Summer of Socks 2007

Welcome to Week 5! Just one question…how many of you out there were able to work on your socks AND read Harry Potter at the same time? If you fit the bill, then we salute you, O, Great Multi-Tasker.

Hermione would be proud.:-)

Have a great week, everyone!
Beth a/k/a/Bossygirl

From Sarah’s group:

There was a LOT of activity on my group’s blogs this week!

On the heels (ha!) of her Big Sky Mind socks (the nifty landscape socks I wrote about last week), Sally is working on a pair of socks for a friend using the latest Yarn Pirate Booty Club sock yarn. She’s knitting on two circs for the first time but is having a little bit of trouble with laddering between the needles. Does anyone have any suggestions for her on how to avoid that?

Saisquoi has also started socks using her Yarn Pirate yarn (I sense a theme of the week…) but the big news is that she finished her Jaywalkers! She knitted them out of Lorna’s Laces in the “Funky Stripe” colorway.

Sammie finished two socks this week — one is a sock we saw the beginnings of last week, and one she started and finished since the last blog update. The totally new sock is knitted from the new KnitPicks sock yarn, Risata, and Sammie posts a review of the yarn for all of us who haven’t seen it yet.

Kellie is plugging along on her Monkey (it’s looking like it’s close to being done!) and got to do some stash enhancement. Pardon me while I lust after her new yarn — it’s all lovely, but I am particularly enthralled by the colorway of Fleece Artist Sea Wool that she bought. YUMMY.

Ruth is almost done with her striped socks! She also shares an ingenious way of seeing how knitted garments would look on people who aren’t as stick-thin as models. I love it!

From Dee’s group:
Eleanor is getting busy on some Hogwarts socks. No picture yet on those, because they are for a “secret” giveaway, but she is working on Saucy socks that she can show. My TOFUtsies socks are finally finished. For a plain-jane sock they sure did take a long time. Paula has been working on her socks while reading the newest Harry Potter. No, not taking breaks in between … knitting WHILE reading! Sheesh — is that dedication to Harry and Knitting or what? She had to take a break from the book while turning the heel though. I can understand that…heels kick my butt even when I’m watching sometimes. She even had time for a little stash enhancing. Late breaking news; Paula’s Vogs are finished. Deb has finished her Smooshy Scroll socks; her first for Summer of Socks. I’ve felt this yarn at my LYS. Smooshy is right. The pattern Deb chose really compliments this yarn.

From Jen’s group:
THE BOOK has taken everyone by storm, and for many the knitting has gone to the back burner. Yet, a few tenacious sockers in my group are still rockin’:

Arr, lots of Yarn Booty arriving in the mail this week. The Esoteric Knitter shows off her knew Yarn Pirate skein along with finished pairs of monkeys for herself and her Sockapalooza Pal. Good to keep an eye on this blog. She’s famous for her contests, and she gives good prize.

Well Mateys, the Yarn Booty has made it to Oblivion too! Jennifer got her skein, and posed it with Gnuman, the Knitting Gnome Swap gnome, who stopped by for a visit. She’s still busily plugging away at her Nymphadora Tonks Monkey socks that she’s knitting for her sister.

Ahoy more booty at Jen’s port ‘o call. She ended up frogging her blotchy Jaywalkers and now the skein is looking nice and tiger-stripey in a rib pattern. BTW, Jen is also a saint. She’s knitting the latest pair for her big-footed father-in-law. All those tiny stitches, sooo many rows!

Two in my group met in the real world this week! Jo ditched the Emerald Isle to join Jeri for a weekend in Texas. Yes, you read that right. You should see Jo’s loot! Talk about excess baggage! Meanwhile, Jeri’s about *this* close to finishing those Loksins.

Jess’ Itchy Fingers are still working on three pairs of socks. She does have at least one Undulating Rib and Peaches and Cream complete. Can you guess which pair she’ll finish first?

