FO: Gentleman's Fancy Socks

Thank you so much for your input about the ribbon on the baby tank. I haven't decided what to do yet but Toni had the bright idea to tack the bow down! Why didn't I think of that??? Of course! I might try tacking the bow down in front first before turning it around to the back. There's something about a bow in back that screams 1986 to me.

I was looking forward to running a 10K last weekend but I woke up on Sunday to thunder, lightning and a heavy downpour. I'm still pretty disappointed about it because there aren't many 10Ks in my area and it's my favorite distance. I'm thinking of running one in Kansas City in early June, although the logistics of getting to the race and dealing with baby care might make that impossible. We'll see. Instead of running this weekend, this is what I did:
That swift and ball winder is addicting!

I finished the Gentleman's Fancy Socks this weekend. I apologize that every picture of these shows a different color - navy blue is impossible to photograph!!!




Pattern: Gentleman's Fancy Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Lang Jawoll in 85.025 (navy blue)
Needles: US 2, US1
Modifications: I don't care for leg shaping so I knit the cuff and the first repeat on size 2 needles and then switched to size 1s for the desired shaping. It worked out very well.

You should see how little yarn I had left over. Maybe I'll get a picture of that for later this week. It was really astounding. Both pairs of socks for my in-laws really came down to the last few yards!
There are two new pairs of socks on the needles, both using Woolarina sock yarn. The first is Craftaholic's Orchid socks in Raspberry. Instead of doing a lace repeat in front and in back, I chose to do it in front with ribbing halfway down the back followed by stockinette stitch like the Canal du Midi socks.
The unblocked version looks all crumpled but check out some of the other Orchid socks on Flickr. That Craftaholic has some great sock patterns!

This yarn is also Woolarina in Grapefruit. I bought this ages ago because I loved the colors. At the time, I must have forgotten my contempt for the pooling that so often comes with variegated yarn. The yarn has been languishing in stash because I didn't know what to do with it. Since the Orchid socks require more attention to knit than I'd like, I thought I'd start a mindless ribbed sock for reading/studying with this yarn. Of course, I've taken every precaution and I'm alternating between skeins to minimize any pooling. It's going well so far, although I'm only a few inches in. Perhaps you'll see some pictures later this week. I think I'll try 4-5 inches of ribbing followed by plain stockinette. I've never made a stockinette sock so this will be a first!

Nancyfest: Gentleman's Fancy Socks and Canal du Midi Socks

Progress continues on the Canal du Midi socks. I've made it down to the heel flap on sock #2 and there's hope that I'll have the pair done this weekend!

In the meantime, I cast on for a pair of the Gentleman's Fancy Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks. The yarn is Lang Jawoll from Knitsense! Stash knitting too! I can't read and work a twisted stitch pattern very well so I went looking for a good rib pattern. These will be for my stepfather-in-law. My MIL and sFIL spend their summers in Montana so I'd like to have their socks done before they leave in May.

What do you think of the color? Is it too bright to be a manly sock?

Lastly, I made Yarnival! Go check it out! There are some really interesting blog posts in this issue!

Child's First Sock Progress

Yay! Baby Gleek arrived! Go stop by and see the little wee one!

I was able to capture some better photos of my Child's First Sock from Nancy Bush's Vintage Socks book. I'm almost done with the first one but my knitting will be slowing down this month since I have a big Organic Chemistry exam and four of my comprehensive exams on April 6th. April 5th is going to be a rough day, I suspect. *sigh* There will be so much celebratory knitting on April 7th, let me tell you!

Anyway, have some sock photos!


Do you see that cool striping on the heel flap? It was virtually impossible to photograph but it's there! Between me and Stacey, there are going to be some colorful CFSs out there!

I encourage you to stop by Theresa's blog, where she's holding a contest in search of manly sock yarn and manly patterns. Someone needs to write a book of really good manly sock patterns that are actually interesting for the knitter to work on! I have two pairs of manly socks languishing in the UFO pile, mainly because they bored me to tears. I really ought to finish the blue pair. I am only inches away from finishing the second sock but two significant problems have arisen, one physical and one motivational. Aaron expressed doubt about the pointy toe and its suitability for what I would consider his pointy feet. I'm afraid that the 10 sts/inch gauge began to matter once the knitting mojo was compromised by said toe. Alas! The curse of manly knitting: utter boredom.