Mikknit

It’s been so long since I’ve posted that WordPress logged me out. Good thing I finally changed my password to something I could actually remember instead of the random string of numbers and letters it gives you when you reset it, eh?

As alluded to in the title, it’s been all socks, all the time around here. There are other projects started and stalled around here, sure, but the socks are the only things that get finished with any regularity. I guess it’s that they’re small, portable, generally mindless, and easy to set down mid-row - all important things when your children are completely insane.

My aunt presented me with a bag of KnitPicks sock yarn a while ago, telling me to pick out two pair’s worth of yarn. She then proceeded to point out which yarn she really liked, so of course I had to grab that one as well as one that appealed more to my tastes. What she chose was Dancing, a blend of cotton, wool, nylon, and elastic. I started the first one on our Amtrak trip a few weeks back and finished the pair about two weeks ago. I didn’t love this yarn, but it knit up into a nice fabric which I think will be very comfortable.

They look a little disproportionate, but between the ribbing and the elastic in the yarn, they pulled in quite a bit

She loves them, of course, but that goes without saying. I knit her her first pair of socks in 2002 and she’s been hooked ever since. Luckily, my cousin is a knitter too, so I’m not the only one responsible for keeping her in handknit socks!

Once those were finished, I cast on another pair in Trekking XXL, color 144. They were originally for my sister, but I remembered that I have another more appropriate pair of socks planned for her. Thank goodness my mom and my sister have similarly-sized feet - I didn’t have to rip them back when I changed my mind. These knit up incredibly quickly - I think the jacquard Trekking yarns are a touch thicker than the marled, stripey ones.

I briefly considered making them match, but eh, too fiddly. I think fraternal socks are more fun, anyhow

These took six days to knit, which definitely makes them among my fastest-knit socks. Maybe I should knit for people with feet smaller than mine more often! (Mine are 10″ around and 10″ long. Yay.)

I’ve been struggling with the next pair of socks since Tuesday. I picked out some Schaeffer Anne in a blinding colorway - hot pink, lime green, bright yellow, and purple. I think this may have been the first skein of yarn I bought when Borealis opened up in 2004, or at least it was among my very first purchases there. I swatched and realized I needed to knit it on size 0 needles instead of my usual size 1, so I started looking for a pattern to make it a little less mind-numbingly boring. Of course most patterns don’t work well with a heavily-variegated yarn like this, so I struck out twice before deciding to switch to a different yarn and try again. I picked out some lovely rose-colored wool (Meilenweit, maybe?) and knit a few pattern repeats before deciding that A) I didn’t love the pattern as much as I thought I would, and B) they were too small. B was no real surprise, since I had to leave off about 1/2″ worth of stitches to make the pattern fit. I already make my socks with 1/2″ negative ease, so taking off that extra 1/2″ didn’t do any good. I ripped that puppy back and the yarn has been added to the stash. I finally pulled out a skein of Trekking XXL in colorway 100, a recent purchase, and cast on the feather & fan-style pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. I knit on that all over the MN Zoo on Friday, only to discover that I didn’t like the look of the lace when knit from the top down. Ripped it out and started the toe-up version this morning. I still haven’t gotten past the increases there, though I’ve been knitting all night.

What did I spend my evening knitting? It would be a well-aged UFO that’s been resurrected and has a deadline. I’m aiming to have it finished by Shepherd’s Harvest (Mother’s Day weekend), and I think I can do it. I’ll post more about it tomorrow (famous last words), since I’ve rambled quite enough for tonight.