wip : garden TAATS + teamlab

My garden TAAT socks are moving very slowly as usual! I cast on in May on our way to Silicon Valley, with the grand expectation of completion before our return to Los Angeles 4 days later. When there's a lot to see up there, sitting down long enough to knit a pair of socks is too tall an order to complete, no matter how long you're expecting to be in transit.

Lesson learned (and due to be re-learned).

Now, I'd be thrilled if these socks were finished in time for a brand new Socktober project. As of this moment, I'm past the heel turn and on the cuff, so with a good book and a heat pack for hand soreness, I just might make it.

Speaking of the quick trip to the bay area, here's a tiny sample of what all was photographed there. The experience at the Teamlab exhibit was absolutely magical.

See you next time, and let me know what your plans are for Soctober and NaKniSweMo.

fo : zwerger nillas

FO Zwerger Nillas This has been a long-overdue post but here are my Zwerger Nillas all finished. I mostly worked through this pair while on the holiday road-trip to Washington with Nick and it's been a relaxing, if at times boring project to have had at hand.

pattern : Zwerger Nillas by Susan B. Anderson
yarn : Zwerger Garn Opal Ladies & Gentlemen in Significant
needle : US 1 [2.25mm]
size : 9.5

I revisited Susan B. Anderson's very trusty (and free!) cuff-down sock pattern for this one. I think I'll memorise the pattern after just one more future sock project. As always it is an absolute pleasure to allow a self-striping yarn express itself in such a minimal sock pattern. I believe in hand-knit socks relating to each other as siblings rather than twins, and the look of this sock yarn all knit up holds up really well as evidence for my conviction.

The yarn is Zwerger's Opal (hence the very creative name), an unfortunately discontinued yarn I bought as a souvenir from the cozy Ippikin in Much Wenlock. Holding these socks take me back to my walk in the rain to that little shop and how much warmth was felt through their lively conversation and helpfulness. Thanks again, Lesley for being such a fantastic host!

To finally have these finished is to be able to fully commit to seeing these naughty Rhubarb socks see their end on my needles. Expect a post soon announcing their long-awaited status as an FO.

rhubarb socks, take II

This regia hand-dyed sock wip has been in the time-out pile (as its only resident) for over a year and a half. Now that I've finished my last sock project, this might be the time to give this one another chance and see it through to finish.

I have some frustration to look forward too with this stupid yarn, but the final result is guaranteed to be absolutely beautiful. So here goes.

fo: lassie

So Lassie is finally finished! It was actually finished months ago, but I took my sweet time to get around to posting about it. This pair needed some time to be off the needles, but it turned out alright.

pattern : Lassie by Jennifer Beever

yarn : Patons North America Kroy Socks in Flax

needle : US 1 [2.25mm]

size : 9.5

Solids were definitely the right choice for a project with a pattern that's this busy. I'm glad I went for the Kroy SockFX in Flax.

It took a sock project to be a little more certain of it but, yeah. I'm probably not a lace knitter. Cables though? That's a kind of work that feels like it really pays off in the end, and with notably less fuss when it comes to blocking (I'm not even speaking as someone who had to deal with something like a wedding shawl either, just a mostly-stockinette sock)!

A NaKniSweMo project is underway currently, I'll post a little about it soon.