The move went well in that all the stuff from the old house is in the new house and no one died. Success! There was another Ikea incident that I’m not going to tell you about because when I talk or think about it I get simultaneously weepy and irate. So consider yourself lucky.
Anyway, I don’t know what you people do when it’s 2841° F (that’s 40° for you metric folk) but I knit socks. Preferably handspun wool socks!
How funny is this? I totally forgot what this colorway was called and when I was saving the pictures I remembered – Sock Hop HEATWAVE! HAHAHAHAHA!
I really really like these socks. (And when you’re done telling me how FANTASTIC my socks are – go tell Yahaira! She made the same ones! I LOVE IT!!)
So much so I started a new pair yesterday. I was reading The Yarn Harlot the other day and she mentioned this pattern – Widdershins – from the new Knitty – it’s toe up socks WITH a heel flap. I’ve tried a short row heel and frankly, I don’t like it. I’m a flap girl. So I tried this toe up thing – if I can have a flap, why not? I spent the WHOLE day, and when I say the whole day I mean pretty much the entire time I was awake, trying to do these socks toe up. I tried the Magic Cast On – at least five times. I tried Wendy’s short row method like ten times. And I wound out the day with Purly’s YO method. Suck. Suck. Suck. So at about 7PM I said fuck it and started the sock top down. Sometimes you just have to know when to say when and not reinvent the wheel. I like how I knit my socks – I have a formula that works FOR ME – so I’m going to stick with it.
The YARN! Let’s talk about the yarn I’m using. It’s Sophie’s Toes Sock Yarn from Emily Parsons, who, by the way, just happens to be a TV Star! (I saw the episode and Emily was great – her quilts are breathtaking!) When all the prizes were rolling in for Spin Out, there were a number of yarns that I had never seen before – they were all wonderful – but Emily’s new sock yarn really stood out for me. The yarn was nice and soft – and the colors were phenomenol! She’s been dyeing her own fabrics for quilting for quite awhile and decided to branch out to dyeing yarn. The colorway above is called Favorite Jeans and I tried to show it, but there’s a faint hint of purple in there. It’s beautiful. After knitting and ripping a million times the yarn is almost too soft, if that’s possible. At least maybe for socks. Here are the other two colorways I bought:
That’s Campfire on the left, and Garden Party on the right. Beautiful stuff.
I’ve been thinking a lot about socks – having a new pair on my (very airconditioned) feet yesterday made me remember how much I love them – so I thought I’d take out all of the unfinished socks I have floating around.
In a complete coincidence, this picture works for Scout’s new UFO meme.
These are not my only UFOs – not by any stretch.
That’s four singles, five on the needles – actually six if you count the one I started yesterday and I have no freaking clue what I’m going to do with all of these. Well – I know I will (eventually) finish the two jaywalkers – the pink picot edge pair mate is already started. The others, well, your guess is a good as mine. I’m not in love with any of them. In fact, I’ve been really inspired by Melanie’s socks lately – I just love the simple goodness of them. They seem like they are squishy comfortable and just the thing you want on your feet when it’s finally cool.
Truth be told, I think I’m going to start yet another pair. I’m loving these sock hop socks so much, I think I want to make some more – this time – almost knee socks. In American Pie. I had so much left over from the heatwave socks, it should be no problem yarn wise.
Lovely new socks and awesome–albeit unfinished–socks! You are such a sock addict. Sorry to read there was another IKEA incident…Damn that place. The new catalog is coming out. 😉
I’m with you! There is nothing better than a simple pair of socks.
When you complete the knee socks, please post the length. Nothing worse than left over beautiful sock yarn. Still can’t find a good use for it.
Okay, I have to laugh because everytime I finish another pair of plain old socks I think about not posting them. Who wants to see 7,000 pairs of the same thing, just in different colorways? But you are right, it’s nice to have a basic sock recipe that you’ve perfected.
hah we have the same socks! isn’t that yarn amazing? yours look great! I think I had an ounce leftover from each skein, def enough for knee socks I think.
your other socks look great, but if there are some you aren’t in LOVE with, well why keep working on them?
Heatwave, that would be pretty funny if I wasn’t melting. Love the blue of that new pair! I like the group shot of all the unfinished socks, too.
I was going to tell you that Yahaira has some very similar socks – but she beat me to it! 🙂 They look great!
…and all of those socky UFOs? Perfect for Socktoberfest!!
Aaaah! Finish that blue lace UFO sock! I loved that when you first posted it, so much so that I’ve jotted down all the details to make a pair. I’m just saying, they’re good looking.
I’m a firmly committed top-down, heel-flap sock knitter too. It works for me. End of story. 😉
Those heatwave socks rock! But I have to tell you, all those unfinished socks are giving me an anxiety attack. I want to finish them for you! I am a ‘one project at a time’ girl. Two, at the very most. An UFO lurks in the back of my mind whispering unkind things to me until I HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO finish it. So glad we are all different.
Your sock knitting is lovely, thanks for sharing your photos!
I’m all about the socks in the summer- I’m on my third pair since mid-June. Hoping to get a whole pile done to wear with my cute new handknit sock-wearin’ shoes this fall.
Great socks and new stash, Cara! 🙂
I found Alison’s backwards YO short row method easier to follow than Purly’s for some reason. If you get the urge to try short-row toe-up again, here’s her tutorial. 🙂
[and now I really really really want to spin up my sock hop roving! ]
mmmmmmmmmmmm, soooooooooooocks
Welcome home! And, very nice socks! How’s the LC coming along?
Are you ready to spin your own sock yarn and start a new pair? Well, get ready cause here I…er, it comes!
Love all your sock yarn and Emily’s bags are wonderful, too!
