Category Archives: Toe-Up

FO – Farnkrautsocken

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Remember when I joked about renaming this blog “Vickilicious Knits Green Socks”? There is some comfort in being predictable, no?

In many ways, these are a Greatest Hits of my favorite aspects of knitting: green wool, toe-up, small gauge, fast-moving, vine lace, socks… I mean, what’s not to love??

Pattern: Farnkrautsocken (Ravelry link) by Silke Pieper, available as a free Ravelry download; my project page is here
Size: lady’s US size 9 with 9-inch foot circumference and 9.5-inch foot length
Yarn: Schachenmayr nomotta/Regia Uni 4-ply fingering weight, color 2082 Green, 75% new wool/25% nylon; I used 76.1 grams/2.67 oz or 349.6 yards/319.7 meters.
Needles: Knit Picks 6″ nickel-plated double-pointed needles, set of 5 size 1.5 (2.50 mm)
Modifications: Used figure-8 cast-on and swapped jojo heel for short-row heel

Started: July 29, 2009
Finished: August 26, 2009

I knit these socks as part of the July Sock Knitters Anonymous Sockdown, a challenge that included Homegrown Designers who are members of the group. I found this pattern clearly written, well-organized, and just lovely through and through.

The pattern called for a jojo heel, and while I was looking forward to trying this new technique, I ended up using my tried and true short-row heel. I really like the look of it and, frankly, I didn’t have the pattern with me when it came to heel-turning time, so I just went with what I knew.

I’m sort of glad I did because these are some of the neater heels I’ve worked, and I really love the way they fit.

Everything about these socks was easy and satisfying. I am a huge fan of vine lace (as you may note from the scarf and two Jellyfish shrugs I’ve knit that incorporate the vine lace pattern). It’s a four-row repeat, with two plain knit rows and two essentially identical pattern rows that differ only in being off-set by one stitch. It is fast, intuitive, has a pleasant rhythm, and at this point, I can work it in my sleep, which is helpful because much of the time I spent knitting these socks was while half-awake on the train or subway.

I like the way the front and back are divided by narrow bands of stockinette that frame the vine lace. In the past, when I’d considered knitting vine lace socks, I thought I wanted an all-over lace pattern, but the way these bands absorb the off-set stitches and draw a neat line down the leg just charms me.

The yarn was quite a treat as well. I kept finding myself surprised at how soft it was, for such a durable, workhorse type of yarn. I’m happy I have a few other colors of this yarn in my stash, and I will certainly keep an eye out for it in the future – I just love it. I also must say, this is perhaps the most perfect shade of green I’ve ever worked with, and I’m thrilled to have socks in such a great color. (I’m also happy to have nearly 25 grams leftover, which I hope to use in some kind of accessory.)

All in all, I couldn’t be happier with this project! It’s revived my interest in sock-knitting, lace, and knitting in general, just in time for fall.

Also Blue

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In contrast with my ever-so-pink socks, I am also going through quite a bit of a blue phase as well. I’m obsessed with navy and deeper, richer blues in ways I’ve never been before.

I started a Sunshine sweater, a beautifully-detailed top-down raglan designed by the lovely Auntie Amanda.

I remember when Amanda submitted this design to a Craftster “One Stitch to Rule Them All” challenge (where I submitted my Garter Lace Tote) and I thought I’d never be able to make something that complex and stylish.

I’m pretty chuffed that I’m making it through with nary a worry. This is a wonderful pattern and easy to customize for a perfect fit. I just split off the sleeves and am making my way down the body. I can’t wait to finish this sweater!

It wouldn’t be me if I didn’t also cast on for a new pair of socks. These are Eleanor socks, a pattern I’ve made once before (with not such great success).

This yarn is quite a treat. The varying shades of blue are combining so nicely, and I love working with it.

I’m working the eyelets the same this time, so I think I should be really happy with these socks.

Meanwhile, I’m relishing the blues.

Pink

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When I was a child, my favorite color, without question, was pink. Everything I owned was some shade between the palest blush and the most scorching vibrant hot pink the 1980s could produce.

Over time, this enthusiasm waned, and I started to hate pink. I’d say “I’m just not a pink person,” even as I admired delicate pink flowers or bold swathes of magenta in paintings. Quietly, I’d slip it into my clothing choices, thinking it was just another color, until the other day I looked in the mirror and saw pink pearls with a pink blouse (and pink camisole and underwear underneath).

