Here are the last of the Olivers. Or, rather, I should say the last of the Olivers for a while. This is a nice, simple, attractive pattern, so I’m sure I’ll see it again. These are for J, who picked the glittery, loud yarn from my sister’s stash all by himself (hi, sis!). He adores them, but doesn’t really want to wear them because all that glitter also makes them a bit scratchy. Please note that he’s really sensitive – your mileage may vary.

I got quite a lot of practice in left leaning decreases over these three pair of socks, including a sort I’d never tried before – the ‘slip yank twist knit, or SYTK’ method from TECHknitting. I’ve decided that my personal favorite in stockinette stitch where you’re decreasing every two or three rows is a good old ssk with a twisted knit in the non-decrease row. It’s amazing how well that twisted knit stitch helps to even out the decrease line.

My folded and much marked-up Oliver pattern is currently missing, so I’ll just promise to post my new numbers for the socks when I come across it. You can find my size mods for the first pair of boy Olivers here (same size; yay twins.) I do recall that I made this pair a bit wider, and they could still stand a smidge more room in the width department. John’s man-sized Olivers are here.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Details:

Started:	17 Dec 2009
Finished:	25 Jan 2010
Pattern:	Oliver by Marlowe Crawford. Link to pattern on Ravelry here. It was $7 US when I bought it.
Yarn:	Berocco Sox Metallic.
Needles:	US 1 / 2.25 mm
Notes:	Modifications to make it boy-sized: My kid’s foot is about 7” around and 8 1/8” long – child’s size US 3.5 / EU 35.5. 52 sts. 5” cuff. I’ll add the other details if/when I recover my notes. My Ravelry project page is here.

The Oliver sock pattern was such a hit with my husband that the boys caught his enthusiasm. Last Thanksgiving week, I found myself stranded in Ohio with no access to a local yarn shop (it was closed.) Facing a nine-hour drive back to North Carolina sans knitting, I called my sister the day before Thanksgiving, and she agreed to bring over a ball of sock yarn on Thanksgiving so I could work on some plain-Jane socks on the way back home.

I should have anticipated what happened next. After the wonderful chaos that was Thanksgiving, I sat down and was offered not a skein of yarn but a traveling yarn shop to choose from. Both of my boys chose sock yarn from Aunt Karen’s magic bag of yarn and I cast on for these Ollies during the trip. Thanks, Karen!

The yarn has a short repeat, so it was relatively easy to try and match the stripes. The matching came out better than I anticipated – right down to having the heel turn in all blue on each sock! The socks weigh 50g, but I did dip into the second skein of yarn, so buy two if you’re going to do 9 year old kid-socks in this yarn! The first skein made it through one sock and the cuff of the second. There was a little left over, but I thought it was a good place to match stripes for the rest of the second sock.

I am currently working on my third pair of Ollies, which is rather unheard of. I’m not sure I’ve ever knit three of one thing in a row before, let alone six of them. Details are below, as usual. I’ve included changes for whittling down the Oliver to a child’s size.

I wish you and yours a very happy 2010.

Details:

Started:	27 Nov 2009
Finished:	16 Dec 2009
Pattern:	Oliver by Marlowe Crawford. Link to pattern on Ravelry here. It was $7 US when I bought it.
Yarn:	Patons Kroy Socks Jacquards in colorway 56603. It took about a skein and a half to make a child’s size US 3.5 / EU 35.5.
Needles:	US 1 / 2.25 mm
Notes:	Modifications to make it boy-sized: My kid’s foot is about 7” around and 8 1/8” long. 48 sts (will do 52 next time). 5” cuff. Heel worked on 24 sts for 24 rows. Heel turn row 1: s1, p12, p2tog, p1 Heel turn row 2: s1, k3, ssk, k1 Gusset / foot modifications: Work as written through round 13. Round 14: knit. Round 15: Repeat rnd 9. Rnds 16-58: Repeat rnds 13-15. Work the rest as written (would change a bit about where the slant starts next time, to have it closer to the middle) until 1 1/4” from finished length. Work toe: dec every other row until 24 sts left, then every row until 12 sts left. Kitchener. My Ravelry project page is here.

Happy holidays, everyone!

