socka m a n i a socks complete

n o u g h t s n c r o s s e s

Nice to have these socks off the needles. The merino I used is quite heavy, and I used pretty small needles...so my wrist really started to feel SORE as hell. The fair isle pattern is somewhat obscured with the use of the fun fur. The "fur" has been trimmed both inside and out.

The original pattern used another repeat of the pattern, but I didn't have that much of the handpainted merino. I finished with about 2 yards to spare. Also, the pattern featured a contrast cuff, heel and toe, but I really didn't want fur flying all over. These are very cozy socks that will be great this winter with my "too big" Birky clogs.

o o o o o o o

fuzzy blue hole

What the? This is the interior of a sock leg. Insert toes into blue hole. Just finished sock 1 of the noughts & crosses for this month's Sockamania k a l. I'll not post more of the sock til sock 2 is complete. Worth the wait. Yep.

Pattern: Noughts & Crosses
Yarn 1: Dove's Roost Yarns Handpainted Superwash Merino
Yarn 2: Lion Brand Fun Fur - Indigo
Needles: Susan Bates silvalume 2.0mm (size 0)

e c r s in a n n e marching along the elephant trail

e c r s

Ta daaaa! Here they are...Completed ribbed socks in Schaefer Anne. I made my DH try them on...oh they looked great. "Too Girly." Cripes. Well, I think it's amazing that they fit the both of us. And they surely aren't too girly for this old lady.

Two nights in a row now, the temp has gone below 70 degrees F. THAT means, one of these days, I'll be able to actually WEAR a pair of these new socks that I've knit this summer. WHOO HOO!

e c r for k t c & s k s k a l progress

e c r progress showing nice pooling

After a strong start knitting the leg in an evening, night before last, I picked up this little beauty yesterday afternoon looking forward to turning the heel. However, I found that I had dropped 4 stitches. An entire rib. In my night blindness, I managed to lose a couple of YOs. Well the slidey schaefer anne didn't exactly lend itself to unknitting. My booboo was 3/4 of an inch up the leg. After a good deal of cussing, I ended up frogging the sock back to the cuff. Cripes.

So, last night, determined to regain my footing, I reknit the leg, turned the heel, and got through the gusset. This is going to be one yummy sock. Next time I knit with Anne, though, I think I'll make the heel flap a bit shorter or go with smaller needles. My 36 row slip stitch heel flap fit the formula, but my gauge is off enough to screw up the mezh.

So...after the barn dance tonight, I'll be finishing off sock no. 1. Feeling very good about this yarn. Almost as nice as mine! Whoo Hoo!

schaefer anne o t n

elongated corded rib in schaefer anne

Just started. No elongated corded ribs yet...just 2x2 cuff ribbing. However...I'd like to report that this handpainted yarn is marvy. 60% merino wool superwash, 25% mohair, 15% nylon; 560 yds/4 oz. Schaefer Anne is sold in a big fat hank. It's just impossible for me to figure out what a yarn will look like until I make a pull ball and start to knit.

Soooooo, I was a little bit surprised when this yarn showed itself to make a simple striped pattern. The shades of rust and peach and brown, indigo and slate...are so wonderfully subtle, I imagined that the pattern would be a little more freeform. Then again, this seems to have been painted on a small warp board. When I paint a hank, I spread it out over a greater length...still end up with stripes of a fashion, but much less defined.

I'll be using a Sensational Knitted Socks "idear" (thank you Charlene Schurch) - a 4 stitch rib, in this case, the elongated corded rib, an 8 row repeat. The sample I knit featured nice definition, and good openwork when stretched. Cast on was 144 stitches (to equal 72 st after k2 k2 p2 p2 first row - I really like a stretchy cuff) using size 1 dpns.

Puncheon Floor

Sheep. Fleece. Combs and cards. Needles - alright, pointy sticks. And socks. And sweaters. Light dancing across a naturally dyed skein. Fabrics knitted of twisted wooly fibers. That's what this blog is all about.

The heat of summer is stifling. A/C, however, is making the summer doldrums tolerable. Projects that were neglected in the late spring, when the windows were still open, letting warm humid air fill our space, are being picked up again. Those skeins of wool, of sock yarn, especially, bought in those "can-not possibly spin" days, are smiling up at me every time I walk through the studio. I'm joining KAL's. On top of designing my own socks and yarns. It's time to get knitting, and spinning, again.

This coming Saturday, Miss Pat from down the road apiece, is coming to a potluck at a local CSA, and bringing 6 fleeces - Gulf Coast Natives at that. I'm up to my ears in fleece, around here. So, I will, with all the self-control I can muster, be petting and passing up the temptation. I'll be giving a spinning lesson to the hostess, who won one of my spindles at a chili cookoff a couple weeks ago.

Yarns are what I spin. And I use natural dyes, from my gardens, from my fields, to dip and paint them. Socks, are my favorite little things to make. It's an odd day that I buy "other peoples' yarns." But, a month or so ago, I went el-kabong and bought a sweet little assortment. They are really wonderful. What an understatement.



Schaefer - Anne in two unbelievable colorways. I want to eat these, for Pete's sake. When I saw these obese skeins, I thought...ooooh, enough for husband socks. Now, though...oh man...my selfish side wants 'em both for me.



And this pile of delicious stuff! Clockwise, from left: Dove's Roost Border Leicester with Merino slubs in a Chocolate Chip dyed with sumac, skacel Trampoline Stretch in Tiger, Dove's Roost Border Leicester 2-ply in Cantaloupe from annatto seeds (not as pale as the photo), and a fat singles dyed a warm Gold with onion skins, and finally OnLine Sierra - a forest green, cocoa, and grey yarn. Not all socks, but darn yummy!



Here it's Henry's Attic merino space dyed with KA and a soft blue acid dye, and more Dove's Roost, navajo plied corriedale.



Finally, lookit lookit lookit! This is over the top, don't you think? Fleece Artist merino in Rainforest. Too gorgeous for its own good.

So, that's it. First post. Baseline. Bottom line. Tip of the iceberg. Solid footing. Welcome to the puncheon floor.