Unicorn Socks

Okay, so I still don't have photos yet of the kool-aid dyed shawl, or various other things I should have photos of. I'm going to ease myself back into being a good blogger by showing you a very simple and mindless pair of socks.


These ones are the simplest of toe-up socks, using some self-striping sock yarn to add interest while allowing me to make some very quick and easy socks. I went through a little spree, recently, of buying self-striping sock yarn, when I decided I was running low on socks and would need to quickly replenish my drawer before I had to start wearing (gasp) store-bought socks. This particular pair uses Knit Picks Felici, in a colourway they call Moonlit, but I think looks like the palette of a little girl's room decorated with unicorns and mermaids. Or maybe I'm just revealing a bit too much about my childhood. I found the yarn to be a bit splitty, but very soft. It is a wool & nylon blend, so hopefully it will stand up fairly well. (I just wore a hole in the bottom of a pair of socks from Knit Picks Stroll, which were about a year old. I think I'm going to darn them, since they are otherwise in really good shape.)


For these socks, I used my standard: the Universal Toe-Up Sock Formula, but by now I just use the numbers from the formula and make the sock however I like. In this case, I did Judy's Magic Cast-on and a standard toe, then knit the whole length of the sock to the cuff before returning to open it up and knit an afterthought heel. I did the afterthought heel rather than a short-row heel because I didn't want to muss up the pattern of the stripes as the foot transitions to the leg, and also because I thought it would be nicer to have stripes around the heel rather than a block of one colour for the bottom and another block of colour for the top. If you've ever worked short rows in self-striping yarn, you know what I mean.

End result: a comfy and soft pair of socks in pretty stripes. Gimme the marker, Dude - I'm marking it an 8.

After the Kool Aid

After a little trip to the microwave and a lot of rinsing, my little test skeins are ready for viewing.


As I'm sure you guessed, they are dyed with (from left to right) Grape, Lime, Cherry. The original Ruby Red wool/silk is across the top, for reference.

I like the bright red of the Cherry, but I already have another shawl that colour. I also like the brownish olive green the the Lime turned into, but I do have some Walnut brown wool/silk that I've been planning to use for a breezy lace cardigan, and I don't know that I need two brown lace items, just now.

Most of all, I love the deep almost-black purple that I got with the Grape: it's just what I was hoping for. I think we have a winner.

Milk Cake

I had a dream last night that I was eating a bowl full of pieces of stale cake soaked in milk to rehydrate it. Think about that for a second. I could have had a dream about flying with valkyries to a Nordic castle inhabited by Alexander Skarsgard, but I had a dream about stale cake and milk. Weird, to say the least. (It reminds me of another dream I had, once, where I was eating turkey leftovers (not even a fresh hot meal, but leftovers) and was worried that my HLM was going to steal them away. I mean, to be fair, even leftovers of turkey dinner are worth protecting, it's true.)


I decided not to overanalyze the dream, but to take it as a sign that it was time to make a Tres Leches cake. Ever since I saw this recipe on Pioneer Woman, I've been lusting after it. Thanks to the milk cake dream, today was the day. I bought the requisite three types of milks at the store after work and came home to put this baby together. For the record, it's just as lovely as it looks. Perhaps I went a bit heavy on the whipped cream layer, but I hated to waste any, especially since it has just a teensy bit of my tequila vanilla in there.

I also (finally) finished the knitted lace edging of the Bridgewater shawl, a few minutes ago. Having finished it, I am thinking about overdyeing it before I block it out. Maybe it seems crazy, but I've made enough projects with this ruby red that I'm ready to have a shawl of a different colour now. (Note to self (and also to you): buying lace yarn on cones gives you a lot of yarn.)


So I tried out a few colours of kool aid to see how they look. This is clearly the Before shot. I can't wait for them to dry out!

Canopy Socks

I finished these socks a while ago -- they have actually been through the wash a few times, already -- but somehow they got missed in the blog.


They were one of the last couple of pairs from the 2010 Rockin' Sock Club, and when I recently got an urge for a simple but satisfying sock, this one came to mind.

I made a few changes from the original design (Ravelry), since that's the kind of girl I am. I did a garter stitch cuff rather than the picot hem from the original -- this was partly about saving yarn and also because a garter stitch cuff will fit my wide calf better than folded hems generally do. Then I shortened the leg a bit, since the pattern suggests that a large size sock may take two skeins of yarn rather than one. I obviously wanted to get by with one skein, so I made it a little shorter. Then I changed the toe from the lacy leafy toe of the original to a plain stockingette standard toe. I'm very happy with the end result, overall.