My husband has found his sock pattern. And by ‘his’, I mean ‘the-one-I-shall-knit-for-him-again-and-again’. This clever pattern isn’t difficult at all, though it helps to keep track of what row you’re on. The sock has increases on the bottom and decreases on the top that result in both sides of the sock wrapping around the foot at an angle. This sock really hugs the foot, and John loves it. Here are a few photos and the details for those of you looking to make foot-huggers.

The lovely yarn comes from a hand-dyer out in Colorado. You can find Kimberly’s shop right here: http://www.catmtn.com/tyg-online/.

May your fingers be swift and clever, and your holidays relaxed and bright.

Details:

Started:	2 Oct 2009
Finished:	18 Nov 2009
Pattern:	Oliver by Marlowe Crawford. Link to pattern on Ravelry here. It was $7 US when I bought it.
Yarn:	Superwash merino fingering weight yarn in ‘latte’ from the Yarn Gallery. I got a size 10.5 US men’s pair of socks from one skein with plenty left over.
Needles:	US 1 / 2.25 mm
Notes:	I accidentally decreased until the foot was 70 sts instead of 72. Oops. They fit, but the next pair will have 72 sts on the foot. These were made with 8″ cuffs. My Ravelry project page is here.

These socks have been done for a while now, but under wraps until I could deliver them to my sis. They are a basic 2×2 rib sock pattern, worked toe up with an eye of partridge pattern on the heel.

I worked toe up so that I could make ridiculously long cuffs without fear of running out of yarn – K. likes to roll her cuffs down.

2×2 patterns are nice and stretchy, so it’s almost guaranteed to fit your recipient. I was nervous with this pair, because they almost fit me, and my sis is a size and a half up from where I am. However, the fit was great! Simple ribbing is great car or conversation knitting. I was also not about to do complex lace or cables with this beautiful, busy yarn. Why put in the work if no one can SEE it? That said, I moved right on to some cables on my next project so as to wake up a little.

I had to throw one more photo in – this is a detail shot of the eye of partridge heel. I love this heel pattern with handpainted yarn!

Details:

Started:	21 Aug 2008
Finished:	2 Aug 2009
Pattern:	Toe-up, 2×2, eye of partridge heel, gusset increases done as in Hubby House socks. See notes section for numbers and measurements.
Yarn:	Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino (yum) in Tropical Storm
Needles:	US 1 / 2.25mm
Notes:	I have detailed measurements jotted down on a piece of paper somewhere; I’ll add them when I find it!

Although flashy socks are fun, they don’t quite go with the office chinos and polo shirt. Enter the plain rib, or ‘boring enough for work’ socks. These socks have a bit of wear already, because John absconded with them as soon as they were off the needles.

I’m finding that I don’t hate making ribbed socks as much as I thought I would. They are great car knitting, because I don’t have to think about them. Endless rows of garter stitch, though, still drives me around the bend. What’s up with that?

Details:

Started:	12 Mar 2009
Finished:	4 May 2009
Pattern:	Improvised. 2×2 rib at top; 3×1 rib for the rest of the sock. Slipped stitch heel. Worked top-down with a heel flap. I’ll add specific notes when the slip of paper I wrote all the stitch counts and measurements on surfaces.
Yarn:	ShibuiKnits Sock, in ’sand’.
Needles:	US 1.5 (2.5 mm) knitpicks metal dpns.
Notes:	Ravelry link to project.

Remember these? I finally got around to writing up my notes into a pattern. You can click here to download the pattern for free. If you try it and have any trouble (or even if you don’t!) please let me know.

This is a sock sized for a man’s medium foot (size US 10.5 / EU 44.5) and worked with sport weight yarn. If you want to make them to fit a woman or child, they aren’t hard to alter. The foot works on a 4-stitch repeat, and the cuff on an 8-stitch repeat, so it should be relatively easy to change things up to fit almost anyone.

Hi all,

Just a quick note – I finally got my ducks in a row and wrote up my sized-down version of Grumperina’s Jaywalker socks. It’s posted here with Grumperina’s permission. My scaled-down version fits a kid in the US toddler 13 (Euro 31,
UK 12) range.

You can find it at the top of my free stuff page. Have fun, and let me know if you use the pattern and something doesn’t make sense.

Sometimes ripping is an easy decision. I hate a pattern, despise a yarn, or just generally feel repulsion for my knitting, and out it goes. Rippity-rip-rip; it even feels g-o-o-d.