Jessica has a cute new do, and is also sporting her fourth pair of socks! The Paisley Vesper Yarn won her over in the end. Keep an eye on this one, she’s got two more pairs in the works.

Jeannie’s still cranking out socks. This week she finished her twelfth pair in the Moorish Lattice pattern from “Sensational Knitted Socks.” Jeannie also reminds us to check the Web for pattern errata. Wise, wise advice. Pattern errors seem to be going around.

Jo Ann finished one of her Regia Crazy stripes, which she knit using magic loop for the first time. She’s keen to keep trying new techniques to combat second-sock-syndrome. I hear ya, Jo Ann.

Up in Ottawa, Joanna managed to finish one of her Tiger’s Eyes socks in between chapters of THE BOOK. And to conclude her continuing saga with the thieving post office, the lovely Sheri at the Loopy Ewe took pity on our hero and sent her a new skein of Fleece Artist. Cheers all around!

Jeanne’s been vacationing in lovely Maine where she finished her mouth-watering Monkey socks in Lisa Souza’s Earth Birth colorway. Jeanne says Lisa Souza Sock! is one of her top five favorite yarns. (Adding Lisa Souza to my list…)

There’s more than cotton down in Dixie, Jessica finished her pair of Firebirds, you know that to-die-for colorway from the Rockin’ Sock Club. But look closely at her pair. Notice anything a little strange?

Mathgirl is back from her conference in Vancouver with some high-larious photos of her socks leading her astray. These are naughty socks!

From the Carole Knits group:
Amy has yet another new sock to show us. With an apparent mishap from her modeling adventures. Be careful there, Amy!

Cece has finished her Hell Socks but there’s nothing hellish about the way they look. Nice work, Cece.

From April’s group:
Our weekly update begins on the beautiful Hawaiian coast, where Acornbud has been knitting her Monkey Socks in Maui! They even took time out of their busy trip to pose in front of one of Paris Hilton’s favorite stores.

Amber also took her socks on vacation. Or, should I say, her socks dragged her frantically around Paris in search of its lover. What a tough life. I think Mr. Sock did eventually find ze lover (pronounced “lov-air”) somewhere along the Seine. Lucky guy! I wonder how he will fare in Kenya?

Deb had a chance to work on her second sock, and now both socks are done at least up to the heels!

Adrienne just wrapped up her contest and is urging readers to visit Jen’s blog contest, and to be sure you let Jen know that Adrienne sent you. Oh, and she posted a gorgeous photo of her Serenity socks!

Aside from running a kickass contest, Jen also divulges the secret of sock knitting success. No spoiler here, you’ll have to read it for yourself. She also shows off her Sun King Footsies, which are really so adorable. And finally, she revels in Ravelry and ponders project design, with the assistance of mathematicians no less!

Alison is busy working on her lace stole, but has had time to work on the ankle portion of another sock. Like many of you, she was slowed down a little bit by the latest and final installment of Harry Potter.

Amanda just finished her second pair, the Broad Spiral Rib Socks. Check them out, along with her super cute mary janes.

Amy has quite a bit of sock yarn p8rn to show off on her website. She’s a lucky girl, her second Anastasia took her out on a date the other night to happy hour. Amy was able to finish most of the foot section.

Amy P is hardcore. She’s made some knitting progress even while stoned. I will allow you to decipher that one on your own, by reading her blog. She’s in need of pattern testers for a sock she designed, why don’t you take a peek and read more? And do look at her socks for the design contest.

Anastacia finished her Elann spirit socks ankle socks and a pair of scrap socks, and has posted photos on her blog. Totally un-sock-related, she also posted a photo of the fan shawl she just finished, and I hope people take a peek.

Angela Marie has been busy working on her Jaywalkers and her Cascading Leaves socks. Both are quite pretty!

Ann W. may have been on a bit of a hiatus from blogging, but she certainly has some beautiful socks to show for it. Check them out!

Ruth’s progress on her Ridged Feather Socks is coming along, and they’re looking quite stunning. She, too, is almost off on vacation, so maybe we’ll have some more photos of socks in exotic places next week.