The funny thing about these socks is that I actually used four needle sizes to make them. I started out with a 3.00 mm needle, thinking it was a 2.75 mm. After a bit, I realized my mistake, but rather than starting over, just went down to the intended needle size. After knitting part of the leg at that size, I decided it was still too big, and went down to 2.50 mm. By the foot, I actually went down to a 2.25 mm needle, to get a nice snug fit. It's pretty ridiculous, when you think about it, especially having to do it all over again for the second one. The good thing is that they fit nicely, since my calves are large and could use the extra room, anyway.

The fingerless mitts I mentioned last time are done, too -- I just need some photos. And I am down to the last quarter of the lace border on the rarely-mentioned Bridgewater Shawl. I have even sketched out plans for a new pattern or two of my own, to stretch my design muscles. Things are going well, here. How about you?

Another Adorable Baby Blanket

As I mentioned a week and a half ago, I recently committed myself to making a couple of baby blankets. Initially I was going to make two of the same blanket (the shale lace blanket I showed off last week) but my mom and sister were so enamored of Jared Flood's Tweed Baby Blanket (ravelry) that I decided to make one of each, instead. In retrospect, I'm glad I did. While I love the first one, I was a bit tired of doing the same thing over and over by the end of it, and making a second blanket the same might have put me over the edge.

The classic Shetland construction of this one is perfect for cleansing the palate: first you knit a big garter stitch square (from one corner to the opposite corner) which is so easy and meditative that it's heavenly. Then you pick up stitches along the four sides and do some lace. It just so happens that this lace changes colours every four rows, which definitely inspired me to keep going and do a full repeat (or two or three) every day.


Once again, the acrylic means that I can't block it quite the way I'd like to (sorry Jared) but it still looks great. The only thing I might change is the attached i-cord edging. I upsized one needle size to do it, but it still seems a little bit tight. Perhaps going up another size would have helped, or doing some more unattached rows of i-cord at the right places to follow the curves of the lace.

Once it was off the needles, I wasted no time in getting back to the springy fingerless mittens I've been hankering for. They are nearly done, so I'll show you those, soon.

Sweater for Wee Doggy

My family got a new puppy a week and a half ago. Just look at that face. He's a miniature schnauzer, so he's very tiny, too. He will grow to be a bit bigger, and a bit hairier, but for now: tiny and adorable.


My parents just happen to be one of those frugal "let's save money and energy and keep the heat turned down to the point of shivering" types of families. Perhaps that's why I learned to love wool so much. In any case, I can only imagine how poor little Gryphon must be shivering as he trots adorably around the (fancy brand new) tiles in that house. I mean, he would be, if he weren't being carried everywhere, and held in the crook of a warm elbow all day.


Anyway, when they suggested I knit him a sweater, I couldn't say no. (Look at that face!) I grabbed some leftover wool and needles and found a perfect simple pattern on Ravelry and cast on.

Because he is so wee, I was done in no time flat -- though not before I realized that all three people living in that house with him also know how to knit, so how how is it that I'm the one who got nominated to make this sweater?

In any case, it's worth it, to get a few more cute photos of the puppy. As you can see, it's a bit big, but don't we always make something for babies to grow into?

Shale Baby Blanket

My name is Rhonda and I am a yarn snob.

I might as well come clean about it, now, because I've recently taken on knitting two baby blankets, and bumped up against the place where luxurious knits meet family-friendly knits. If it were my choice, I would knit Jared Flood's baby blanket patterns in a yarn that's cloudy and wooly and tweedy, and then handwash and block the heck out of them to create a work of art.


Instead, I have to actually consider the moms who will be using and washing these blankets. They will want to just throw them in the washing machine every time the baby gets it messy (whether with food or barf or something worse) so a luxurious heirloom in hand-wash-only wool isn't really reasonable. One option would be to find a superwash wool to make it with, but aside from being a bit more expensive, the options I found for superwash worsted-weight didn't appeal.

The obvious choice is simple and inexpensive and easy to find: 100% acrylic.


When I started knitting, I used acrylic almost exclusively. It was a while before I discovered the wonder and perfection of wool and other natural fibers. Over the years, I've obviously become a yarn snob, since I don't even want to admit I made this blanket from acrylic. Sadly, I can't really block it, so the lace, while lovely, will never quite be as beautiful as it could be, were it washed and stretched out flat and opened up. Nevertheless, I am very satisfied with this blanket, and I think the recipient will like it, too. I am hoping that it will be barfed on and snuggled up to and carried around until even workhorse acrylic can't hold up to the abuse.

Snowflake Mittens

In case the last few posts have left you thinking that I'm only making socks, here is a completed pair of mittens to dispel that notion.

