Fraternal

Hand knit socks are one of the little luxuries that non-knitters don't get to experience (unless they have a knitter who loves them very much.) They are so comfy and warm and can be customized to fit perfectly. Then there's the endless variety of amazing sock yarns--pretty much any fiber blend and color you can hope for. Here is my latest pair (and by latest, I mean they were finished in October.)

Side note: taking pictures of your own feet takes an inordinate amount of body contortion. These are plain stockinette socks following the Yarn Harlot's Sock Recipe. As much as I like the look of fancy socks with cables and lace, and as interesting as they can be to make, my favorite socks to wear are the plain knit ones. 

These are knit with Patons Kroy Socks FX in the color way Clover Colors. By sock yarn standards this yarn is incredibly cheap (in price) and can be found in most of the big box stores like Michaels and Jo-Anns. It's a blend of 75% wool 25% nylon so its nice and sturdy. It's definitely not as buttery soft as the luxury yarns with cashmere, merino, etc. but its definitely fine for wearing on your feet. These feel like they will wear really well and after a full winter of wear I don't see any signs of weakening in the heels or balls where I tend to wear holes through my socks. 

I made no effort to try to make the colors match from one sock to the other. I just started each sock from the beginning of a 50g ball and let the colors line up as they may. With such a long color repeat and slow transition it would have been a real pain and really, I just don't care that much about having matched up socks. I think the fraternal pair is actually really cute. 

Quicky

Sometimes, you just want to feel like you've accomplished something and finishing a knitting project can be just the thing. At times like that, it's nice to whip up a quick little project that you can take from start to finish in just a few hours. Marian is just the ticket.

Knit with super bulky yarn and size 19 needles this seed stitch cowl only takes about three hours. I love that it hangs a bit lower for a single-loop cowl. I don't like having things right up against my neck. 

Mine is knit with Malabrigo Rasta in colorway Azul Prfundo. I've always wanted to use Rasta for something, but it's hard to find a use for such a bulky yarn. I don't know that I would want a hat or traditional scarf out of such fat yarn. Mittens and slippers would be way too unwieldily. Something about this one-loop drapey cowl is just perfect for this nice fat yarn. I think it will be a popular go-to in the winter. 

Garter garter garter garter garter...

I've mentioned in my last few posts (spread over 6 or so months... I know... I know...) that from about May of last year until two-ish months ago I really lost my knitting mojo. Lots of changes in my life certainly contributed--end of a big relationship, a move across town, old job that I hated to wake up to, new job that I do not hate but that is super challenging in other ways, another bar exam... by the time I got any alone time I would end up just holding my knitting but not actually creating any stitches.

I did not like that knitting had taken a major back seat in my life so I decided to try and change that. I decided that what I needed was something simple. Something so simple that I would normally never consider it. So simple that I could do it blindfolded, in the dark, with one needle tied behind my back. In short, I needed lots and lots of garter stitch with no shaping. Hello Garter Squish by Stephen West.

It's a blanket made with two strands of yarn held together, done on size 15 needles, entirely in garter stitch. Not to toot my own horn, but I could knit this dead. Which was exactly what I needed since that is exactly how I felt at the end of the day some times. I couldn't handle decreases. I couldn't handle increases. Or short rows. Or charts. But I could do the knit stitch, over and over, endlessly.

The pattern (yes there is actually a pattern) calls for two strands of worsted weight yarn to be held together to make a super bulky yarn. I held one strand of worsted and one strand of DK together because I am a rebel. The DK was Berocco Vintage DK all in the color Cracked Pepper. The blues are Berocco Vintage Worsted in Neptune, Tidepool, Emerald, and Breezeway. 

I used the highly sophisticated stripe technique of knit with one color until the ball is completely gone, begin using next color. I had two balls of each blue color, so once I went through the color repeat once, I just started over and did it again. Tres Modern. If it looks like some stripes are 19 garter ridges and others are 22, they are. I can deal. The double yarn combined with the garter stitch make this a super squishy blanket. It's also really really stretchy. Unstreched its about as wide as twin bed and maybe 2 feet longer, but it can stretch to gigantic proportions.  

I started in October of last year and finished just before Christmas. I gave it to Bob for Christmas 1) because he is my best friend and 2) because he only had one smallish blanket and if you are friends with me you need lots since I am perpetually cold. It gets used near daily and some of the end have worked their way out, so I need to give it a little TLC and weave them back in. Overall, I've been super pleased with the finished object and with the care and use I've seen it receive.

This project really helped get me knitting again when I had stopped almost completely. My productivity has been agonizingly slow compared to my usual, but I do find a little time most days to squeeze in a stitch or two. 

Bad pictures of a simple hat

Last fall, Bob asked me if I could knit a hat. I tried really hard not to get all ego-y, and I wanted to say "yes" but I may have scoffed a little and said that "hats are super easy." I'm like that. So Bob asked for a hat "with a band that folds."

I found some yarn in a suitable guy color (Madelinetosh Tosh DK in Graphite) and cast on for Jared Flood's Turn a Square. Except I sort of made my own version of the pattern. I did not do the tubular cast on, because that's a lot of work for what I feel like is a very minimal effect.  Also, I didn't do the stripes, because Bob wanted solid. Finally, I made the ribbing longer (4 inches) so that the brim could be flipped up.

I don't have any good pictures of this hat, but I have some bad ones. Here is a picture that does not show either the hat or the color to its best advantage.

Here is another bad picture where you can barely see the hat. It does prove that the hat has been worn out in the wild. 

Overall, there wasn't a lot that went into this hat in terms of skill or complexity, but Bob seems to like it, so we'll call it a win. Sorry for the crummy pictures.