Agnes has completed her Waving Lace Socks and they are gorgeous and feminine. Unfortunately, as I’m sure many of you are aware, it’s the middle of summer and wool socks are a wee bit warm this time of year. Don’t worry Agnes, we can wear them soon enough!

And lastly, I’ve managed to post a photo of my miserable ankle socks. That are just totally miserable. I’ve barely completed one ankle section, and they’re just no good. They’re more in line with slipper socks as opposed to in-your-shoe socks, but that’s okay. My goal for this sock-along is to crochet my first pair of socks, since it’s really a milestone for me as opposed to a strong desire to crochet socks. As I’ve been lamenting on my blog, though, I hate to crochet socks. I don’t feel like I’m quite ready to learn to knit so that I can make socks, but I bet I will be someday. In the meantime, I’ve got 2 months to finish these, and I’m determined.

From Jeanie’s group:
We have five sock knitters from around the U.S., Norway and the U.K. going strong this week. Take a look at their blogs for some wonderful socks!

Hege in Norway finished two pairs of socks since our last report! She knit a pair of pastel Candy Socks from Opal self striping yarn and matched the stripes perfectly! She had enough leftover yarn to knit some toddler socks. In between sock knitting, she is making some beautiful baby sweaters.

Janelle Fine is still working on the socks for her husband and is now down to the heel flap. That’s no small accomplishment because it took four tries to finally get the calf shaping that she needed to accommodate her husband’s long legs. Now that’s perseverance.

Janet Dalzell has knit four and a half socks in five weeks. Pretty impressive! She finished the Monkey and Breeze socks and is working on sock #2 of a third pair. Now if only she doesn’t get distracted by the new Harry Potter book!

Heather McCoy just finished another pair . . . Thuja socks from the Knitty. BUT now she is ordering yarn from Europe (to go with her favorite music) and you should really take a look at this beautiful yarn on her website and follow the link to the unique Wollmeise website.

Becky Annison over in the U.K. finished her Bellatrix socks and one of her Retro Rib socks before being seduced by some sea wool for a pair of Harry Potter socks. She’s decided that Crocs are the perfect shoe to show off hand knitted socks. What a good idea!

See you next week!

From Barb’s group:
Becky was having troubles with heel flaps, so back to short rows for her.
Beth has 3 completed pairs so far WTG!! her recent Vesper pair look great.

From Tina’s group:
Three updates this week, and they’re looking GOOD!

Shannan is working on two different socks this week - both lovely, but the purple STR Hedera makes me swoon!

Shannon H. is busy on several projects, but has turned the heel on her first Charade sock. Speedy little devil!

Sockergirl is speeding along with another finished pair, a test-knitting challenge, and her Sockapalooza socks proceeding apace!

From Kathy’s group:
Have we hit the dog days of summer yet? I know I’ve personally hit a sock wall of not finishing, but I haven’t heard from many of my knitters in a LONG time!

Leigh at Rock On Knit PrOn has finished her Waving Lace socks in Claudia Hand Paint and is working now on her Spiral Eyelets. She’s had a major infusion of sock yarn stash due to someone else’s destashing efforts. They say that one woman’s trash is another woman’s stash! Or at least I’ve said it now!

Lazuli at Knitting Between the Lines has completed a pair of Gentlemen’s Fancy Socks, and they are just that!

That’s it for my group! Light this week.

From Cecilie’s group:
Tekopp started a pair of widdershins with cables, learned to cable without a cable needle and moved all of her stuff (the knitting on the top) to a new home.

Cynthia knitted while in the hospital. Bed rest is good for something, isn’t it? Well, yes. Finished socks are one of them.

Cindy finished her pair of Flying Gull socks (look at the colour of these socks, pretty). They’re an example of how to plug stitch patterns into your own basic sock and making it look great and fit just as good.

Clare repaired her needle and finished her first pair of socks for this summer *applause*

Chihiro found a new way to cast-on socks and after struggling to find a pattern to fit the yarn finished a pair.