I'm sure that I've mentioned before that these are mittens based on a traditional Norwegian pattern. Decades ago, I had a penpal in Norway, and she sent me a pair of mittens for Christmas, one year. They were red and white (the negative-image of these ones, with red where I have white and white where I have blue) and warm sturdy wool, and I wore them for years. By the time they started to show some real wear and tear, I had learned to knit, so I got out some graph paper and sketched out the pattern. I've made several pairs since then, including one for myself out of red and green alpaca, and they lasted for years, as well. A few months ago, I discovered a hole at the end of one finger, and decided maybe it was time to make a new pair.


The alpaca I used before was Andean Treasure from Knit Picks, and the mittens were so soft and warm that I decided to stick with the same yarn. This time I went with a blue and white, and decided to reverse the dark and light colours to make the snowflakes white and the background blue. I am very happy with how they turned out, especially since the weather was so cold for so long. Thankfully it's warming up, now -- soon I'll get to put these away and enjoy the warm weather, but they'll be ready for me next winter, to keep me warm again.

I decided while I was knitting them that I should write up the pattern and post it as a freebie on Ravelry, so other people can also enjoy this simple and lovely mitten pattern. I would love to see some of you make some, though I hope you won't really need a pair until next winter.

download now

Haleakala Socks

Time has gotten away from me, a bit, and I realized that I'm going to have finished projects piling up around here, if I don't start posting about them. Don't get me wrong -- I'm still up to my elbows in yarn and working on a dozen things at once (with even more ideas waiting in the wings that I'm trying to get around to.) What I really need is a month or two away from work, so I can really make some progress on my ever-growing queue. (Note to self: start buying lottery tickets.)


This is a pair of socks that I made last week. They flew off the needles, because it was a relatively simple pattern in a luxurious soft cashmere-blend. They represent the first shipment of Cookie A's sock club, which I have to admit I signed up for almost immediately, when I saw her announcement at the end of last year.

The club offers two sock patterns, along with two cookie recipes, every two months. Of course it also includes a skein of sock yarn to knit the socks. February's shipment was Caper sock yarn from String Theory, which you can see is dyed a spectacular colour, including shades of my favourite teal.


Of the patterns offered, I chose the simplest one -- mostly because it is the most beautiful, in my opinion, but also because I was ready for a relatively simple sock. I say "relatively" only because somehow I never managed to memorize the eight-row lace panel. Usually by the heel of the first sock (or definitely by the beginning of the second sock) I'll have the design memorized and can carry on without the paper pattern, but this one just wouldn't stick, for some reason. Other than that, it was a basic top-down sock, as is Cookie's standard.


The back of the leg is 2x2 rib, which was a bit boring to knit by the time I reached the heel and stockingette sole, but other than that, it was quite an enjoyable knit. I have a bit of the yarn left, so I will even be able to make a few hexagons for my slowly-growing sock yarn blanket.

I regret to inform you that there are no photos of the delicious chocolate chip pecan cookies, since they were eaten, long ago. Actually, I don't regret it at all.

Rushing Rivulet Socks

I was in a random little sock yarn club for a few months, a few years ago, where I got surprise skeins of yarn in the mail. I wasn't in love with this one when I got it, and it sat on my shelf for a long long time before I wound it up and tried using it for something. It didn't work in that pattern and I set it back on the shelf for another year or so. A little while ago, I decided to purge some of my yarn and this one topped the list. I picked it up to put it on the purge pile, and started looking at the beautiful colours, and stroking the soft texture, and decided to give it one more chance.


I finished these socks a few days ago, and have been wearing them happily. It was a pretty simple pattern, in Cat Bordhi's usual toe-up style. The stitch used was easy and quick -- two out of three rows were stockingette, which makes it trip along at a good pace, and the yarnovers in the third rows help to break up the stripes in the yarn, a bit, to make it a bit more random. I like this pattern for multicoloured yarns, and may use it again.

In this design (using the Riverbed architecture) the increases for the sock gusset all come from the bottom of the sole, which makes the fabric bias across the arch of the foot. They hug up against my foot in a very comfy way, but it doesn't really feel much different from an ordinary sock without that bias. I also added a few more rows to the heel flap, since I have a high instep, which also helps them to fit well.


The yarn itself is soft and cozy, too. My only complaint is that, through the course of knitting the two socks, there were about a dozen spots where one ply was broken and a new ply joined, which leaves lots of fuzzy little ends sticking out. I could have cut that piece out of the yarn each time and woven in ends, but then I really would have been swearing each time I came across a new one.

Overall a quick and comfortable sock that kept me occupied until the yarn for some of my new projects arrived. Stay tuned!