Sock Break

I tore through 3 pairs of socks in 3-4 weeks. I'm feeling accomplished! The last pair I worked on (pictured above and below) has got to be my favorite of all 3. I should call these my Sherlock socks. I binged on 2 seasons of the Benedict Cumberbatch BBC version. It's so good I want to watch it again because I know I missed a lot of the dialog. Sherlock is quite verbose...and HOT in a weird way. BC plays him so much better than Robert Downey, Jr. The movie has nothing on the tv show. Watch it. You. Will. LOVE. It. Back to socks...merino/silk feels amazing on my feet! I don't necessarily like how the colors pool, but I adore the colorway.



The pattern I used is my favorite way of working on the heel turn. It's the Gusset Heel basic socks recipe from Socks from the Toe Up book by Wendy Johnson. NO wraps involved in the short rows. Only turns. I haven't figured out the math/numbers for the short rows so I stuck with the instructions in the book.



I didn't include this pair in the last post. It turned out well but I have issues with the end result of the short row method for the heel. It doesn't include wraps in this one either but it's not a smooth heel turn compared to the socks above, probably because of the gusset, or rather lack thereof. You can see that where the heels curl and it feels a bit chunky where the decreases were made. Wearing it on the foot you can't tell at all so it really doesn't matter. I can cross this heel recipe off my list.

I spent most of my Saturday swatching yarn for my next project and binge watching Arrested Development. I can't seem to get through those episodes fast enough like I do with other shows. I'm doing another Liesel top that I hope comes out just as nice as the one I did 3 years ago. I was going through a major life change then and am wondering how I had the mental capacity to finish it. It just proves that knitting really helps me stay somewhat sane.

This time Liesl II will be more transparent/airy/drapey since it's a closer yarn fit to what the designer called for. It should be a nice layering garment for the summer. I might cast on another pair of socks to keep as my portable project. This time it'll take me much longer than a week to finish it.

Long time no knit? Hardly!

I've been knitting non-stop in the past year but haven't been project blogging in over a year. I haven't done any large sweater projects, but that's not to say I haven't tried. 99% of the reason is probably because I ran into some problems and haven't been able to figure how to get past it so I put it aside till I could get help to fix it. Frustration isn't something I want to deal with when I'm knitting for relaxation.


I'm on my 3rd pair of toe up socks using my old stash yarn that's at least 5+ years old. I must use what I have since I miserably failed to not go over budget at Stitches West last month. Massive F-A-I-L!!! Socks are fairly quick projects too...at least the simple patterns are. I'm still figuring out the way I like to make socks. I know I like to make them toe up and 2 at a time on magic loop to avoid second sock syndrome. It's sooooo nice that once the project is off the needles it is done and I can move on to the next.

I've kept the socks very vanilla and trying different ways to do the dreaded heel turn. The picture above uses Shubui superwash merino sock yarn that is now discontinued. It softened up a lot after the yarn relaxed when I blocked it. It's so nice on my feet that I wish it was colder so I could wear them. I tend to live in flip flops and TOMS when it gets warmer.

I don't have a completed pic of my 2nd sock (used multi-colored yarn of Koigu KPPPM sock yarn) but below is the beginning of the 3rd I started yesterday. It's a wonderfully cushy soft merino/silk blend yarn. Colorway is named "Forks, WA" created by an indie dyer for her Twilight themed collection.  I decided to not split the yarn into two balls. Instead I'm using one end from the inside and another end from the outside of the yarn cake for each sock. Clearly, one end favors gray and the other green...very much like how the movie shows the lush greenery of Forks with a layer of Northwestern fog covering it. My intention was not to use this yarn for socks because my feet did not seem worthy at the time I bought it for silk. Eh, screw it. YOLO! Couldn't think of anything to use it for either. Maybe a fingering weight cowl but I've got enough of those. I'm sticking with the green theme this month due to the St. Patrick's Day holiday and the kick off for Oakland A's spring training...and I have a helluva lot of green sock yarn because it's one of my fave colors. I still have one more set of green sock yarn to go.


Alright...back to the job hunt grind. The weather has been so nice out that I don't feel like staying inside but have to or I feel guilty. I want to get in my car and just go somewhere for a week. Sadly, I need money to finance a road trip like that. I'm hoping that I get that chance by this time next  year after I've earrned enough PTO. Send all the well wishes, positivity, and prayers this way so I can be put out of my misery and finally make some money again.