Chewyknits has had new beginnings.

CrochetCompulsive read the Harry Potter book, had do over with the crochet sock and struggles with making a pair of knit socks that she likes.

From Vera’s group:

• Susan has a lovely cabled sock in cool shades of blue.
• Susanna’s Blueberry Lattice Socks are simply yummy.
• Karen’s Thujas are complete. This is her first pair for SOS.
• I have got to get some of that Regia Silk Tempe is using for her socks.
• Theresa has completed three pairs of socks for SOS and has three more OTN.
• Heddy’s beautiful Breeze anklets are all done. I’m trying to convince every knitter I know to give these a try.
• Tibbers whipped up a darling pair of Cider Moon socks for her sock4pal.
• Aren’t Tiennie’s socks for her sons adorable?
• Stacey’s Color Weave Socks are mad indeed, and on my “to do” list.
• Is there a pair of socks in my future?

From Jess’ group:
Week five has more progress (though much of it is attributed to me checking my spam folder. So much for gmail being ’smart’ and ‘learning’ what is spam):

Karen says: I have finished my first two pairs of socks, some Monkey’s and some basic ribbed socks, and am working on the next set!

Karen #2 says: I finally got pair 2 off the needles this week. My daughter and niece went shopping at a not so near by mall on Tuesday and I sat and knit (there are some wonderful couches at this mall…if you can find one empty).

KarenJoSeattle says: I’m still working away on sock #1 of my second SOS pair – an 11 spi Regia Silk which has been declared part of a 3-sock pair. The sock achieved prototype status when complications arose with both the lacey rib stitch unvention and with adapting the heel from Wendy’s toe up with gusset pattern to both the pattern and the gauge. I have realized that my enjoyment of the process bodes well for my design aspirations. Last Friday she posted a picture tutorial for a crochet cast-on that requires no picking up of stitches and can be used for provisional sock toe cast-ons as well as a cast-on to match bind-off on scarves.

Kairi says: I have a small update. I have finished one sock from my second pair and hoping to finish the second sock by weekend.

Kate says: I’m back from my holiday with some pair of socks knitted. Let me see, I have done Marina Piccola from Kate Gilbert, Flicker and Monkey Socks from Cookie A. On my needles now is Potatomus (Cookie A).

Jude has also been posting about her sockage - and her update was lost in the mire that is my spam folder…

Judy is having blog problems but she sent this update: I finished my ankle socks and they came out nicely. I’ve started in on another pair of ankle socks, also very simple, that I’m trying to design, but I’ve been having to do a lot of ripping. I’m also trying short row heels for the first time, and while the first half went fine, the second half somehow got lopsided, so I had to rip that out too.

Karin says: This week, I finished my 2nd SOS sock (it’s on our flickr page) and my 3rd (no pics of that one - DD ran away with my camera). Number 3 is a Harry Potter-theme called “Fawkes”. I don’t do the HP books, but I can still feel like one of the cool kids :)! Number 4 is halfway done - this is one of my own sock designs and I should have a progress pic on my blog by the end of the weekend.

~JessaLu

From Melinda’s group:
From Melinda’s Group
Pam finished her 7th pair
of socks this week. Pattern ‘Vog on for a coworker. Her next pair are Cross-Stitch
block from More Sensational knitted socks. A mistake she made from the original
pattern ended up being a liked faux-pa so she’s continuing on with her own personal
twist. I love her personal stamp to the pattern!
P-la has two socks languishing
on the needles. Sock #1 is Zen String Serendipity Sport, River, in plain ol’ stockinette
and sock #2 is Socks That Rock, Firebird, Jaywalker pattern. They’re looking good Pla!
Opal has finished her latest
pair of socks. Pattern: Slipped Stitch Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks, Yarn: Regia
Bamboo - Color 1064/Ethnos. She’s now a fan of this yarn and hopes to acquire more
soon. So very pretty!
Pat K newest pair of socks are
River Rock Monkey Socks using Koigu Yarn. The colourway of the yarn reminds Pat of
rocks in the bottom of a riverbed, and I couldn’t agree more. It’s fantastic!
Pat
has finished yet another pair. This weeks it’s Breeze Anklets by Jennifer Appleby from
Knitty Summer 2007. She used Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock yarn (with only 13 gm left
over) in Whisper. They’re so pretty in pink!