I realized I have definitely returned to pink, in all its delicate and delectable shades.

The yarn for these socks is unabashedly feminine and pink, tempered with a creamy white that makes it so very pleasant to work with. The heavenly soft merino of Dream in Color Smooshy is making the entire experience one of great sensory delights, and I’m thrilled with how these socks are coming along.

I never thought I’d be so happy making something so… pink.

FO – Komet Socks

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I neglected to even mention that I was working on these, but I finished a pair of Komet socks this week.

These are like no socks I’ve knit before.

Pattern: Komet Socks by Stephanie van der Linden, originally published on the Socken-Kreativ-Liste Yahoo Group, but now available free on Ravelry
Size: lady’s size 9 with 9-inch foot circumference and 9.5-inch foot length
Yarn: Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Color 4-ply /4-fädig fingering weight, color 1900, 75% wool / 25% polyamide (nylon); I used less than 2 100-gram skeins
Needles: size 1.5 (2.5mm) Knit Picks nickel-plated DPNs
Modifications: Inverted pattern to toe-up, with short-row heel

Started: October 5, 2008
Finished: November 25, 2008

This isn’t exactly a formal theory, but I think a knitter is either a lace person or a cable person. I would have considered myself firmly in the lace camp, as I gravitate toward open, flat patterns with simple repeats.

Then I got hooked on these socks, which have both cables and lace, and I couldn’t decide which section I enjoyed more. Fortunately they were worked simultaneously, so I got to indulge in both. While I have cabled in the past, I didn’t really love it the way I love lace, but this time the cables clicked for me. The maneuvers finally made sense, and I looked forward to the crossings, which thankfully only occurred every 14 rows.

By the time I got past the heel on the first sock, I’d memorized the pattern, and I really enjoyed working from memory. This was, though, one of my first times working a pattern purely from a chart, without writing it out for myself, and it went a lot more smoothly than I expected.

The yarn was delightful, as I’ve come to expect from Regia. I bought a lot of colors of this particular yarn from WEBS close-outs, and it’s a truly fantastic go-to yarn. This color seemed an anomaly among my typical choices, in that it is so subdued, with such subtle variations within a gentle range of tones. It ended up being a perfect counterpoint to the architectural quality of the cables and lace pattern, providing visual interest and delicate movement without distracting at all from the stitching.

I hope it’s not immodest to say I think these socks are beautiful.

I would definitely recommend this pattern. It was very intuitive, enjoyable, and I think the outcome is great. The fit on these socks is fabulous, and all in all I just couldn’t be happier with them. It figures that I waited until the rainiest, darkest day of November to photograph them, but they are much nicer in person.

Now that I’ve gotten my (probably) last selfish project off the needles, I must concentrate in earnest on gift knitting for the rest of the year. I’ll just have to admire my feet while I do it!

FO – Shock the Monkey Socks

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I thought it was time to give the world’s most popular sock pattern a try.

Boy my feet are getting happier and happier by the day.

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A., from the winter 2006 Knitty (here on Ravelry)
Size: lady’s size 9 with 9-inch foot circumference and 9.5-inch foot length
Yarn: Zwerner Garn Opal Neon 4-ply fingering weight, color 1937 dye lot #1, 75% wool / 25% polyamide; I used about 3/4 of a skein, totaling approximately 74 grams/2.64 oz or 347.5 yards*/318 meters.
Needles: Knit Picks 6″ nickel-plated double-pointed needles, set of 5 size 1.5 (2.5 mm)
Modifications: Worked toe-up, with short row heel, 1×1 twisted ribbing and stretchy bind-off

Started: September 24, 2008
Finished: October 3, 2008

* Incidentally, this is the exact same yardage I used for my Bella Catena Italiana socks. Spooky.

When I saw how many people have knit Monkey socks before me, raving about how great the pattern is, I wondered if it could ever live up to the hype. I am so happy that not only did it meet my expectations, it completely surpassed them.

I decided to make these toe-up, even though that would mean flipping the chart upside-down. While there are patterns for toe-up Monkeys, I really did want to try the original chart as designed. I rather enjoy the look of the pattern done toe-up, as it makes little V’s and upward-pointing triangles. Somehow that seems optimistic.

