Finished object Friday- V sock

The end of the A-Z challenge is approaching, just four pairs left to make. This week the V socks get to take their turn as the FO.

Pattern: Vidia by Rebecca Mercier from Sock yarn one skein wonders

Yarn: Regia Xmas in navy and silver

Needles: 2.5mm dpn

This pattern is great, well written and easy to follow. It is worked from the toe up with a short row heel. A pattern of V shapes made from decreases and yarnovers is made as you go up the foot and leg. After the heel is worked a cable pattern is worked up the back of the heel. Twisted stitches run up the sides of the chart, from toe to cuff. The patterning is charted so if you prefer written instructions you would need to convert them. The patterning is fairly easy to remember so once you have done a few repeats it is quick to work.

I do think the same stitch pattern could be used on the front and back, both are nice so it seems like a bit of an odd design. You could make two pairs of socks using this pattern, three if you followed it as written.

The yarn is lovely, one of my favourites so far. The photo does not do it justice as the flecks you can see are actually silver sparkles. The yarn seems softer than other Regia yarns I have used, it feels lovely even with the sparkly bits. Hopefully this will be as hardwearing as other Regia yarns. It should be machine washable, but due to my machine's reputation as a "destroyer of socks" I will handwash them. I suspect this will help the sparkles survive for longer. The dark yarn makes it a little harder to see the cables and twisted stitches, something lighter would have been better. The stitch definition is good, but a higher twist might make the cables really stand out.

Yarnovers and decreases make a V pattern working up the foot and leg.

I was trying to take a photo of the cable up the back, this is what happen when you try to take photos at night, inside using a flash. Try to imagine a lovely cable with lines of yarn overs at the sides. The cables make an inter twinned heart shaped pattern. One of my cables crosses the wrong way but I am learning to live with small mistakes.

On to W tomorrow, I have a pattern picked out, but have not chosen the yarn yet. I will see what is in my stash and may have to rethink my pattern choice depending on the yarn.

FO Friday- U socks

This week it is the turn of my U socks.

Pattern: Uzumaki by Karen Harper

Yarn: Mirasol Hacho

Needles: 3.5mm circulars

Notes: Increased to 44 sts on the foot, to 48sts on the leg. Added 15rnds k1p1 rib to the top of the leg. Surprisingly stretchy bind off used.

A bit of a change from my usual sock method with these, they are worked toe up using a DK weight yarn. To save on counting I decided to work two at once, it is still not my favourite method, but it has advantages in that you can use the yarn until you run out to get the longest possible leg.

The pattern is easy to follow, as long as you read it properly. I did get confused at the first read through, thinking the decrease was worked every other round, it is only worked once and causes the rib to spiral as you work around the leg. It might not be the best beginner pattern as some of the directions are not explained fully, in particular wrap and turn, but if you have worked short rows before you should be able to follow the pattern easily.

I would maybe add some ribbing to the top of the foot if I made these again. I prefer the fit to be more snug than you get with a plain foot.

Working these in a heavier weight yarn made them really fast, I managed to get these plus some other small projects done in a fortnight. They would be a good emergency sock gift. They are obviously thicker, which makes them a little snug in shoes but great for walking boots or mooching around the house.

Close up of the spiralling rib.

The colours of this yarn are super and it has a lovely smooth feel. It would maybe not be my first choice for socks, but it was in my stash so I used it up. It would perhaps be better for mitts, a cowl or hat but the colours might be a bit crazy for something larger.

A rather dark photo to prove that I did them two at a time, toe up, magic loop style. On a side note, this photo was taken inside with flash, the first photo was taken outside, it really does make a difference! 

FO Friday- T socks

These socks were almost a pair of three socks, but more on that later. Presenting the T socks for the A-Z challenge.

Pattern: Tern by Pam Allen

Yarn: Regia 4 ply

Needles: 2.5mm

This pattern imitates a smocked effect with the use of cabling. I have had it on my list to make for months, so it seemed like an excellent choice for my T sock.