Not That Kat is working on her toe up Jaywalkers. She really liked
the way the stripe pattern was coming out. So much so that the closer she got to the
heel position, the more she worried about how putting the heels in place would
interrupt the striping sequence. Hence “Afterthought heels”. Go check it out. It’s such
a cool idea.
Petunia finished her first
pair of SOS 2007 socks. Yippie! Next on her needles is 2 socks on 2 circs. A first for
Petunia. The yarn in Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport in color Seaside. She’s started out
with WendyKnits generic toe-up pattern in sport weight but plans on adding her own
personal detail, a 4×4 rib on top, just for kicks. Way to go Petunia.
Orghlaith hates to admit it but she’s
only on the cuff of the second Tidal Wave sock, and wonders if there’s a contest for the
slowest knitter? It is a fun pattern but she has indulged in sock yarn window-shopping,
rigid heddle weaving book reading, new dpn purchases, pattern stash enhancement, and
non-sock wool additions this week instead of knitting. “Not much of an excuse, but a
whole lot of fun. Plus, It Is Summer!!!!!” I couldn’t agree more Orghlaith!
Obsidan Knitter. has frogged the
pair of Wyvern socks because it just wasn’t working out. In it’s place she started a pair
of plain stockinette in red fixation for a friend’s mother who loves red and is fighting
cancer. Obsidan Knitter is working to get those finished so her friend’s mum can wear
them when she starts chemo. How thoughtful of you, Obsidan!

From Megan’s group:
This week, Monica finished a fabulous pair of Latvian Socks from Folk Socks, using a very special yarn. Miss Scarlett finished a pair of Jaywalkers along with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and has plans for several pairs of Harry Potter-themed socks now. Mrs. H has made progress on both of her current sock projects and should have one finished by the time this is posted. She also recommends that anyone thinking of trying Tofutsies should definitely do it - she thinks it’s amazing stuff.

From Manda’s group:
Lolly celebrated her 3 year Blogiversary! She doesn’t have any finished socks, but she’s started a really pretty pair this week.

Lucinda is THISCLOSE to having a finished pair of socks, and she has plenty of socks-in-progress.

Lynette is in the process of finishing a pair of socks, and she promises pictures this weekend!

LynnK has finished a pair of socks, but she needs to get a camera before she can post pictures. WTG, LynnK!

Madelinetosh shows us some beautiful green socks-in-progress.

Madelyn finished her basic toe-up socks after I sent in my update last week. Congrats, Madelyn! She also finished some Tidal Wave socks… good job!

Maia half-finishes a pair of socks for her hubby!

Maire finishes her hubby’s socks, but is having trouble finding a specific yarn for her next socks.

Manda hasn’t blogposted in a million years, but since I’m her… I know that she’s almost done with her Sockapalooza socks, and anticipates finishing them this weekend!

Margene shows off some lovely socks-in-progress.

Meghann shows off her Sockapalooza socks in progress.

From Jody’s group:
Kristy finished two pairs of socks (thank-you-very-much-harry-potter). The first pair are kneehighs in Lion Brand Wool and the second pair are anklets made out of Cider Moon Glacier.

Sockaholic Katie just finished the first sock of her next pair in Cherry Tree Hill mill ends — again with her favorite linen stitch heel.

Knitting Hawkeye is on her fifth pair of socks! Her finished pairs include a really funky one that reminds me of acid tie dye. Very cool!

And Kendra brought her pomatomus on a harlot-like sock tour and teases us at the end with her new loot.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 28th, 2007 at 10:10 am and is filed under Blog updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.