The lace pattern is about as intuitive as I’ve ever seen and addictive as all get-out. I had previously said that Bella Catena Italiana were the fastest socks I’d ever knit, but these Monkeys were decidedly speedier. I mean, 10 days?? Insanity!

I think I was just into the groove, and I was visiting my parents, so sock-knitting seemed to be a great companion to talking story, watching the debates, and whining about my thesis. Mostly though, I’m going to go with the addictiveness of the pattern, which begged me “just one more repeat, just a few more rows…”

I’m sure others have deconstructed the glory that is the Monkey chart before, but I think so much of its beauty comes in the plain rows. Each patterned row is followed by a rather plain sequence of knits and purls that absorb the increases and decreases. Within an eleven row repeat, there are basically only 4 rows with patterning, 3 which are knit completely plain, and 4 which are so simple they may as well be plain. This is a lot of fast and easy knitting, but with a great pay-off, as the lace becomes structural, textured, and really quite lovely.

The fit on these is fabulous, and I think I’m either really lucky with the ratio of pattern repeats to my foot’s length, or I’ve figured out exactly where to start the short-row heels on socks. My boyfriend recently took a jab at me, saying that all I ever knit is socks for myself, and while he’s right (and I felt appropriately selfish), I worry that I may not be able to get this kind of fit and comfort knitting for someone else, if I don’t have them around to try it on as I go. I guess I’ll have to give it a shot and see.

Back when I bought this yarn, I said:

This yarn is so cheerful and bright. It is positively electric with happiness, glowing with warmth and intense color. I feel as though it would be impossible to have a bad day when wearing socks knit in such a merry yarn.

I worried about how it may work into a pattern, and yes, the colors are pretty crazy, but I’m happy with the wacky stripes. As I knit, I realized that the colors formed a primary rainbow of red, coral, orange, yellow, and a gorgeous teal blue bouncing back and forth. As they laid side by side, they looked less neon to me than in the skein, but they still didn’t look muddy or cancel out each others’ saturation, which is an enjoyable thing about such pure color.

The put-up with Opal is nice and generous at 465 yards – with 7 repeats on the foot and 8 on the leg, I still have a quarter of the ball left. It felt nice to knit with, sturdy and well-spun, and they are wonderfully comfortable to wear.

I even like the way these socks look on the inside.

I had named these socks after one of my all-time favorite songs, “Shock the Monkey” by Peter Gabriel. Cause yknow, neon, electric, shock…? Really, I think it was because I knew one day I would want to gratuitously link to this video on my blog. Hehehe.

I feel silly saying I highly recommend this pattern, since really, doesn’t it recommend itself? But I do, and I enjoyed it immensely, and I’d be surprised if I didn’t knit another pair. They were fun, the fastest socks I’ve ever knit, and even in such a crazy yarn, I think they look pretty smashing. Happy feet indeed.

Previous Entries on this Project:
Ahem, none. Kind of sneaked on and off the needles.

FO – Bella Catena Italiana Socks

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I finished these orange socks the other day, and my feet are so very happy!

Pattern: Bella Catena Italiana by Terry L. Ross (here on Ravelry)
Size: lady’s size 9 with 9-inch foot circumference and 9.5-inch foot length
Yarn: Mondial Extrafine 8-ply DK weight*, color 804 Orange dye lot #57, 100% Extrafine Merino; I used almost 2 skeins, totaling approximately 91 grams/3.168 oz or 347.5 yards/318 meters.
Needles: Knit Picks 6″ nickel-plated double-pointed needles, set of 5 size 2 (2.75 mm)
Modifications: Worked toe-up, with short row heel, 1×1 ribbing and stretchy bind-off

Started: September 8, 2008
Finished: September 26, 2008

* This yarn is listed as DK weight in Ravelry, but I found it to be straight up fingering weight.

I don’t think I’ve ever knit a pair of socks as quickly as these, for which I suspect I have my new train commuting time to thank.

It is also immensely soothing to have reached the point in sock knitting where I can work them by habit: cast on 12 stitches with figure-8, increase the toes, work the pattern stitch up to a set point on my foot, use the equations I’ve memorized to work the short-row heel, and coast on up the leg to finish with ribbing and a stretchy bind-off.

