socks and ..... socks

Friday I finished up the plain pair of Sisu socks for my uncle.

One week, start to finish (7 days exactly). 64 sts on 2.75mm (2US) needles. I have to say, I really enjoyed the Sisu yarn and will probably buy more.

On Saturday, I did a marathon and finished up the River Rapids socks (pattern from Sockbug).

I used Lorna's Laces sportweight in the Brick color. I knit these one 2.5mm (1US) Addi Turbo needles, and it was my first try at doing lace socks on circulars. I still wish the points were sharper, but it wasn't too bad overall. Its a great pattern, and the solid color of the yarn really shows off the design nicely. I'd like to do another pair in Koigu, one of these days.

Sunday I managed to thwart Daylight Savings Time. I'd been looking forward to it for weeks, thinking that maybe my nutty wakeup time would become more normal when we set the clocks forward. Instead, I wound up going to bed early on Saturday night, and waking up at ..... 4:30/5:30(DST) on Sunday. Oh, well. My new coffeemaker and I continue our loving relationship, so its not so bad.

There are more socks, of course. The feather and fan socks that I started the other day are going well.

Now there are two.

I love the way Lorna's Laces shepherd sockyarn feels, but I'm going to try to knit these tighter in the foot than my last pair done in LL's. Those stretch out every time I wear them, and although they tighten when I wash them again, I've never had a pair of socks, even lace, stretch the way these do. Obviously, the Lorna's needs to be knit tighter.

I had an annoying Addi moment too. In the very wee hours of Sunday morning (look mom! I get up when its dark out!) while I was knitting on a pair of socks I started .... oh, Saturday morning - I found that one of my brand new Addi Turbo size 0s is defective. There's a snaggly bit where the cable joins the needle on one side, and that same needle has about 1.5cm of scratches on it near the top, enough to slow down my knitting. Oh, and there's a nick at the tip of that needle too, right below the point. So I'm going to see if the shop I bought them at will do the right thing and replace them - it happened to me once before and they took care of sending it back to Skacel.

Oh, yes. The new sock.

Oh, and about the "emergency sock kits" - I do plan on making some more, but it won't happen until later this week, more or less. This week is very busy.

Comments

[Sylvia]

My DD was inspired by your emergency sock kit and sewed a respiratory distress bag to hold her inhaler, a packet of tissues, and a tin of Altoids (albuterol tastes horrid). We're hoping this will make it easier for her to find the inhaler when she needs it. Thanks for being a positive role model.

What was it about the Sisu that you liked? One of the reasons I like to use LL for bootees is they do tend to grow with the kid. I have one pair of LL socks that fits perfectl and another that grows with wearing.

How's your grandmother doing?

[DebbieB]

Oooooo - the flammegarn!

[Laurie]

Stunning productivity! And great looking socks. Looks like you took advantage of the weather for a photo shoot.

[Kim]

Wow....you have been a productive girl! I love the Brick socks.....nice pattern!

[regina]

They're all beautiful. I love that new yarn! How's your grandmother feeling? And Alice?

[margene]

Woohoo for finished socks. The River Rapids were fun and I love your color which really shows off the pattern.

[Carole]

All socks, all the time. Nothing wrong with that!

[Helen]

I love knitting with 12" Addi Turbos! They are my favorite needles for socks.

And the Rapid River socks are beautiful!

[Norma]

Welcome to Cassie's Sock City.

[erin]

I need to go restart my river rapids. I have problems with inox dpns about half the time I buy them. They don't always get the sizes right. (quality control problem.) So why do I keep buying them? I love metal dpns and they are the only ones my LYS sells.

[Chris]

Wow, that new sock is bright!!! Hopefully the shop takes care of the needle return for you; if not, you can always send them into Skacel (which I've done before).

[julia fc]

You will need more than that emergency sock kit if you keep going.

[Marcia]

If your shop won't make good on the Addi's, write Skacel directly..they do guarantee them! For the price, it's the least they could do...

[Beth S.]

WOW were you productive this weekend! The fact that you knit a pair of mansocks in a week is impressive enough, but all those other socks as well? Amazing. You are a sock machine!

I'm so glad you got your Opal flammegarn, and that it's knitting up pretty much the same way mine did. :-)

[Juno]

Nice how you slip the long longed for flammegarn in there with nary a mention. Are you happy now?

[Martha]

I love those Feather and Fan socks. Do you use a pattern or do you just wing it?

[Rachel H]

A loving relationship with your coffemaker is priceless, really. Great job on all those socks. I did a couple of swatches for something for my boy on the weekend, but strangely haven't found myself motivated to actually cast on for anything new. I'm hoping to get past that soon.

[Cheryl]

Hey, is that the Flammegarn sock?? What yarn did you use? Did you end up dyeing it yourself?

I was thinking about it this weekend, I got a book out of the Library about Dyeing with Noth American plants. There's a chapter on the history of natural dyeing in America and a section on dyeing for a sort of flammegarn effect.

[catknit]

You're famous! Check out the end of zefrank's video blog...
http://www.zefrank.com/blog_images/04-03-06.mov

[claudia]

Here there is sock knitting. Chez moi, there is sock ripping. Maybe I'll stay over here....

[Kathy]

Wow! The River Rapids are stunning -- the color; the pattern -- gorgeous!

[Judy]

You should definitely return the Addis if possible; but if you have to, a little work with a nail file takes care of minor metal burrs. I had one that bugged me on a 2mm 60" circ I was using (and away from home so didn't have a spare) so I got out my 3-in-1 nail file/buffer deal and filed that thing down. Works fine now!

[Judy]

Oh, PS -- what about us magic-loopers? I've been thinking about an emergency sock kit for me, but a 60" circ is a pain to pack into a small space. Any ideas?