The pattern is easy to follow, as long as you actually read it. I didn't and had to tink a chunk at the start of the first sock. It is worked toe up, with a new-to-me YO heel. I did have an issue with the needle sizes, it wants you to use 3.5mm/3.75mm needles with what is listed as a sport weight but appears to be a sock weight yarn (410m per 100g). I think this would give a very loose fabric, although might compensate a little for the tightness from the cables. 

I am not keen on the heel method, even once I got the hang of it I got hole at the top on one side, as you can see in the photo. I think I will stick with a normal short row heel.

The reason there were almost three of these; I tried the first one on and it was pretty tight, it goes on but getting it over the heel is a bit of a battle. For the second sock I added a few extra stitches to the sole, with the plan that if it fitted better I would do a third sock then rip out the first one. On trying the second sock it is still tight over the heel, the problem is the cabled round immediately above the heel, obviously it has much less stretch due to the cabling. Since they go on and fit nicely once they are on I have called them done, but I suspect I will not wear them as frequently as some of my better fitting socks.

I do like the finished object, and it was a nice knit, with mostly ribbing rounds and a little cabling to keep you interested. However, I wouldn't make this as a gift, you need to have the foot handy when you are making it to avoid giving something that will never be worn.

The stitch pattern in close up, you can see how the cabled stitches go all the way across to imitate the smocked effect.

On an unrelated note, it seems autumn has arrived after an odd and most unseasonal heatwave. I shall be digging out my hand knits and lighting the fire tonight, hot chocolate ahoy!

FO Friday- S socks

Th first pattern I picked for my S socks was the Sideways socks from the Sock Yarn one skein wonders book, notice that word first? Remember that, it is important.

I have had the book and yarn for this since Christmas, just waiting for S to roll around so I could make them.

The general idea is you knit a flat piece of knitting, using a provisional cast on in the centre with some increases for the heel, then kitchener the two edges together to make a tube, like this:

Picking up around the edges means you can work a toe and some ribbing for the top and tada! A magic vertical stripe sock.

Except I didn't have the right size needle, or make gauge (when counted on the work, I didn't do a gauge swatch, because, well I never do). So I added a few rows in each section to make a wider bit of fabric before the kitchener bit.

It did seem rather wide when the knitting was done, but I was stuck somewhere with no other knitting and nothing else to do, so I kitchenered it together anyway, that's 300 stitches, or 150 pairs, yup, a lot of kitchener, good job I like it!

Something I like less is this:

That's right, possibly the World's baggiest sock!

I think if I had not added the extra rows it would have been ok, but I didn't have time to pull it apart and rework it for my S socks. This tube of ugh is sitting in time out until I pull it to bits. Unless I NEED the yarn for my A-Z challenge I will have another go at this pattern with the same yarn when I find some time.

I raided my stash bin and Ravelry favourites list to find a second S sock.

Pattern: Shur'tugal by Alice Yu

Yarn: Crazy Zauberball

Needles: 2.5mm

I like this pattern, but not really in this yarn, You can't see the stitch pattern unless you are right up close. In a solid or semisolid these would be some super socks. It is even non fancy enough that you could use it as a man sock.

The stitch pattern itself is easy to work, twisted stitches are used rather than cabling, which is much faster. I did struggle to memorise the pattern, it is not complicated, but I did need to glance at it at the start of each row to remind me what was needed, this might just be me having a tiny brain fail.

There is a different heel on these, it is a typical flap and gusset (snigger here) but with slipped stitches which make three vertical ridges down the flap. I like it as a technique, but would not do it on a heel, it would be better as a leg design feature. I would just do a normal slipped stitch heel if I made the pattern again. 

My attempt at showing you the stitch pattern, see what I mean about the bad pattern/yarn combo choice?

The yarn I love, a lot. In fact it is in the running for my favourite yarn of my A-Z socks. It is much less fluffy that a standard Zauberball, I suspect this is because it is plied, but it makes it much nicer to work with.

The colours are great. Fairly long colour changes and the handspun candy stripe effect are some of my favourites. As mentioned above it is not really ideal for complicated patterns. It might be ok on something lacy but it would be best for a plain vanilla sock, maybe with some ribbing for fit. The colours can do all the work of making an interesting sock with simple knitting.

