365 Days Handmade

Making life a better place, one day at a time

Tag Archives: socks


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Progress Report and Socks

Wow, my last post was in August of last year.  Re-reading that entry, I could see I was kind of depressed back then.  A lot has happened since I wrote that post.  In October we started a major remodel on our house, which included (among other things) knocking out an upstairs wall, updating the kitchen, converting our basement into a spare room/office, pulling up the old carpet, installing new floors, painting the interior, tearing down the backyard deck and stairs, and building a new one.  This remodel involved me having to pack up a bunch of stuff (like we were moving) and living in essentially a construction site.  We finally said goodbye to the crew in March and got settled in by mid-April.

I posted a lot of photos on Facebook and Instagram.  You can find me on Instagram under my blog name (365dayshandmade).  Add me and say hi!  (I should also mention that I block any follower who looks like a shop just trying to get my business, so please make sure to let me know it’s you.)

I started knitting socks again a couple weeks ago, and thought I’d share this story.  Friday night I pulled these old socks out of the washing machine and noticed one had a snag in the cuff and had started to unravel. I thought, NBD, I’ll just frog a couple rows and knit it back up. Turned out that I originally knit that sock from the cuff down, meaning I had to unravel the WHOLE sock and start over. I wasn’t going to throw it out. So I unraveled the entire sock and knit it into a new one, but from the toe up this time. I put in a short row heel (the fish lips kiss heel pattern). Sean asked me if I planned to re-do the other sock and I think probably not. It’s kind of neat to see the difference between my sock knitting in 2004 (cuff down, flap heel, using DPNs) vs. the present (toe up, short row heel, using one long needle with Magic Loop method).  The re-done sock (on the right) is looking a little crunchy because I didn’t bother to wash and straighten the frogged yarn before I started knitting.

Hope you’re enjoying a happy Sunday!

socksblog


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Week 14/52: A Bunch of New Projects and No Photos of Them

Yesterday after I got off work, I drove straight down to Ventura, and then this morning Sean and I headed out to L.A. for my annual eye doctor appointment.  Even though we no longer live in L.A., I’ve kept the same eye doctor over the last 12 years because she is the best optometrist.  Our appointments are usually about an hour long, and it’s more like a pleasant visit with a friend I only see once a year.  In addition to completing a thorough eye exam and answering all of my questions, she always takes the time to chat with me.  She remembers details like the fact that my husband and I have jobs that are 150 miles apart and that we commute back and forth between two homes and that we are childfree by choice.  She chose not to have any children herself and completely understands our decision.

Anyway, I brought a sock to knit during today’s drive to L.A., but I forgot to take any photos of my progress.  I also forgot to take photos of the three different scarf/wrap things that I’d been working on all week, and I left them all at our house in Morro Bay.  Luckily, my cousin J texted me a photo to show that she received the Golden State Warriors socks that I’d knitted for her.  So here is a photo of that:

4.9.2015a

Also, while Sean and I were leaving my eye doctor’s office, I saw this place and had to take a photo:

4.9.2015b

How hot is it?

I’ll post photos of my other projects next time, I promise.


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Week 13/52: One Finished Pair of Socks and One New Project

4.2.2106

I finished knitting my cousin J’s Golden State Warrior Socks and right away got started on another knitted piece.

4.2016

This is a chevron pattern that I got from the book Mason-Dixon Knitting.  The pattern is meant for a linen hand towel, but I thought it would work well for a nice wide scarf, too.

The yarn is Noro Silk Garden Sock Yarn (40% lamb’s wool, 25% silk, 25% nylon, 10% kid mohair).  After spending so much time crocheting with acrylic over the last few months, I felt like getting into some of my fancy yarn stash, which I almost never use.  Last year I posted an entry to reveal my shamefully abundant yarn stash, and I have to admit that since then I’ve barely made a dent in it.  (It also didn’t help that I bought more yarn over the last few months.)  So this year I am going to try to use up more of the fancy stuff, and hey, maybe by December I’ll have a nice little pile of handmade Christmas gifts ready to be wrapped and delivered.


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Socks (Because I Can’t Think of Any Original Titles for This Blog Post)

I forgot how much I enjoyed knitting socks.  I’d been spending the last couple of months engrossed with my crocheted afghans, and then I got a request from my beloved cousin J for another pair of socks.  She was genuinely fond of the previous pairs I’d made for her, so I was more than happy to cast on and start knitting.

