The magical sock pattern

Spoiler: a friend and owner of my local yarn store wrote the pattern I’m speaking about here, so I’m entirely biased on its merits.

That doesn’t mean the pattern isn’t awesome though.

Recently it seems everyone I know is writing amazing patterns and I have to keep knitting them. No, it’s not out of a sense of obligation; I won’t knit something that I don’t like in general, because life’s too short for that. Nope, turns out the talented folks I know write damn good patterns.

Martina Munroe published Camber Twist Socks around the same time as Vickie Hartog published the Grandifolia Shawl (which I’ve finished and you shall see soon). Another friend asked me to knit her some Camber Twists and I began, and as soon as I memorised the pattern I was hooked.

The yarn I’m using is Cascade Heritage Wave (I would recommend not googling ‘Cascade Wave’ as I just did, as it turns out it is something very different). It’s red plied with shades of grey, and it is SO SQUISHY I have since bought a skein for myself. I’m adapting the pattern to be knee-high socks for a friend, hence the little stitch markers and the odd shape.

See, these are excellent socks. The pattern looks quite plain on the needles but when you put it on it turns magic. My coworkers watched me knit and when I showed them what it would look like stretched around the leg, their minds were blown.

This is why:

Look how cute that is!

Not only is it cute, but it’s a great idea for a sock stitch. It’s less boring to knit than plain ribbing but will be snug and comfortable against the leg despite that. I have a problem with skinny ankles that means a lot of socks don’t fit well but these would be super versatile for anyone.

And yes, that is my pinky sticking out at the top of the sock.  My legs were too far away.

I know I spoke about knitting for Christmas last week but these are the exception. I have, however, started a pair of fingerless gloves in the same stitch as above. Apparently I dig it enough to have multiple projects on the go with it.

The best thing about Camber Twist? It’s still free until the end of August. Go get it now!

Hat.

This is not the hat I knit for Martina at Kniterary, but it’s made from the same yarn in a different colourway.

It is not a hat for this weather. I tried: this morning I pulled it over my ears and about thirty seconds later sincerely wished I’d brought a real winter hat. As much as I try to kid myself it really is time for the hardcore clothes here in southern Ontario.

Still, it’s pretty.

This is a lovely yarn. The colours are awesome and the pattern it makes is pretty. Making a hat doesn’t take up a whole skein either (especially impressive since I have a large head).

As I mentioned in my last post it’s Cascade Color Duo. Colour? Color? You know what I mean.

For the Love of a Yarn

When I went to The Little Green House for the Thursday knitting group, I had just finished a commission and didn’t have anything else with me to knit – I’d been flustered after my bus home from work had been late and didn’t have time to grab something new.

Martina suggested I knit something out of a new yarn for her to show in the store. That yarn is Cascade Duo Colour, a 70% baby alpaca/30% Merino blend and oh my goodness, this yarn. It is lovely. Just lovely.

First of all the colours are beautiful. I started a hat for Martina out of the middle colour, a gorgeous burnt orange with black in it. I knitted a Barley hat from it which I’ll take pictures of once I get around to sewing in the ends – which usually takes me longer to bother with than the entire knitting process.

I also bought the red one since the rich blood red mixed with the black is striking. Knit up, it’s even better. The black and red fade between one another, speckled in places and plain in the other, and it’s subtle and lovely.

As for the texture?

Well.

I already love baby alpaca. One of my first fancy projects was some fingerless mitts in a baby alpaca blend. It’s soft with none of the itchiness of the mature alpaca and I have had many people at work wandering over to give it a pet. It’s a pleasure to knit.

The only downside to this yarn is that it splits quite a bit but if you’re careful it’s worth it.

So readers, get out and try this yarn if you’re in the mood to spoil yourself. It’s lovely and you won’t regret it.

(P.S.: believe it or not, Cascade isn’t paying me for this post. Honest.)

Stash Enhancement and WIPs

Thanks to helping out Martina at The Little Green House I’ve finally been able to increase my stash after quite a few months of languishing. Oh, it feels so good to have new yarn to fondle.

First up I got a bunch of fluffy blue Berroco alpaca yarn that I was going to make into the fabulous Brandywine Shawl. It didn’t work out; the yarn is too fuzzy where I need a nice distinct stitch pattern. So that yarn is waiting to be made into something else instead.

To replace it I got some autumn orange Cascade 220. It works perfectly. I’m near the end of it and it’s looking absolutely gorgeous (if I may say so myself).

I adore this pattern. It’s fun to knit, mostly intuitive, and it looks like the sections are overlapping which makes me extremely happy. It was a pattern I purchased nearly a year ago when I got some extra dosh and I’ve been trying to find the yarn and time for it since then. Here it is!

Since I took that picture on my crappy Blackberry camera I’ve knitted another few inches.

Last up I got a couple of skeins of Cascade Heritage Silk yarns, one in a solid blue and one that’s variegated with a blue that matches up to the first. It’s going to be a pair of socks though as I have two skeins it may well end up being some mittens too. The mitts I made for my partner over a year ago were Heritage Silk and she still wears them all the time. This yarn holds up well. Turns out silk is seriously hardy.

What’s your most recent stash enhancement acquisition?

I Made a Purchase

On Saturday I headed to The Little Green House in Whitby with a rather fabulous new friend to buy the yarn for my first wearable garment (Coachella, though I’m doing a modified version found on Ravelry). It took a while to pick the yarn of course. I went with Cascade 220 Superwash in a greeny-blue flecked colour. I’m quite pleased with it and apparently I really like Cascade yarns. The last three projects I’ve done have been by them.

Like this one, a scarf made of lovely rich red cotton.

They had a little workshop going on where, for two dollars, you could try out needle felting and jewellery making. We decided to go ahead and try it, resulting in a cute needle-felted bookmark (or potential cat toy) and a pair of earrings. I spent rather too long trying to find the right beads and now I want to do this all the time.

Bad idea. I have enough hobbies already that I struggle to decide what to do when I have a moment not working.

Still, maybe one day I’ll have even more free time and can do it.

I’ll start hoarding any pretty beads I find just in case.

Anyway. At this point it was time to go and pay for my yarn, which was 15% off like everything in the store. Very exciting. I picked out some cotton to make more washcloths with and then looked for circular needles in the size I needed. Alas, there were none.

Except… well, except a set of KnitPro interchangeable needles that were, before discount, around $70. I picked them up. I stared. I wandered back upstairs to see my friend. I gave in and went back downstairs, debit card in hand, and put the cotton back as if that would somehow make a huge difference on the price. Fortunately this paycheque I had a little extra to spare so I don’t feel too badly about it.

From my excitedly blurry photo you may deduce I was definitely not feeling badly about it. Holy crap I am so in love with these needles. One is broken, but Martina from the store is replacing it when she can. This does not deflect from the glory of these needles. Knitting on them is delightful. They’re smooth and slick and pretty. The cords don’t twist like my cheap plastic grey circulars. There’s lots of sizes and lengths and I am SO EXCITED.

So I cast on my Coachella. I’m about 25 rows in now and getting more and more excited the further I go.

These needles? Definitely worth it.