It should be machine washable, but my macihne is a destroyer of socks so I will not be testing this, I imagine it would be fine in a normal machine that does not have a taste for felting.

Pricewise it is ok, a little more expensive than a standard Zauberball, but cheaper than a lot of sock yarn. I think I paid about £9 and have made socks with lots left for my sock yarn blanket or something else small. 

The only downside is that there are the odd fluffy unspun bits, a few thinner sections and one or two bits that are not quite evenly plied so it feels like one plied is wrapped around the other (does that make sense?). This makes it feel more like handspun and is not really an issue, you just knit past it and it all seems to work out in the end.

I have my T socks picked out, they have been in my favourites for ages and hopefully they will be more straightforward than the S socks as I want to get some slipper made too before it gets too cold.

FO Friday- R socks

Friday seems to sneak around so quickly, fortunately some car knitting last weekend meant I had these done before the last minute this week.

Pattern: Rick by Cookie A from Sock Innovation

Yarn: Regia World Circus

Needles: 2.25

The pattern is interesting, rounds of decreases and yarnovers give a spiralling pattern around the leg and top of the foot.

I have to be honest, I don't love it as much as I thought I would. All the decreases take a lot of stretch out of the fabric, so it is a tight fit to get on, I think it would have been better worked on 2.25mm needles over 72 stitches. It would not be a good choice as a gift as you need the foot around to try it on as you go. It does go on, and fits ok when it is on so I did not bother ripping it out and restarting.

The pattern is fairly slow to work but the changes on the foot make it a little more interesting at the point where you would be getting bored. You need to keep an eye on the book for changes of direction as they sneak up on you! So don't take the project when you are returning a car rental and sitting around for an hour without the book then merrily knit away, missing the direction change and having to tink back, um, not that I did that.

I am also a little worried about how robust all the little yarnovers will be during wear.

There is, of course, good things about the pattern. It is well written and an interesting design concept, I like the spiralling nature, I just think I would find another way to do it. The pattern is quite easy to memorise once you have done a few rounds, although the change from left to right confused my brain a little and I kept working past the decrease poitn and having to go back (tiny brain issue rather than pattern fault).

I like the yarn a lot more than I like the pattern, I would use it again happily. It seems softer than standard Regia 4 ply, but in most other ways is the same (weight, smoothness). It is a little more expensive but I would not mind paying the extra as I am really happy with the self striping of this colourway. The stripes are not obtrusive, so you can use it to work a textured or lace pattern without losing the stitch work in the colours, but it is a little more interesting than a solid colourway. I suspect it would wash ok in the machine, however since mine is a "Destroyer of Socks" (like a "Destroyer of Worlds" but more socky) they will have to be handwashed, plus with the tight fit I can't risk shrinkage or they will never fit back on my feet.

Pattern close up:

Next up will be the S sock, I am excited about this as I have had the pattern and yarn since Christmas and have been saving them.

FO Friday- Q socks

Another Friday, and some more socks. I think by the end of this challenge I will not need to knit any more socks, my sock drawer will overfloweth! That is a good thing though and I suspect I will always have some kind of sock on the go since they make good travelling knitting, I just won't be trying to get them done in a fortnight.

Anyway, this time it is the turn of the Q socks and some beautiful yarn I won on the Playful Day podcast giveaway.

Pattern: Quartzonite by Rose Hiver

Yarn: Knitting goddess superwash merino and nylon in Forest Green

Needles 2.5mm

The pattern gives lots of detail and the stitch pattern is complicated enough to keep you interested, but still easy enough to memorise after a few repeats. There is an interesting heel band feature which actually makes a lot of sense as it means you have a smooth stocking stitch section where your shoe sits, rather than a patterned lacy bit which would be more likely to rub and harder to darn when it wears through, I will be repeating the heel band section on other short row heel socks. 

The pattern is well written and would be suitable for a sock beginner apart from needing to follow a link for the cast on, which means you need to start when you are near a computer unless you know how to do it or have another source for the information.

