Socks, Take 2: Birthday Stripes

Remember how I was talking about allllll of the birthdays in March? Well, this birthday was in February. And I finished the socks in June. Yep.

These socks were made for my good friend, Jessica, and she didn't seem to mind too much getting a birthday present four months late. Maybe if I ask really nice she'll even send a picture of her feet in the socks. *cough*

I used the same pattern as in my first pair of socks, Lauren's Basic Worsted Weight Socks. As you can see, however, there was a little stripe action thrown in there! Stripes are fun.

For the ribbing on top, I knit four rows of each color (red, brown, red, brown, red) before transitioning into the body. The heel was done in the contrast color (red) and then I stopped an inch short of where I normally would to start the banded toe decrease.

Then it was 2 rows of each color (red, brown, red) and then 4 rows of brown. Finally, I knit the tow decrease in red.

Yay, socks again! I definitely still could use some practice though, as the decreases and color changes weren't as clean as I'd like them to be. I think these will make some killer slipper socks though! Happy warm feeting, Jess.

Yarn:
Cascade 220 Superwash Quatro (100% superwash wool)
1 skein Brown Bear (1936)

Cascade 220 Superwash (100% superwash wool)
1 skein Maroon (855)

Needles:
US5 (3.75mm) double pointed needles

Scarves are for spring, too!

Just because spring and summer roll around doesn't mean that I want to stop wearing scarves. And this is still Seattle, after all.

Quite a while ago I bought this sparkly, purpley yarn. At the time I had it in mind to make a second Grace Lace Beret. That never came to be and so I pulled it out of my stash and went looking for something to make.

I went poking around on Ravelry for things like "spring scarf" and "lightweight scarf" and decided on the One Row Lace Scarf.

This was incredibly easy to knit, which also made it incredibly fast to finish. Just like the name says, it's just one row that you have to learn: K4, *YO, K2tog, K2*. Just do that until you're out of yarn or until you reach the desired length and voila! Scarf.

It's nice and reversible, which I love. I think I would knit more lace if I wasn't as turned off by the wrong side. (I should really get over that.) I really like the way this lace looks when stretched out, but because it's so floppy and the holes are large, it collapses on itself when you're wearing it. That said, it still looks nice on and I like it quite a bit.

Yarn:
Louisa Harding Jasmine (48% cotton, 39% bamboo, 10% silk, 3% polyester)
50g/107 yd skein
2x Slate (13)

Needles:
US9 (5.5mm) circular needle (straight would be just fine, too)

Socks on my head? Sure!

There were a couple of desires that led me to this pattern -- first, I was about to go on a trip overseas and wanted a project that was simple and easy to carry around. Second, there is some really cool sock yarn out there and I wanted to use some!

I saw my knitting teacher, Alex, knitting this hat and learned that it was something like his 6th one (so he must kind of love it). And you just can't argue with a name like Sockhead Hat.

This hat is really super easy. I knit the 4” of ribbing that the pattern calls for but then only knit about 4.5” in stockinette, instead of the 9” in the pattern. My hat is still slouchy, especially without the brim folded.

On the next one I make, I think I’ll throw in a knit row in the middle of the ribs so that I can fold it in the middle with a crisp edge. I'm glad to have a fun project that will use that aforementioned really cool sock yarn and also show off its colors and variegation well.

Yarn:
Berroco Sox (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon)
100g/440 yd skein
1x Venachar (1431)

Needles:
US4 (3.5mm) 16" circular needle