Monday, November 30, 2009

And more socks...

It was a dismal day for taking photos; the sky was gray and there was not enough light in the house for good pics, but, nevertheless, here they are:

Let me introduce socks no. 26, 27, and 28 for the 52 pairs of sock challenge.



Knit with Regia Cotton. Leg is a simple k1, p1 for 6 rows, then 1 purl row, followed by 6 rows of p1, k1.

Knit with Lana Grossa Meilenweit, Fantasy yarn. In my opinion higher quality yarns with similar patterns are available.


Regia Kaffee Fasset. Love the colors; love the yarn.
Knit on merrily!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Socks #23, 24 and 25 in the 52 socks in 52 weeks series

Three more pairs of the consignment socks are finished. These are all men's sizes, 10-1/2, 11 (I think) and 12W. That's a lot of stitches in comparison to the average woman's sock.


Regia Line Steps Yarn, Beaded Rib Stitch from Sensational Knitted Socks


Plymouth Sockotta, Garter Rib Stitch from Sensational Knitted Socks



Colinette Cadenza yarn; pattern is a no longer published one by Monika Eckert. This has become my favorite men's sock pattern.
Knit on merrily!

The secret has been revealed!

After all these many years, I think I finally figured out where my Oma got the wool for the scratchy stockings she knit for me between 1946 and 1948. From Japan! I'm only kidding. I am sure she was recycling at that time. But Noro's sock yarn could be a good twin for the yearn. I had never knit with Noro before since I always felt that it was too expensive for the quality. I had heard horror stories about knots, color sequences being off after the knot occurred, the evenness of the yarn, etc. Yet people bought it for the color. The colors are lovely, but... Knitter's Review has an excellent review of the yarn. She says it much better than I can, but I'll continue my crumbling.

The yarn's twist is not set properly; it is highly energized. As I knit with the yarn it curled back on itself as if I was making a cord the old fashioned way. (Memories of childhood: Two people with 2 pencils and several wraps of yarn around the pencils, twirling in the opposite way and then bringing the two ends together.) The knitted fabric skews due to the energized twist, and it is a single ply. But, most of all, the yarn has thin-thin spots, thin spots, and thick spots. Not at all favorable for sock knitting.

I decided to make a resolable sock by using Regia sock yarn for the sole, heels and toes, although the top of the socks will most likely wear out first. I have never been able to make the join between the bottom and the top of the sock to my satisfaction, but then I am a wee bit picky.

So here is my very first attempt at knitting with Noro sock yarn. The second sock will follow soon.