Buggin' Out

It seems like quite awhile since I had some socks on my needles, much less a Rockin' Sock Club pattern.

pattern: Buggin' Out by Stephen Houghton (aka hizKNITS)
yarn: Socks that Rock lightweight in Pining for Ewe
needles: size 2.25 mm (US 1) Knit Pick circs
pattern size: men's med/women's large - I heard the pattern ran small

no mods

With my recently completed Cosima, this pair of socks and a super secret test knit, I've been in a kinda green mood. But my next knit is back in the purple realm & I'll share that when I'm done.

In the meantime, if you're in a drugstore, Ulta, or Bed, Bath & Beyond, check out the latest hot item, Revlon's new Colorburst Lip Butter. It's a cross between a lipstick and a lipgloss. Some say it feels like a dupe/doppleganger of MAC's creamsheen lipsticks. Some also say that Revlon's Fig Jam lip butter color is a very affordable dupe for Clinique's Black Honey. I picked Sugar Plum & it's a delightful my-lips-but-better & shinier color for me.  

Hope you are all well. For those in the US, hope your Thanksgiving Day weekend was a fun one.

Socktober

Just in time for the next RSC shipment, I finished my Dusty Corners by Linda Welch.

yarn: STR lightweight in Firecracker
pattern size: med
needles: 2.25 mm KP dpns
mods: longer heel flap to balance out snug leg.  I probably should've re-started on larger needles, but I really like how the yarn was knitting up in the pattern. 

And to assuage my guilt in finishing my own pair of socks, I started on a second pair of Rib & Cable Socks in a raspberry Koigu KPM to be gifted to the partner of the acid green Koigu KPM.

Part of that guilt was that I had cast on for Carrie's Blackberry Brambles  first 'cause I had this yarn & pattern at a lunchtime knitting session, but not the gift sock pattern.  I had finally got around to digging up my Tanzanite rather belately for the Socks that Rawk Rav group quarterly KAL.  My mediumweight stash can be counted on one hand, so my options are limited outside of the RSC.

Speaking of the RSC, I love our September kit.  Stephen had told us he was the designer for this installment awhile ago when we had a mini-RSC Sock Camp reunion at A Verb for Keeping Warm, so it was an exercise in a lot of self-control not to blurt it out.

Love the colorway & the patterns. I'll be knitting up Stephen's pattern in his honor & saving Meg Swansen's for stash STR. It's pretty much in keeping with how I've chosen this year's RSC patterns, except for 2. I chose Cascadia 'cause it didn't have bobbles & I'm debating if I should save Sweet Pea for baby stuff as there will be 2 more March babies among my family & friends.

Monkeying around

But first, I re-did the sock I tried to improvise earlier this summer based on the cable pattern in Anne Hanson's Fine Cabled mitts pattern. This time I cast on 72 sts for the leg & decreased back down to 64 sts for the foot.

It's much better fitting this time, but I've still decided to keep this for myself and knit a matching pair of Rib and Cable socks in a different Koigu colorway for my friend's partner.

But before I do that, I got sidetracked into knitting the larger Funky Monkey, reversing the colors from the smaller one I knit for Monkey2 awhile back. I had forgotten how fast this was, considering that's a lot of tube knitting for the tail, legs & arms.

Pattern: Funky Monkey
yarn: STR heavyweight in Harlotty (body) and Typhoon Tina (extremities)
needles: size 4 & 6 KP circs

mods:
- The accidental one was to knit the mouth, butt & tail on size 4 needles that I grabbed inadvertently. I did like the fabric, so I knit the legs & arms with the smaller needles as well.
- Also with the smaller needles I didn't need to double the yarn for the legs.
- Another accidental mod was to forget the one round of decreases before closing the feet. But since it didn't seem like it mattered, I left them.
- My only intentional mod was to pick up & knit the arms on, as I had learned at Sock Camp with the mini funky monkeys.

Just in time for our September Rockin' Sock Club kit to get here soon, I finished my first July RSC sock. I chose Linda's Dusty Corners in support of the lovely designer who I met at Sock Camp a couple years back. I figure I can knit Anne Hanson's pattern in another berry-ish STR colorway anytime.

The leg's a little snug, so I knit the heel flap a tad longer to help get the sock on. I loved how the colorway knitted up in the pattern that I was reticent to frog & start over on larger needles (2.50 mm instead of 2.25 mm) or in the next size up (large).

It's a tad too warm to take a photo of the sock modelled on a human foot, so I'll try to do that when I'm done w/the pair.

Inspiration Point

Winter here is my favorite time, but Yosemite never ever ceases to amaze me.


I can just feel the weight of these granite cliffs.


Lightened by the dance of water falling from the snowmelt higher up the mountains.


It was a little too warm for me to be comfortable spinning on my spindle, but I did get a little bit of knitting done. But not on the road to Yosemite! I had forgotten how very windy & high up certain parts of the road are.


One of two buttonhead hats I've been knitting. This one out of my very first handspun in avfkw superwash BFL in No. 9.


Just in time for the next Rockin Sock Club kit to arrive in the mail once it's off vacation hold, I finally finished the January kit. I had to rip back sock one though 'cause I realized not only did I do one round of cable decrease lefts wrong, but all the others were wrong. But in an entirely different way. I still have to knit up the May kit, but at least I've got half the kits from this year done.


yarn: STR lightweight in Happy Go Lucky
pattern: Cascadia in the medium size
needles: 2.25 mm KP circs - I always prefer to do toe up socks on circs
mods: none
bind off: Jenny's surprisingly stretchy bind off - fun!