I think the ease of this process makes toe-up sock knitting vastly more enjoyable than cuff-down, as the trickier structural parts (which in my preferred short-row heel method are really quite easy) get out of the way early and allow for a nice expanse of the fun stitching which drew me to the particular pattern in the first place. I don’t have to worry about running out of yarn, picking up stitches, gusset and toe shaping, or Kitchener (which oddly, I don’t mind at all). I should be careful to avoid proselytizing, but I suspect I am a full-on toe-up devotee and at this point I struggle to imagine knitting a sock any other way.

As for this particular pattern, I absolutely love it. The lace is fun, intuitive, and a really big impact for simple maneuvering. The name means “beautiful Italian chain,” and I found myself driven to continue in the 4-row repeats, striving to add one more link – okay and maybe another – before I reached my train or subway stop.

I could have made the legs longer, as I actually had a good deal of yarn leftover, but I am happy with where they hit on my legs. The lace is stretchy, but not overly so, and the fit is really comfortable without being loose or snug.

The length of the foot is exactly right and the toes and heel feel fantastic. Actually, it doesn’t feel like I am wearing socks (apart from the warmth and coziness), which I guess is a pretty high compliment.

The yarn is absolutely exquisite. It is incredibly soft and decadent to touch. I think it is more customarily used for fine-gauge tops or accessories, which I imagine would give it an insanely lovely drape and feel. It has a nice spin to it, though, which makes it plump and resilient, and this is part of why I was confident that it would hold up to being socks just as well.

The color is a nice kind of orange, saturated without being garish and subtle without being muted. I knit these socks as part of the Sock Knitters Anonymous orange socks challenge for September, and I later added them to the Solid Socks group’s September pool as well. (By the way, the Solid Socks group is really lovely, and I just discovered they are doing monthly color KALs in solid and semi-solid sock yarns all year.) Seeing so many orange socks all over Ravelry has me thinking more and more about colors, and I am happy to come out of the experience as much in love with orange as ever.

I would definitely recommend this pattern for beginning and experienced sock knitters alike, as the lace is easy, quickly memorized, yet consistently enjoyable. I had such a great time knitting these socks that I have renewed my resolution to knit 12 pairs this year. We’ll talk more about that soon though.

Previous Entries on this Project:
- Second Sock… Speed-Up?
- Orange Socks

Orange Socks

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Though I have many other things to show and talk about, most of my knitting is still packed in boxes from the move. I did manage to fish out some orange yarn and my size 2 DPNs to start the September Sock Knitters Anonymous Sockdown orange socks challenge.

I had planned to use this yarn for a pair of Snicket socks (Ravelry link), but I could not figure out how to do the cables without a cable needle and I was feeling tremendously impatient. I searched around Ravelry for a simpler sock that would be knit over 60 stitches and found the lovely Bella Catena Italiana pattern (here on Ravelry).

The name means “Beautiful Italian Chain” and it is knit in an Italian virgin wool, so it seems fitting upon a return from Italy. These socks are moving pretty quickly and I think I may just finish a Sockdown challenge in one month this time.

(On a technical note, I am having some mystifying issues between Blogger and the FTP upload to my server. When I look at this site, I’m seeing a post that I’ve deleted in Blogger, as well as physically deleted from my server… yet I can’t get it to go away, hence the duplication. It’s also doing flukey things with comments.

If this blog goes silent for a while, please check my sidebar or Blogger profile for notes on what’s going on.)

Keeping Busy

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I feel bad doing these drive-by posts where I slap up a few photos and scurry back to what I’ve been doing, but I am exceedingly busy with work, getting ready for my trip, sorting out a mess with my student loans, and figuring out where I’m going to live once this lease ends.

I guess the good thing is that the prevalence of anxiety and insomnia lately results in lots of knitting.

While I sort out what to do with my Eleanor socks (I am going to knit a third one to match the more open eyelets of the second sock, I think), I have continued working on my self-designed socks. Look – they’re actually looking like socks!

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I’ve decided to name these Springtide socks. In designing them, I was going for something that evoked the new life of spring growth, delicate chutes emerging from the soggy ground and vibrant leaf tips glowing in the sunlight. I hope to have these finished soon, as the deadline for their particular Sockdown contest is rapidly approaching.

I also cast on a really cool pattern for July, Scrolls Socks (Ravelry link) by Charlene Schurch from her book More Sensational Knitted Socks.

