Striped Summer Socks

Hello friends!
Guess what...? It's still Socktober over here at the SLD HQ :-)
These socks have been made using Noro Taiyo Sock yarn which is a blend of cotton, silk, wool & nylon. To create the stripes I have divided the skein into two, and knit 4 rows per stripe with each ball. The colours sort of met up in the middle of the foot and blended in so it looks like there isn't quite a stripe there, but never mind... I still like the way they have turned out :-)
I made these socks on much small needles than I have worked all my other socks on so far, so it took quite a bit longer to knit these socks.
The yarn is beautiful to work with, and feels a lot softer once it's knitted up as opposed to when it's still in the skein. The only thing to keep in mind with this yarn is that it does tend to "stick" when using wooden needles, which can be a bit annoying and makes work slow. I have found this with other yarns that contain silk when using my KnitPro Symfonie needles as well. So I used my Addi Turbo 20cm circular needle for the majority of the sock and just finished off the last few rows of the toe with the Symfonies :-)
I'm hoping these socks might be a bit more suitable for summer wear, because of the silk and cotton content :-) I'll let you know how they go :-)
What have you been working on lately? Share in the comments!

bord de la mer socks

Hello friends!
Yes, according to me it's still "Socktober!" Yay!
Here is another sock design I have been working on today. The little scallop design is made using a fair isle knitting technique, which doesn't seem to be all that suited to sock knitting (there must be an easier way!!!?)
The reason it's not particlarly suitable for sock knitting is that it doesn't have a lot of stretch... I can only *just* get these socks on my little feet (and I do have little feet), and the other reason this technique isn't so fabulous for sock knitting is because of all the little threads carried along the inside (or back) of your work (sock) which means that they are *really* tricky to put on without catching your toes in all the little threads.
Do you know a better way of knitting colour patterns such as this into socks?? Share in the comments!
P.S. Despite their impractical nature I still adore these socks!

Rainbow Eyelet Socks

Hello friends!

Hmmm, maybe I should have called this month "Socktober" instead of "Blogtober"....

Yep, here is another pair of socks I have been working on :-) I had an idea for the pattern the other day and today I finally had the chance to try it out and it worked :-)

It's a little hard to see but the stitch pattern around the ankle and the top of the foot is staggered eyelets.

I'd love to be able to tell you what the yarn is, becuase it's so pretty... but it is left over from a project I knit for one of my nephews when he was a newborn... and he just turned 9! Yes, I've had this yarn hanging around in my stash for that long!

When i write this pattern up it will have a longer leg section, I only did a short anklet style sock because I had limited yarn :-)

The pattern should be ready to be published very soon and will be available on Ravelry :-)

Roxo Sox

Hello friends!
Yeah... I'm still on my sock making bender :-)
I made this sock using my Alegria pattern and some Bendigo Woollen Mills 4 ply Luxury that I have hand dyed using food dye.
I started knitting the 2nd sock in this pair this morning at the Yarra Valley S'n'B at Mocha and Lime and had a very sweet little girl come and stare at what I was doing for about 10 minutes before asking me in a tiny voice what I was making. I told her it was a sock and showed her the finished one, and she was very excited :-) I then over heard her saying to her mum: "I didn't know you could MAKE socks!"
I wonder what other socky adventures will unfold this weekend?
Are you working on a crafty project this weekend? What are you making? Share in the comments :-)
P.S. Just in case you were wondering I DID get the second sock in the pair finished using my Watermelon yarn :-)

Watermelon Socks

Hello friends!
If you read my post from yesterday you would have seen that I had done a little yarn dyeing experiment... And this sock is the result :-) I'm pretty happy with it, even if it doesn't immediately scream "Watermelon!" it's still a pretty good likeness and I like the colour combination :-)
The only trouble with it is that I miscalculated the amount of yarn I had... so when I had finished this sock I weighed the remaining yarn...and I am a few grams short for the second sock... I'm going to try and adjust the second sock a little bit so I can complete the pair :-) Fingers crossed!! :-)

Watermelon Sock Yarn

Hello friends!
If you have been following my blog recently you will already know about my obsession with knitting socks.
At first it was knitting a pair of socks from a pattern in a magazine. Then it was writing my own sock pattern. And now I've moved on to hand dyeing my own self striping sock yarn :-)
The base yarn is Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino (White), and I used various food dyes, using the same method I wrote about HERE to dye the yarn :-)
And if all goes according to plan... when I knit this yarn into a little pair of socks it will resemble a watermelon :-)
If it works I'll show you pictures tomorrow... And if it doesn't work... I'll show you pictures tomorrow :-)

Sock Knitting Addicition

Hello friends!
Guess what? I'm addicted to knitting socks! Yes, there, I've said it....
Lots of my knitty friends had always talked about their sock knitting addiction, but I never really "got it"... But now that I have almost finished knitting my first pair of "real" socks I can completely understand it. 
I wasn't even halfway through the first sock before I started planning all the other socks I was going to knit :-) 
I have knitted socks before, but they've all been bed socks or tube socks... nothing with a proper heel or that could actually be worn with regular, everyday shoes :-)
This is my very first proper sock! And I'm almost finished it's partner :-)
I used a pattern that I found in Australian Creative Knitting magazine Issue #38 Spring. I don't know if this was a particularly well written and easy pattern or if sock knitting is no where near as scary as I thought :-) (The pattern isn't currently on Ravelry, just in case you were wondering :-)
The yarn I have used is Regia Design Line 4 ply in colour way "Exotic Pool". It's a very nice yarn to use and the colours are really fabulous :-)
The next pair of socks I plan to make are these ones from Purl Bee, and I'm using this scrumptious wool/cotton blend yarn from Rowan in colour way "Aqua".
Have you knit socks before? Do you have a favourite sock pattern or a favourite sock yarn? Share in the comments! :-)