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Completed Socks

August 4, 2010 By Judy

Remember when I used to knit socks?  Remember when I was buying sock yarn like there was no tomorrow?  I’m happy to report that it’s been months since I bought sock yarn.  It’s actually been April since I bought sock yarn.  I think that’s a record.  I wonder if my favorite yarn shop, The Loopy Ewe, is missing me.  I can tell you that I’m missing them.  I love buying yarn . . as much or more than I love buying fabric but it’s that realization that I’ll never be able to knit up all the yarn I have that has stopped me from ordering for almost four months.

The fact that I haven’t had a spare minute to sit and knit hasn’t helped either.  I keep a knitting project in the cars and I keep one in my “grab & go” bag so I get in a few minutes of knitting every now and then.  There are at least 6 pairs of socks that are close to being finished.  I’ll have more knitting time now that I’m finished canning tomatoes.

Here are the most recent finishes:

These were made from Wollmeise 100% wool yarn.  I’m not crazy about the stripes but I love the feel of this Wollmeise yarn.  Too bad it’s so blasted hard to get.  These are from the yarn Vince thought was red, white and blue.  It isn’t — it’s fuscia, black and pink.

And, I finished these:

Not sure what this yarn is but it’s a bit thicker than the yarns I usually work with.  It will be great for winter boots.  Again, I like tone on tone type yarn better than stripes.  I need to remember that if ever I need to buy yarn again!

These two finishes means I’ve finished four pairs of socks in 2010.  My goal is 15 pairs so I’d better get to knitting, huh?

Tagged Knitting, Socks, The Loopy Ewe, Wollmeise Filed Under Home & Garden 11 Comments

The Yarn I Chose

February 19, 2010 By Judy

Remember when I was trying to decide which yarn to use next?  It was going to be one of these.  They’re all described on the linked blog post.

My decision was to use the purple, green and pink Mardi Gras yarn.  But, being the nice girl that I am, I showed Vince the 5 balls of yarn and asked him which one I should use.  It makes my man feel good to help make decisions on things like sock yarn and quilt fabric! :) Not really but Vince never fails to entertain me with his choices.  He chose the one that has the sock started in the above picture.  I asked him why he chose that one and here’s the conversation:

Me:  Vince, pick one of these 5 yarns for my next socks.
Vince:  That one (pointing to the one that has the sock started).
Me:  Why that one?
Vince:  Because it’s patriotic.
Me:  Patriotic?
Vince:  Yes, red, white and blue.  Can have the socks when you’re done?
Me:  Why don’t you let me knit the socks and then you decide if you want them?
Folks, that yarn is pink, magenta and black.  The lighting is excellent in our living room.   How he thought this yarn was red, white and blue is beyond me and no, my man is not wearing pink socks!

Here’s what sock #1 looks like knitted.

No red.  No white.  No blue.  Figure that one out for me, will you?

Tagged Knitting, Wollmeise Filed Under Home & Garden 20 Comments

First Wollmeise Socks

February 12, 2010 By Judy

These are the first pair of socks I’ve made using the Wollmeise 100% wool yarn.

The bottom sock looks darker in the picture but it isn’t.  I had read that the yarn was a bit splitty so I paid closer attention to what I was doing  and didn’t have any trouble with it splitting.  It feels great.  The twist is very tight and it gives a great definition to the stitches.  They feel fantastic on my feet (so says my feet!).  I agree that this is a fantastic yarn and worth the effort to find it!

The only problem with this yarn is that it is really, really hard to get!  The Loopy Ewe has it every now and then or you can order it directly from the dyer in Germany.  She updates here website twice a week . . once at 1 a.m. my time.  She doesn’t always have the sock yarn and when she does, it’s gone in a matter of seconds!  Of course, there’s sometimes someone selling it on ebay or someone who has it in their stash will sell it every now and then.  Maybe its scarcity is part of what makes it so fun to get but it really is great to knit and great to wear.

Tagged Hand knitted socks, The Loopy Ewe, Wollmeise Filed Under Home & Garden 13 Comments

New Resolve

February 11, 2010 By Judy

Stashbusting so far this year has been so easy.  I haven’t even been tempted to get online and buy fabric.  I surely haven’t been near a quilt shop.  I feel so strong . . where fabric is concerned.   I know . . don’t be bragging yet . . February isn’t even halfway over!

But what about sock yarn . . oh, a definite weakness.  But I think I’ve crossed the threshold on that too.  When I’m asked how I’m being so strong with the fabric issue, it’s because I realized that there’s a good chance no matter how many quilts I make, I may never use all my stash.  Think of the fabric you’ve been given from someone else’s stash . . some lovely quilter who gave up quilting or passed away.  Do you love it as much as you love the fabric you bought?  Probably not.  It’s outdated or not the color or pattern you would have chosen.  Do you want that to happen to your stash?  Do you want your stash given to the guild’s charity table? Do you want it sold at a garage sale for 5¢?  (Remind me to clean that “alt” key!  It’s still sticking . . Dr. Pepper is never good for a keyboard.)  No, you don’t!  No, I don’t!  I want to use my stash.  I want to make quilts with it.  I want to use every crumb of it!  So, that line of thinking has given me the determination to use my stash and not add to it til I absolutely need to do so.

Now . . about that sock yarn.  I always wind the yarn into balls as soon as it comes in.  But lately it’s been coming in faster than normal and I haven’t taken the time to wind it.  It was piled up on the ironing table, on the computer desk, on the sewing machine . . and I dumped it all in the floor, sorted through it to find a couple I want to use soon and here’s what I saw:

52 skeins of yarn in the last couple of months!  If I make one pair of socks each month, which is about what I do, that’s over four years of sock yarn right there . . not counting what I already have . . which means I have enough sock yarn to last the rest of my life.  I don’t want it sold at a garage sale for 10¢ (darned “alt” key stuck again!).  Unless there’s yarn out there that I absolutely cannot live without, I’m laying off the sock yarn too.

Now I have to make a decision on which yarn to start next.  I’ve narrowed it down to these:

This is Bugga “Love Bug”, a special color for Valentine’s Day.  Bugga is 70% superwash merino/20% cashmere/10% nylon.  I’m really wanting to knit Bugga . . haven’t done it yet.

Also Bugga.  The color is “Northern Purple Gold Beetle”.  Love this deep purple!

This one is String Theory’s Caper Sock which is 80% superwash merino/10% cashmere/10% nylon.  The color is “Mardi Gras” which makes me really want to get these knitted so I can wear them next week!  I’ve never used this yarn either.

This one is Wollmeise 100% superwash merino.  The color is “Skandal um Rosi”.  Normally I wouldn’t knit the same yarn back to back since I just did a pair in Wollmeise but this color intrigues me.  I think it will stripe but I don’t know how well it’s doing to look in socks.

This is Fiesta’s Baby Boom.  It’s 90% extrafine superwash merino/10% nylon.  The color is chocolate strawberry ganache which was dyed for The Loopy Ewe for their valentine’s packets.  Just seeing this yarn makes me hungry for strawberries dipped in chocolate so knitting this might not be a good idea.

Which do you think I’ll choose?

Tagged Bugga, Caper, The Loopy Ewe, Wollmeise Filed Under Home & Garden 33 Comments
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