Fall has set in here in Iowa. After a bad summer and a long period of nothing but rain we finally had a beautiful week - sunshine and blue skies all week! The temperatures have dropped and the leaves are starting to change. I love this time of year, fall is by far my favorite season. My knitting has suffered this summer but I was able to get a few new pairs of socks knit to add to my collection. As many of you know I rarely knit for myself but the one exception is socks. I love to knit socks and often do knit them for myself. I enjoy a very basic sock pattern not only are they comfy but they are quick. I have have nothing against fancy sock patterns - I knit them too, but the basic stock socks (as Liz calls them) is my go to project. The photo below are all the socks I have knit for myself.
From Left to Right: Monkey; A Good, Plain Sock; A Good, Plain Sock; A Good, Plain Sock; Embossed Leaves; Kai-Mei; Van Dyke; A Good, Plain Sock; A Good, Plain Sock; Dead Simple Lace Socks; A Good, Plain Sock
My favorite sock pattern, what I consider my "stock" sock is Sock Recipe: A Good, Plain Sock by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. The pattern is in her book, Knitting Rules!. The pattern only takes one 8"x11" sheet of paper that I almost have memorized now. This summer I used the pattern to make two pairs of socks for myself and one for my mom for her birthday.
For Mom, knit with Zirton Trekking XXL in colorway Limeade Stripes
For me, knit with Zwerger Garn Opal Maskenball
For me, knit with Zwerger Garn Opal Uni Solid 4 ply
Last fall I took a class in how to make toe up socks. I made the pair of Van Dyke socks from the class and kept meaning to make another pair from the book, but never got around to it. This summer I made sure I pulled Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy Johnson off the shelf. I chose the Dead Simple lace pattern and used some lovely Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino. This was my first time with short row toes & heels. I had to work hard on the short rows not to get gaps but in the end I like the end result! I worked these one at a time, toe up.
I have another pair of socks on the needles right now that have been there since August 28th & I'm only on the gusset for the first sock. I'm using my favorite sock pattern as a base but trying to "design" my own pattern. I say "design" because I'm just trying to do something different but have no plans of publishing! I really like the pattern of the sock but haven't had the time to figure out how to do the gusset in purl stitches - I just need the brain power!
My toes are going to be nice and cozy this fall!
My toes are going to be nice and cozy this fall!
6 comments:
Wow, your sock knitting is quite impressive! Now that it is fall here I am feeling a bit more like knitting, though socks still aren't really my thing. :)
This just something about handknit socks, isn't there. I'm glad you are actually making something for yourself.
I love how colourful your socks are!
I haven't knit socks since last summer but I did by some sock yarn last week. I think two of the skeins will be mittens and the third one a pair of socks.
Good luck on finding your brain for the purl part. :)
I wish I had more socks. If you're looking for another great toe-up sock book, I LOVE Toe Up Socks for Every Body. Also, I recently discovered Jenny's(?) Super Stretchy Bind off from Knitty. Awesome.
Thanks for sharing all of your socks. Makes me want to knit more of them!
So many beautiful socks! I have Wendy's book, but haven't tackled toe-up yet. It's on the list!
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