Knits, Summer 2007. Really, the only mods I made were working it toe-up instead of top-down and substituting a short-row heel.

FO: Proletariat Socks

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My stepdad's socks are done! I know I'm already a few months late, but I'm starting to really bang through the sock queue! It's a good feeling. Check out the progress:

1. Charade socks for Brian
2. River Rapid socks for Jennie
3. Vinnland socks for Van
4. Millicent socks for Sam
5. Rhiannon socks for Mandy
6. Spiral boots socks for Leila
   
7. Socks for Mom
8. Socks for Stepdad
9. Something sockish for Dani (possibly booties?)
   
10. Indestructible socks for Jon

Despite the top picture, I think these turned out pretty good. They're totally inoffensive to one's masculine, both in color (a nice manly gray) and texture (just ribs and seed stitch), and machine washable to ensure optimal low maintenance care.

Yarn - 2 skeins of Knitpicks Swish DK (123 yards, 100% superwash merino) in mist. This is awesome yarn for thickish socks - it's squishy and soft, but still stretchy and not too heavy.

Needles - magic looped 'em on my trusty 40" size 3 addi turbo circulars

Pattern - I totally made this up as I went along at the socialist thingy. Here's how it went:

• CO 28 sts using figure 8 technique, and increase 1 st at beginning and end of each needle every other row until there's 60 sts total
• For the top of the foot: p1, k2, p2, work 20 in seed st, p2, k2, p1. Knit across sole.
• Around round 40, start gusset increases by increasing 1 at the beg. and end of the sole section every other round. Continue the top of foot pattern. Repeat until you have worked 10 increase rounds.
  
• For the heel: p1, k2, p2, work 20 in seed st, p2, k2, p2tog. Turn work and sl1, then: p2, k2, work 20 in seed st, k2, p2, k2tog. Repeat until all the increased sts have been used up, which should be 20 rows (PS - notice something missing? Like short rows? Yeah, I totally blanked on that. I think they turned ok anyway).
• Keep knitting the leg in the rib/seed st pattern as established until you run out of yarn. BO loosely.
  

Returning to the Sock Queue

Yeah, about that sock queue...no improvements since my mom's socks. I started these a really long time ago, back before new years, but have only been working on them off and on. Part of that is because I've only been knitting, period, off and on due to a more hectic semester than I predicted (and that I kind of selfishly only want to knit for myself when I am able to carve out the time for it), and part of it is due to the odd amount of difficulty I've been having memorizing the pattern. It's not a particularly difficult pattern, but for some reason, I am just not getting the logic of it.

So, bottom line is that I have 2/3 of one of my sister's spiral boots socks done. Slowly, tediously, it will get finished.

FO: Cable Twist SOCKS for my MOM 1

Guess these mean....

....that I can cross something else off my Sock Queue!

1. Charade socks for Brian
2. River Rapid socks for Jennie
3. Vinnland socks for Van
4. Millicent socks for Sam
5. Rhiannon socks for Mandy
6. Spiral boots socks for Leila
7. Socks for Mom
8. Socks for Stepdad
9. Something sockish for Dani
   
10. Indestructible socks for Jon

Whew. That was satisfying. Onto the specs:
Yarn - 2 skeins of Knitpicks Swish DK (123 yards, 100% superwash merino) in hollyberry. I actually used two full skeins and about 4 yards of the 3rd. Oh well, I'll make a hat or something. Also, let it be known that I used this yarn because my mom washes handknitted socks in the washing machine regardless of the effect it may have on them - these got unintentionally felted.

Needles - size 3 addi turbos

Pattern - Hello Yarn's Cable Twist Socks essentially from memory. I made them toe up, with a fabulous short row heel (seriously, though, short row heels kick major ass), and tweaked the pattern a little. I made them with 60 sts instead of 56, and to accommodate that, I switched to a reapeat that was 6 sts wide. So, there were 4 knit sts instead of 5.

There's another FO I need to introduce while I've sequestered myself away, but sadly, it doesn't help me scratch anything off that damned queue.
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¹This is actually a sneaky reference to an inside joke. See, awhile back, my friend Tamar was working on this huge shawl as a gift for her mother. Since the shawl was tedious, and gigantic, she naturally took it everywhere with here and got kind of annoyed with it. But, she got way more annoyed with everybody asking about it. So, whenever anyone innocently said, "Hey that looks cool! Whatcha working on?" Tamar would respond, "a SHAWL for my MOM!"

I thought this was the funniest thing ever and would ask her that just to hear it.

FO (finally): Charade Socks

I finished Brian's socks finally!

The colorway in this picture is dead-on. Kindly ignore the weird bright greenness of the other pictures below.

Yep, the first of the Christmas presents are finally done. Which leaves my current sock queue like so:

1. Charade socks for Brian
2. River Rapid socks for Jennie
3. Vinnland socks for Van
4. Millicent socks for Sam
5. Rhiannon socks for Mandy
6. Spiral boots socks for Leila
7. Socks for Mom
8. Socks for Stepdad
9. Single cotton sock for Jen?
10. Indestructible socks for Jon

Whew. Load off my mind. Onto the knitting details.

Yarn - I finally found the yarn tag! I had to look all over for it, though. I found it in our bookcase -- as if someone (maybe me, I don't know) was using it as an erstwhile bookmark. Actually, it probably wasn't me, as I tend to dog-ear pages. In my circle of friends, this is basically as greivous a sin as eating babies. So it was probably Jon.

Anyway, the yarn is handpainted by wooldancer in the sublime marina colorway. It's 100% superwash merino (around 380 yards), and I have to say it was pretty awesome. Brian's got excellent taste.

Needles - size 2 addi turbos. Same ones I used for these.

Pattern - Charade by Sandra. This stitch pattern is super easy, which makes for good mindless knitting. Like always, I basically ignored the actual directions and just winged the sock construction, resulting in major modifications:

• The toe-up fairy strikes again! I casted on 24 sts (12 per side) using the figure 8 CO, and increased until 72 sts for the toe.
• For the foot, I worked about 50 rounds with a stockinette sole. This isn't a mod...it's just hear for completion's sake.
• I learned how to do short-row heels! Or, as I shall now call them, "heels brian-style." For these, I wrapped 10 sts on either side.
• I worked about 2" in pattern for the leg, and then worked 2" in 2 x 2 ribbing for the cuff. For that, I continued the plain ribs up the cuff and changed the textured sts to purls, cause I thought it looked cool.
  

On the non-Christmas knitting front, I've decided that weekends are for selfish knitting. So, I started a pair of gloves! I almost finished the first one.


The design is based of the ampergrabbers I made in May, and the traveling ribs are from these socks. They don't have a name yet.