This time, this time is different. It seems like I’ve been ripping *all* my good projects lately. I can’t count how many times Rogue has been ripped for gauge issues. Now, it’s my little snow-beauty. Here’s what it looks like right now…

The heel has been reworked several times, until I could get a feel for intarsia. Here are the last two:

Yes, the sock fits on my foot, but it doesn’t fit right. It’s the first one, which mean that if I should bull-headedly press on – you could at least pretend to be shocked at the thought – I’d have to do another one wrong, too, just so they match. And so, it will go into the frog-pond. I’m not sure how far back I’m going to rip, but the longer I dither, the more I lean toward frogging the whole thing. Right now I’m knitting the medium size but at a tighter gauge than specified. I’ll probably go up a needle size and see where I land then. Maybe I’ll rip it all out and give it a few months to marinate before I start in again; I’m feeling the urge to work on something different.

Right now, the socks are sitting on the edge of the pond, and I’m working up the gumption to take out all that work. Someday soon, but not today.

These socks were fun to knit, though I had to pay attention a bit more than usual due to the ribbed nature of the lace. That’s okay, though, because it was also very easy to see when I’d taken a wrong turn. The pictures don’t show the texture well, but it really pops in person. These beauties rank right up there with my favorites that I’ve knit so far; they were a gift for an aunt who is getting up there in years. I *think* she liked them; it’s kind of hard to tell. She’s always liked handmade gifts in the past. Hopefully they’ll wrap her in warmth this winter.

As I look out the window, I am seeing my first snowfall of winter. We’re up in Ohio visiting family, and I’m really happy that it’s decided to snow while we’re here. I hope it sticks a bit!

In other news, Rogue is in time-out while I wait for new needles to arrive. Apparently I knit more tightly when I’m doing a whole sweater on circulars than when I’m just swatching on them. Ah, well. I’ve got a baby sweater on the needles that’s destined for charity; I’ll post a photo when I get a chance. Right now, I’m gonna go watch the snow.

---

Edited to add:

Details:

Started:	13 Dec 2007
Finished:	26 Jan 2008
Pattern:	Ribbed Lace Socks from Sensational Socks by Charlene Schurch.
Yarn:	Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in Green Mountain Madness.
Needles:	Knitpicks US 1.5 dpns (2.5 mm)
Notes:	Didn’t change a thing – the partridge heel with garter stitch border was new to me – fun! I’ll come back and add measurements later – my notes are in NC and I’m in OH.

I’ve wondered lately if sport weight sock yarn would be useable for socks for John. I rationalized that using bigger yarn would mean that I’d actually *finish* a pair of socks for him. I must have been projecting my thought-waves loudly, because John asked for a pair of house socks for the winter. I jumped right on it and ordered sport weight yarn. With no shoes involved, there was no reason not to, and I figured I’d have him jam his feet into his work shoes and see how the heavier yarn worked out.

The first incarnation of the sock involved Cat Bordhi’s Upstream architecture. It was all right, but I didn’t care for the way the increases looked on the foot. I think in a finer yarn, or with patterns around it or in the middle section, I’d have liked it. As it was, I didn’t think it was working out. Ripitty-rip-rip.

After recovering from my ripping frenzy, I continued up the foot and did a little Greek Key dance at the top. John pronounced the finished socks “comfy”. And, unlike the last pair, they fit! Although the fit in his shoes, he really feels the texture of the yarn. So, any work socks will need to be knit in fingering weight yarn. Wool is definitely optional – it was in the low 80’s here in North Carolina yesterday. We’re two weeks from Christmas; this is crazy!

Here’s a bit of life chez Flyin’ Needles; the new socks in their native habitat.

I’ve been busy knitting, crocheting, and programming lately. Rogue is coming along, though I ripped her out and started over a size larger due to initial self-measuring idiocy. My ripples socks have been ripped because I just wasn’t feeling the love. Since they were a Christmas present (eek!) I need to find something suitable quickly. I really love the colors in the yarn, so I just may do a stockinette sock and watch the colors play.

So, I’m getting ready for the holidays by crafting and cleaning. Whilst rearranging stuffed animals in the boys’ room, I found a mouse I hadn’t photographed for my records. Tweedle-d’oh had absconded with him directly upon finishing. So, I got him out and promptly re-discovered that my cat is a nib-nose.

Happy crafting, everyone.