Sockssss

It’s Design-Your-Own month at Ravelry’s Sock Knitters Anonymous group, and for the first time in months (February) I’ve been compelled to knit along with the group.  Actually, I would have in May for the Anne Hanson KAL but I have been hit in the face at work, thankyouverymuch so I’ve been super busy. 

Anyway, so I cracked open my Japanese stitch dictionaries and chose a really elaborate cable motif for some socks.  I needed to invert it and convert to in-the-round stylin’, so it’s pretty involved.  I also didn’t take into account the fact that because it’s basically all cables (1×1 and 2×2), the sock really tightens in on itself.  Therefore, I had to add a bunch of stitches to make it fit!

And I had to choose a yarn that I thought would work.  I first used some awesome Araucania Ranco Multy that is having a hard time finding the right pattern.  And it looked awesome in the turquoisey-brown colorway, but alas, it was an original swatch over 68 stitches that was just too small! I’d also ripped out this yarn a couple of times, so I started to go fresh, and finally chose Dream in Color Smooshy in Flamingo Pie.

Yes, please, can I have some more?

Okay!

Yeah, it’s turning out pretty nicely. I’ve got some interesting design elements up my sleeve for the heel and toe, too.  I hope I can figure everything out and keep track of what I’m doing because I hope to release the pattern eventually (if anyone wants to test knit it, that would be awesome) in three sizes.  That’s the goal, anyway.

Here’s what else I’m working on:

Those are another pair of Hearts Afire socks (for Malvina, who expressed some love for the pattern) out of Shibui Sock, and a plain jane pair of stockinette socks out of some Cherry Tree Hill Supersock I had lying around.  That yarn (in the Life’s a Beach) colorway, I had always intended to be a plain sock, but I’m not really motivated these days to knit a plain sock, even though they are nice to wear.  But after all the last few socks that I’ve made (pretty much all the ones I’ve been working on this year) I needed a break – no ribbing, no pattern, no nothing.  Now of course, I cast on for that ridiculously charted and complicated orange sock, but… whatevs. Heh.

I’m also working on an Ishbel shawl, but I apparently didn’t upload those pictures to Flickr.  It’s out of Malabrigo sock in the terracotta (way orange) colorway. That Malabrigo sock is super fabulous.  I don’t know how it will hold up for socks but it should work all right.  I do have some plans for my other skeins in the stash, and since the shawl is knitting up so nicely, I could definitely see a couple more shawls in the future. 

And, just for kicks, here is a pic of my current work space, that I finally more-or-less finished (I put up the cork board).  It’s where I do all my jewelry stuff and computering (drawing/writing – I use my eee PC for internets).