I may also now be a toe up, wedge toe, short row heel convert as apart from feeling these could be a little more snug around (a few less stitches, smaller needles or a pattern with a little ribbing) they are one of my best fitting pairs of socks. A big change from my top down, heel flap preference at the start of the year.

For some reason I got a little bored as I was working on the second leg (these are toe up), I don't know if it was the pattern or if I am reaching a point of being socked out and ready to work on something different, I will see how the next pair goes.

Once they were finished I was back to loving them, it was just the last little bit of knitting, so I have strong suspicions it was not the pattern's fault at all.

The yarn is lovely and smooth, knits nicely and tinks well. The smoothness give great stitch definition which combined with the semi solid colour makes it good for lace or other patterns which rely on teh stitches for interest. It is very much a sock yarn. Some 4 ply/sock/fingering weight yarns are not really sock yarns at all, they are wonderful and contain fibres possibly stolen from a unicorn on a moonlit night and are really for making shawls, scarves and other non foot based lovliness. This is not one of those, but that is good, because socks are what I wanted, and it is a super sock yarn. More important than the yarn base is the heavenly colour, which I am very much in love with, I will be putting every leftover scrap of this to use becasue it is truely lovely (I like the colour, can you tell?).

Close up to show the stitch pattern and the super stitch definition of this yarn.

I have my R socks pattern and yarn ready to go, I just need to track down a little more sock mojo, perhaps it is under the sofa.

FO Friday- O socks

Today is the turn of the O sock.

Pattern: Olympian socks
Yarn: Shunklies superwash merino (Etsy seller)
Needles: 3mm
Mods: short row heel, round to, adjusted lengths.

I absolutely love this pattern. It works up really quickly and looks impressive, but there is no cabling, it is all an illusion. I did change the heel as I am currently a short row fan, after avoiding them for the first 6 months of the challenge I am giving them a go to see how they feel when being worn.

Since the yarn was on the thick sock yarn side I chose a larger needle size, I am still a little undecided on my preferred size to use after my N socks ended up somewhat thick and felty feeling. Of course the proper answer is that it depends on the yarn, but I am generally trying to aim for a slightly looser fabric. Even so I still like a tighter fabric than many suggested sock gauges produce, I am not keen on gappy socks. Larger needles made the socks work up more quickly too.

The yarn colours is gorgeous, a turquoisey colour which has shown up quite nicely in the photos. It is lovely and squishy too, I am wearing them today and it is all good so far, hopefully they will wear well as I know a lot of knitters will only knit with yarns with a nylon content.

I would maybe have preferred a slightly longer leg, but I was a bit worried about having enough yarn, in the end I had leftovers so I could have added a couple more pattern repeats.

Stitch pattern close up:

The A-Z challenge is going well so far, but P will be a challenge as I have a busy week ahead, I have picked a simple pattern but it still might not get done in the two week time period I am aiming for.

FO Friday- N socks

Another pair of alphabet socks that almost didn't make it to their FO Friday post in the two week window I like to give them. This time it was because of the tour de fleece taking up most of my crafting time (loving that spinning!), but thanks to knit night yesterday they made it, here they are, fresh from grafting the toes!

Pattern: Noviembre by Helena Fernandez (English version)

Yarn: Lang Jawoll Magic Degrade in a super rainbow colour

Needles: 2.25mm

Mods: worked over 70sts as using thinner yarn than suggested. Picked up a couple of stitches in the corners of the heel to close the gap and increase the foot circumference.

I decided to go with the pattern and do short row heels on this, normally I would switch it for a simple heel flap as my first pair of short row heel socks were disappointing. I followed the instructions in the pattern, which double wraps the stitches and am really pleased with the end result. Depending on how comfy they are to wear I might be a convert.

Since the heels went so well I also went with short row toes for the first time ever (it is all about learning new things!). They are fine, no harder than the heel to work, but I probably wouldn't bother again. They really don't look that different to a round toe and take much longer, plus you get an odd bit of colour under the toes.

