Re-engineered

I like the majority of the socks on Sock Madness, but I have a small narrow foot, and the socks rarely fit me.  I can usually give them to the Hubz (if they are massive) or to a daughter.  But I want them for me, too.  So my solution is to re-engineer the patterns so that they are my size.  That's usually pretty simple to do.  (I've been knitting socks for decades). 

I fell in love with the slip-stitch pattern on this pair, and changed the contrasting yarn to something that had been hanging around forever.  This photo is of the original pattern, and the socks are donated to DD#1.

Here's my re-engineered sock, and it fits beautifully.  I do love this pattern and can see it in my arsenal of go-to socks.

It looks blurry, doesn't it?  But that's how the pattern appears.  Here's a close-up.

I finished the pair last night and immediately cast on another pair.  I'm using an old pattern of mine that's still someplace on Ravelry. 

Here's a very blurry photo of it.  Not much to see, and the color is off, but there it is.  It'll be very pretty when finished.

Finished the socks!

Moving on to the next round.  No knitting or English paper piecing tomorrow, too many aches in my hands, wrists, etc, etc.

The "curly" ribbing on the top is on purpose.  This is a toe-up sock, and that bit of extra bind-off makes it fit so well.

First sock

I finished the first sock of this round of Sock Madness and started the second one yesterday.  I estimate I'll be done on Fri.  In the past, I was able to knit a complex pair of socks in 2.5 days, but that was really pushing it.  This year, my body wants me to slow down.  I have to listen to my fingers, hands, wrists, elbows and shoulders.  Don't really want to, but it makes sense.  So these will be a 5-day pair of socks.  And then I will rest!

Isn't that a cute heel?  I love the pattern and I may use it on a hat or a pair of mittens.  It's pretty toasty. As usual, the sock is big on me.  Not bad in the circumference, but too long.  I have to follow the pattern exactly.  I'll still wear them, even though they bunch up a little in the heel.

OK, lots of knitting today.  No errands, no lunch out (bummer), just knit, knit, knit.  Make pizza dough and bake bread, but that's it.

Sock Madness 11 in progress

Here we go, the first round of Sock Madness.  This one is so pretty to knit with a lot of neat techniques.

I'm on the 5th fastest team, which means I have to knit my little fingers to pieces.  My right thumb is already complaining.  Don't know how far I'll get this year because family is coming to visit in a couple of weeks.  So if a pattern drops then, well, I'd rather play with the little guy and chat with Miss P and hang out with DD and SIL.  So, we shall see.

Knitting! Stitching!

I finally finished the latest basketweave socks.  They took me forever mostly because I was knitting the red socks for the little guy.  And also, I was really bored knitting them.  But Sock Madness starts early March, and those dumb socks had to be finished.  So, here we go again:  yet another pair of basketweave socks.

Last night I almost cast on for another pair with some sort of lace pattern, but I'm saving my energy for the crazy Madness socks.

And here are the latest 4 blocks of Valse Brillante.

If you look closely at the light blades, you might see writing coming through.  That's because I cut out the papers from magazine inserts.  They are almost the perfect weight.  I trace around the original paper and then cut just a hair in from the pencil line to make them the correct size.  They can be reused, too.

By the way, if you click on the pics and see them much larger, then you'll notice some of my stitches showing through, particularly on the little center hexies.  I don't mind them.  In the overall quilt, they won't matter, and frankly, life is too short to rip them out and redo. 

Knitting with the gals

Sunday, I hosted a little lunch with some of my Sock Madness fellow knitters.  Five of us eating and chatting and even knitting.  Such fun!  I want to show you what one of the knitters made for me:

Isn't it pretty?  It's an origami knitting bag.  Everyone got a version of this. 

Jennifer sells them on Etsy, if you would like one.  Each one is simply charming!

Guess what starts tomorrow!

Feb 1:  time to sign up for Sock Madness!  Yay!

Ok, back to English paper piecing.