Tag Archives: socks

New Favorites: Starter socks

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starter socks - great knitting patterns

While I have a general and persistent wish for warmer feet, I rarely have even a flicker of a wish to knit socks. I mean, they take forever to knit and they’re generally hidden inside your shoes. And it’s not like decent socks are hard to come by. AND! I’m hard on socks! Regardless, I really should try it sometime, right?

These things give me the urge:

1. Rililie’s ridiculously cute First-Time Socks (the pattern for which is Hermione’s Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder) (thx, Rililie)

2. Clara Parkes’ charming Stepping Stones socks (free download; also found in “The Knitter’s Book of Socks”)

3. Purl Soho’s luscious Homespun Boot Socks

4. And most compelling of all: Pablo Neruda’s Ode to My Socks

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This week’s ICYMI post is Transformative Mods: A modern spin on Flukra.

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New Favorites: Wrapped stitches

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wrapped knitting stitches

This post was originally going to be one big swoon over those gorgeous, Therese Timpson-designed Japanese-inspired house slippers on the left up there. But then I ran across a photo of Blue Sky Alpacas’ Techno Hat, one I’d seen (and downloaded) before, and it got me wondering if the technique was the same. It’s not; and I’m eager to try them both.

For the slippers, the bars of the “flower” are created simply by transferring four stitches onto a spare needle, wrapping the yarn around them twice, and then placing that whole thing onto the right needle. The hat is a chunky version of smocking stitch, which gives it a more graphic look. The basis of the pattern is k2/p2 ribbing. At staggered intervals, two of the rib columns (and the two purl stitches separating them) are cinched together. The process is to insert your right needle between the 6th and 7th stitches (so, to the left of the second rib column), catch the working yarn from behind and pull a loop through. Place the loop onto the end of the left needle and knit it together with the first stitch. You can see Eunny Jang demo the smocking stitch in a Knitting Daily video on this and a couple of other groovy wrapped-stitch techniques.

By the way, the Techno Hat is part of a trio of free patterns that Blue Sky is offering as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

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New favorites: House socks

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house socks knitting patterns

It’ll be awhile before it’s cool enough here to wear big bulky sweaters — September and October being our warmest months. But it’s definitely cool enough in the evenings for me to be craving a nice cozy pair of knitted house socks to wear while lounging (read: knitting) on the couch. Any of these would do —

Clockwise from top left:

1. Lion Brand’s ultra-cozy Cottage Slipper Socks, free pattern. (The pair pictured were knitted and beautifully photographed by Colleen Diamond)

2. Rowan’s simple and slubby House Socks, pattern designed by Martin Storey and published in Winter Warmers.

3. Incredible aran-cabled beauties, which seem to have once been for sale at Toast. Please let me know if you know of a similar pattern!

4. Canadian Living’s ribbed Weekend Socks, free pattern

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The saga of the slipper socks

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tootsie toasters slipper sock knitted
tootsie toaster knitted slipper sock

Between this, that and the other thing, I decided late Sunday it was time to attempt something in the realm of sock construction. I bought this Turkish Bed Socks pattern and sat up into the wee hours knitting it out of some bright green, variegated (!) Noro yarn I bought at the Tokyo Fish Market, adjusting for worsted weight yarn and size 6 needles. I slightly underestimated the cast-on edge and then overcompensated on the instep and wound up with something fit for a large man. But well-made! So Monday night I frogged it and went back to the half-finished Tootsie Toaster — ripped out the toe section and redid it in the round. Reader, my right foot has never been happier. This toaster has no mate yet, so for now I’m just carrying it around on a pillow like Cinderella’s slipper.

Blog Crush: Wiksten

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Jenny Gordy's socks
(Photo: Jenny Gordy, Wiksten)

Last year when Flipboard added in Google Reader functionality I suddenly had blogs as the main course in my daily media diet again. That combo is hands down, for me, the very best way to browse the web. I fell back in love with some old favorites (101 Cookbooks, Emma’s Designblogg …) and began adding new feeds at a pretty steady pace. But it spiked when I took up knitting a few months ago. One of the first things I did was to go looking for inspiring knitters around the web, and now I’m ever on the lookout for more. The other day at Design Sponge, the designer of Odette (gorgeous), whose home was being featured, made a point of mentioning that the scarf in one of the photos was knitted by her friend Jenny Gordy, of Wiksten. So you know I clicked that link.

There are lots of beautiful blogs from beautiful makers of beautiful things, and this is no exception. But I don’t remember the last one that drew me so far into the archives. Gordy’s a designer through and through — a dressmaker who is also an exquisite knitter and now ceramicist. (Three of my favorite things.) And she’s actually got me thinking about knitting socks, which I never thought would interest me — the photo above and this post were enough to convince me. (Almost enough? I do love double-points.) As I bounced around in the archives, I discovered that she recently moved from Brooklyn to the midwest, and I think she may actually have grown up in the middle as well. Having grown up in Kansas City, and having been in California for quite some time, I’m increasingly aware of the instant — albeit subconscious — vibe I get from midwesterners. I don’t know what it is, but I can’t tell you how often I’ve hit it off instantly with someone only to discover later that we’re both from flyover land. And that might be at play here. Anyway, reading her blog felt like encountering an old friend I simply hadn’t met yet, which I think is what all the best blogs feel like. And it’s just thoroughly inspiring to me.

I really loved highlighting great blogs at Readerville and think I’ll try to do the same here from time to time. So there’s one for you: Wiksten.

(I’d love to hear about your favorites in the comments.)