The stitch pattern looks great when it is done but Oh boy is it boring! If it was worked over the suggested 56sts in a thicker yarn you might not be ready to poke yourself repeatedly with the needles by the time you drag yourself to the finish line, but worked over 70sts I was definitely over it by the end of the second sock. It needs concentration, so you can't just watch TV and get on with it, but it is not exciting enough to keep you interested (note- I didn't actually poke myself with the needles, well, not deliberately).

I now feel a bit like I am being mean, I love the FO, I just wouldn't work it over such a big stitch count ever again.

Yarnwise the colours are fantastic, my niece picked this out for my birthday and I have to say she has super taste- I love rainbows!

I am not a huge lover of singles yarns, they tend to be very fluffy, which although soft makes it hard to see stitch patterns. I should also probably have worked these with a 2.5mm needle as the fluffiness plus tight gauge makes them feel a little felty. Upsides are softness, colour and it is not overly splitty for a single.

FO Friday- M socks

This is another pair that nearly didn't get done in time for its planned FO Friday post, although I cast them on the first weekend of the M fortnight I didn't actually get to working on the until the end of last week. Fortunately the pattern is really quick so they made it in time.

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A (the free knitty version)
Yarn: Katia Ole
Needles: 2.5mm dpns
Mods: Normal rib rather than twisted, slip stitch heel flap, adjusted lengths of each section to fit.

This pattern has been in my favourites forever, and I finally got around to making it. I can see why it is so popular (many thousands of Ravelry projects!). The pattern is easy to remember and can be worked out from the previous row if you put the work down and pick it up later, or if you just forget where you are. It is also really quite simple so they don't take much longer than a pair of plain socks.

The free pattern is only in one size, a 64st round. Since I was feeling lazy I went up a needle size from my usual 2.25mm. It made the fabric a little looser but not overly. This might be an advantage as my washing machine has a tendency to felt even superwash a little. You can purchase different sizes of the pattern, or alter it by widening sections but as I said I was feeling lazy.

The yarn came out nicely in the end. I was a little unsure about it. I did like it in the shop, but there was an element of "I am in your lovely tiny yarn shop I must buy something to support you" (you know that feeling right?). Although it is not the softest there are a few things I like about it- it is superwash and nylon, so should wash and wear well.
The long colour changes are good, if a little varied, it would work well for a shawl type project.
The thing I like most is that is is a two ply yarn which looks handspun because the colours of each ply are different. This gave me an idea, I have pulled one of the scrap ends apart and am going to use it as a model for the thickness and twist needed to spin a sock yarn during the tour de fleece. A little more twist will be needed in the singles, as it will have lost some in the plying, but it is good to have something to work from.

There are a couple of other version of the monkeys on Ravelry, one with no purl stitches and one with no YO holes, both look good and I would be tempted to try them if I needed a quick sock project.

FO Friday- L socks

FO Friday today will not be featuring anything from the WIP Wednesday pile, because none of it is finished. This is not really a surprise, and some of it is well on the way so maybe one will be done by next week.

Instead we have the socks for the L part of the A-Z sock knitting challenge (in my colour of the moment of course).

Pattern: Leyburn socks by MintyFresh

Yarn: Artesano Hummingbird 4 ply

Needles: 2.25mm dpns 

Mods: Quite a few changes on these, the pattern has a lot of comments about poor fit so I worked them top down with a heel flap rather than toe up with a short row heel. The leg was done over 72sts and the foot over 66sts.

The stitch pattern has floats which reduce the stretchiness a bit, I did a higher stitch count than usual and made a concious effort to keep the floats loose. This is actually really good practise for colourwork as you are making the same kind of floats and as they are on the front they are easy to see and keep loose.

It is a super pattern, only a little slower to do than a plain vanilla sock but with a great finish. It also mixes handpainted yarns up well or looks equally good in a solid colour.

The yarn I used is fantastic. It is 100% alpaca and so soft and squishy. It is a little hairy, but not so much it obscures the stitch pattern, this could make the socks a little tickly but they seem ok so far. It is also a little thinner than typical sock yarn so I will have to see how it wears. Hopefully it will be ok and not felt or rub through into holes as I would love to use it again, it is that soft and delicious.