I am a friend and big fan of Emily’s sock yarn and bags! It is dangerous as I live near her so have a hard time not buying it all!
I agree with you on the top down, heel flap sock kind of gal-me too! I should try the two circulars but I love my dpns, so I haven’t been able to bring myself to try it. Maybe someday. I love your new ones! How many sock pairs do you have? I’m just a bit jealous.
Love your socks! I’m doing the same thing this summer–I’ve dubbed it the Summer of Socks! I’ve got three pairs on the needles right now and I switch when I get bored…I too, love the handspun: nothing is quite as cushy and comfortable. Hopefully I’ll be posting my finished pair soon…
Of course one knits wool socks in a heatwave! What else?
Hey. You didn’t let the naysayers drive you off of Log Cabinning now, did you?
All your unfinished socks give me hope! I love the sock hops- what gorgeous stripes.
Doing what works for you is important, it’s true. I have yet to find a heel-flap heel that fits comfortably on my foot, and I do try every now and again, but ultimately you’ve got to do what works. However, let me encourage you to try toe-up again. Easier to try on, no running out of yarn, no kitchnering, and yeah, you can do the heel-flap thing. My favorite start? The Turkish Cast-on. It’s genius.
Today the minivan told me that it was 106°F in my driveway. Assuming that the weather report of approximately 47% relative humidity is correct, it feels like 133°F outside today.
I am thankful for indoor plumbing and electric powered compression units today – as well as handknit socks.
I was just thinking of that song today. Love the socks very fitting with the weather we’ve been having lately. I really like the sock hop colors I’ve been buying their superwash fiber and spinning my own. I just finished a pair in the “It’s my party” colorway which are up on my blog. I’m currently spinning the “wild thing”. Your socks came out great and the Emily Parsons yarns are great I’m going to have to go check those out.
Your socks are always so nice! How can you not be in love with them? Question on the Sock Hop yarn, did you spin it your self? Or does it come handspun? They look great! I’m with you, the only thing I feel like knitting is socks when the weather is like this.
Oh, darnnit. Now I have to go buy more sock yarn. I LOVE those colorways (the Sophie’s Toes).
The toe up sock thing…. I have Sensational Knitted socks and I went through that book until I found a toe-up method that worked for me. *nodnodnod* But I HATED the short row heel combined with colorwork, so Widdershins was ABSOLUTELY what I needed.
The pic with the ufo socks is so pretty. The meme sounds perfect-maybe it will help me finish things before the end of the summer so I have a clean slate for fall.
Cara they’re GORGEOUS! I love handspun socks. Funny, I was just thinking how many UFO and SSS socks I have laying around here. AND I startd another pair today! Whoops!
if you have an even amount of unmatched pairs, then make them a pair and call it a day. Or better yet, call it a pair! Then you can take a gorgeous picture of your mismatched pair and start a new trend!!
god, I am a genius.
Oh my gosh. Is that handspun sock yarn really AS delicious as it looks? Because $28 for socks is near the edge of my known universe, but I’m working up some expedition spirit…
And about casting on for toes. There is a very easy way to do it, with two circulars. Tie a slip knot around one needle. Now, just wrap the yarn around and around that needle and the other, until each has as many wraps as you want stitches. Pull the second needle through so it’s hanging by its cable, and just start knitting the loops on the other one. Easy as that. You just knit around and around, increasing when you want to. There aren’t any twisted stitches or wraps or YOs at all, and it makes a beautiful, seamless toe.
So. Many. Socks. ooooooh!
I’ve been on a sock kick too. I can’t stand to have anything bigger on the needles when it’s this hot out. Not that I’m complaining, as long as there’s no snow on the ground I’m good.
When I cast on for toe up socks I just do a long-tail cast on with my working yarn and a scrap piece of yarn, then I pick up the working yarn stitches when I start to knit in the round and discard the scrap yarn. But I still prefer top down socks.
PS Welcome back
I find that when my brain is fried from the heat, nothing feels better on my needles than simple stockinette socks. Yum.
Love the pic of your SIPs! Cute Heatwave socks too- thanks for making “heatwave” a fun thing for a change!
Cara- If you go to my blog on the sidebar I have a tutorial for the Turkish Cast On…a wonderful toe up cast on that is (IMHO) MUCH easier to execute than the “magic” cast on! I think you’ll like it much better – I use a magic loop method when I do it and set it up with just one needle altho the tute is written for two!
Can I as what pattern you’re using for the blue UFO sock near the middle of the pic? The one with the picot edge? Is it the “Lovely Lace” from the last IK? All your socks are pretty but that one, especially so 🙂
TIA!
You’ll have to count up what else you have going. I love ALL of your socks because the yarn is so gorgeous!
Emily’s yarn is great. I got 2 custom dyed skeins – one for my Toasty Toes sock swap and one for me. It’s gorgeous and incredibly soft.
I knit socks in the heat wave today too. I just sat at The Point and knit to my heart’s content. No use going outside.
Cara, thank you, thank you, for the endorsement! I wish I could photograph my yarn as beautifully as you do!
I like top down socks because it gets the ribbing (my least favorite part) out of the way first. Glad you’re back and survived the move.
i have sock yarn that i buy because of you, even though i don’t knit socks! you are dangerous. it’s gotten to the point where i’m just stubborn about actually making a pair of socks. (i knit one once.) i am going to knit some bracelets or something out of the yarn. lacy hats maybe?
anyway, beautiful. glad the move went well.
I have the same number of socks on the needles – all single and waiting for their mate. I was too embarrassed to blog about it – but now I will! Thanks.
Love sock inspiration. I must have fat feet and ankles because I always worry that I’m going to run out of yarn with the second sock.
Glad the NYPD let you off. Are you a native NY person? I missed the news about your move….