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I love the swooping movement in this pattern, which is deceptively easy to knit.

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It’s amazing to me how such different patterns can emerge from simple combinations of knit, purl, increases, decreases, and YOs. I am utterly charmed by these.

I’m planning to bring the Scrolls socks and a few other small projects with me to work on in Italy. I am also planning to bring my newly-finished Jellyfish shrug (which we will talk about in all kinds of depth soon).

For now, a peek…

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Yeah, I’m pretty happy about that.

Almost Eleanor

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Well this has never happened before.

I made a pair of socks, in a pattern and a yarn I absolutely adore, but I am not happy with the socks. I finished these on June 30th, and I’ve been unhappily thinking about them since then.

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(Please excuse the lousy photo – I was rushing to submit it for a Sockdown entry.)

I love almost everything about these socks, but I made one big error. I tried to make the eyelets mirror images of one another, so they would cascade from the center down to each foot. Unfortunately, the way the pattern progressed, it made one set of eyelets (at left) very open and well-formed, the way they were intended. The second (at right) are smaller and tighter, more like a squinting aperture than a true eyelet.

I knit the smaller eyelets first, and as I saw the pattern changing on the second sock, I liked it so much that I figured I’d deal with the difference and try to compensate for it with a severe blocking of the first. Nothing doing. If I want these socks to match (and I do), I have to re-knit one of them.

As much as I love knitting socks, three of a kind may be too much for me.

WIP it Out

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I think that show and tell is probably the best course of action to describe what I’ve been up to lately. (Isn’t it always?)

First, I’ve taken appraisal of the yarn situation in my apartment and determined there is entirely too much. I posted this photo to Ravelry, but neglected to post it here – this is my entire sock yarn stash:

Yikes. I have another labeled version of it all as well. My boyfriend did take a few photos of my entire stash covering our bed, but the colors are grossly inaccurate. If you can stand an HDR, here it is. Seeing it sprawled out reaffirms my decision not to buy any more yarn for a good long while.

A recent day serving jury duty provided ample knitting opportunity, where predictably I worked on green socks. I am well past the heel and up the cuff on my first Eleanor sock, which is good, as I am trying to finish them by the end of June.

I also worked on a design-your-own sock challenge for Sock Knitters Anonymous, and it has involved a little math and a lot of frogging.

I got pretty far along when I realized a minor (and mostly undetectable error) that I knew would drive me crazy. I was so frustrated that I ripped all the way back to the beginning. I think I’ve got the pattern sorted out completely now, so once I cast back on these should be pretty fast-moving.

I also have socks in other colors currently going – Spiral Boot Socks for the Knitting 19th Century Novels KAL for Around the World in 80 Days.

I’ve loved reading the book when I have a spare moment (or can’t sleep), but I have not made any real time for these socks yet, and it’s unlikely I will finish them by June with everything else I’m attempting.

My green fixation has combined with my need for practicality in a One-Tone Ribbed Shrug from Fitted Knits.

This shrug is an enjoyable knit, and it’s moving quickly. The latter point is crucial because I really should be using those needles to finish this other little sweater, whose recipient is visiting my parents in less than two weeks.

This is the Cropped Raglan Sweater from Lion Brand, and I’ve knit one for myself, so I know I love the pattern.

The one that I knit last summer was all acrylic, and this is in Knit Picks Shine Worsted (a cotton/modal blend), so the drape and feel are completely different. At first I didn’t think I liked it, and I worried about the color, but now that I’ve had some time away from it, I think it has the potential to be a really lovely gift.

On some weird compulsion, I forced myself to cast on the Lace Ribbon Scarf even though I already had too many projects going. I messed up not once, twice, or even three times, but more than four times, resulting in complete froggings. Of course then it became a vendetta. I had to make this scarf.

I think I’ve got it now.

This is a red cotton yarn, and I really love the way it feels. The color and the texture remind me so much of Kabbalah strings it’s uncanny.

As this post probably makes perfectly clear, I’ve got a lot of projects going on and have failed miserably at my three-projects-at-a-time goal. I think this is an accurate reflection of the rest of my life at the moment as well. I hope to knock out some FOs quickly so that I can get it all back under control.

Oh, and I’ve also got this to deal with.

Sigh. We’ll talk more about that soon.