Here is the progress on J’s socks:

3.13.2016b

The yarn is a hand-dyed merino wool that I had purchased off Etsy.  It was the only skein of yarn that I’d ever purchased off Etsy, but once I started knitting that first sock, I thought, Damn, this is pretty cool hand-dyed yarn that an independent U.S. seller spent some time making.  I have got to buy more hand-dyed sock yarn and support the small businesses.

I went online and found two more skeins that I liked.  I ordered them and just a few days later, they arrived.  I wound them into yarn cakes and in the process, my fingers just itched to start knitting with the new yarn.  So I started this one:

3.13.2016

I am trying to keep myself from starting a third sock with the other skein of yarn (it’s a wool-cashmere blend!), but I may not be able to resist.


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Week 9/52: First Sock of 2016

Last year, I was all about knitting socks.  I don’t even know how many pairs I completed (but they’re all tagged under Socks if you have any interest in checking them out).

This weekend, Sean and I are making a short trip up north to visit with some family, which means several hours in the car on the 101.  I wanted to bring a project with me to pass the time, but any one of my WIP crocheted afghans would be too unwieldy in the passenger seat.  This is where sock knitting becomes an especially useful hobby.

With about 8 hours of driving ahead of us, this sock should be done by Monday.

3.5.2016


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Day 365/365: The Last Day of 2015

Thank you for reading and for all your support!  See you in 2016!

fishhatprofile     1.5A     1.11E    

   1.17A     runner1    1.1A

skateboardB     1.4iii     1.25B     1.29A     Feb.1.2015     2.22.2015A     3.1.2015A     3.8.2015A    3.14.2015 HKseanapples     3.17.2015C     3.22.2015D     4.7.2015A     4.9.2015C     Peanuts5     4.18.2015     4.29.2015     5.8.2015     5.10.2015A     5.17.2015B     6.6.2015     6.5.2015     6.14.2015C     7.8.2015A     7.11.2015     7.20.2015A     7.25.2015A     7.26.2015A     8.2.2015     8.5.2015c     8.8.2015A     8.14.2015D     Sean4     8.19.2015A     8.21.2015     8.24.2015A     9.9.2015     9.16.2015     10.2.2015     10.11.2015a     10.19.2015     10.18.2015b     10.24.2015     10.29.2015     strawberryA     11.16.2015     11.15.2015a    c     a     12.1.2015     11.31.2015     12.5.2015b     12.11.2015     12.14.2015     12.16.2015a     wp-1450408551375.jpeg     12.19.2015a     12.20.2015a     12.21.2015a     12.22.2015     12.24.2015a     12.25.2015a     4     12.26.2015     12.27.2015     12.30.2015


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Day 298/365: How I Knit Socks Using the Magic Loop Method

I’ve had a couple of people ask me about using the Magic Loop method when knitting in the round, so I thought I’d share some photos in today’s blog post.

10.25.2015A

The Magic Loop

I was feeling too lazy to start a new sock and do a detailed, step-by-step tutorial, so for now I just took photos of my current Cabin Fever sock in progress.

Anyway, when I’m knitting in the round with the Magic Loop method, I’ve got the stitches evenly divided so that there is a front and back:

10.25.2015B

In the above photo, the top row is knitted and the bottom row is waiting to be next.

10.25.2015C

To start knitting the next row, I just take the top needle and bring it around, like so.

10.25.2015D

Without my fingers in the way, this is what the needles and yarn and sock and Magic Loop look like.

10.25.2015E

I knit using the Continental style.  Keeping the yarn wrapped around my finger this way helps maintain even tension.

10.25.2015F

And I knit.

10.25.2015G

If you look at the top row (or back side of the sock) in the above photo, you will see that the cord of the circular needle takes the place of the double pointed needles that would be there if you were using DPNs.  The front side of the sock is where I’m knitting.

I’ve been using the Magic Loop method for so long that I’m not sure how much these photos make sense to someone who’s never done it.  I’m sure there are a lot of video tutorials to be found online, so hopefully my little post here could just serve as a supplement.  Maybe later when I’m feeling more inspired, I’ll put together a more detailed photo tutorial for casting on and starting a new sock.

10.25.2015A