Socks

 In the last few months I've been on a real sock knitting kick.

Stone from 52 Weeks of Socks Vol 1

Fuelled by a large collection of sock yarn asking me to do something with it...

Weavers Socks from 52 Weeks of Socks Vol 2

...being gifted 52 Weeks of Socks Vol 2...

Flou (over a vanilla sock) from 52 Weeks of Socks Vol 2

...and the ongoing appeal of the original 52 Weeks of Socks.

Toivoharju from 52 Weeks of Socks 

That being said I have found myself suffering from a feeling of sock burn out over the last couple of weeks, with not much enthusiasm to start my next pair.  Luckily my knit-jo had not completely disappeared and my hat and jumper projects kept on getting love.

And then yesterday...

Candle Flame from 52 Weeks of Socks 

...it reappeared due to the perfect combo of yarn (a merino cashmere nylon mix) and pattern ( mini cables for interest). Hopefully it sticks around considering the amount of single hanks of sock yarn I have! 

A Satisfying Heel Turn

 I'm currently working on a pair of Geek Socks (Knitty link) two at a time (TAAT) as an Xmas present. The pattern directs you to use an afterthought heel so as not to break the stripe pattern. I've done afterthought heels previously but to date I have a 33% failure rate (socks ending up too small despite following measurements that work for other pairs). The other thing is that the point of doing TAAT was in an attempt to make the sock knitting process feel quicker, which afterthought heels feel the opposite of - two socks almost finished and then having to work two individual heels. Anyway I decided to go freestyle and use short row heels instead.

At this time I can't quite figure out how to do these heels TAAT but it was possible to do them in tandem and then continue the sock feet TAAT.

To me these heels seem to be working out perfectly, I love the slightly offset stripes. These heels do break the continuity of the wibbly stripes (they don't seem to work out in the intended zig zags with this WYS yarn) but with the little extra knitting I've done I think I can live with it although maybe boomerang heels would've been a little less disruptive. Now on with the feet.

Even more crafting

I've set myself the challenge of completing 12 crafty projects in 2019 and they are by no means all small projects, so that should be enough to keep me busy and focused. 

Of course not!

As well as the 12 Things here are some other bits I've been working on in the last few weeks...

A baby quilt that's taken way too long to finish!... 

Some insanely bright socks... 

Another CBTL for a Xmas present... 

The start of a small EPP project to use some long term stash. 

You could say I've got to many WIPs or you could say I like variety in my crafting options. I'm not saying anything! 

Bright Feet

The sensible thing would be just sticking to my 12 in 2019 projects and any WIPs from before 2019, but after knitting a few pairs of socks towards the end of last year I've been bitten by the sock knitting bug again. I also enjoyed learning a new technique, the afterthought heel. So the sensible thing to do with various other projects underwater and my 12 in 2019 list was to start a pair of socks using a "two at a time technique satisfying both my urge to knit socks and to continue learning new things. 

And I had the perfect yarn in my stash for these socks. 

Two 50g skeins of Coop Knits Socks Yeah 4 ply in what I am fairly sure are both neon colours, bought with the intention of making mismatching socks. 

It took a little getting my head round but I'm enjoying this method so far, although I keep on trying to counts the rows for some reason! I'll keep you updated on my progress. One thing is certain they're not going to be a subtle pair of socks!