It's A New Year And New Adventures.....

Happy New Year to everyone. I haven't posted in a while but I have knitted and crafted a few new things since my last post. This year I said I would post more even if it's just progress photo's but my main priority to to get my Etsy shop together. Here are a few things I've done lately.
Here are a few cup cozies that I made and decided to add to my shop. They seemed to be a hit for Christmas. More can be seen here.

I've also done some sewing, making more project bags.  And since making socks I've realized how important stitch markers are so I made a few for me and a few to add to my shop.

And yes I have made more socks. More info on these can be found on my Ravelry page.

Owlie Socks

Symmetry Socks

Skandium Socks

There is more to come.  But for now, thanks for stopping by more adventures to come...

3rd Adventure in Sock Knitting........

Completed!!!! My third pair of socks and they're no plain jane's either. With this pair I took this....

ONline Supersocke 100 Neon Color Two # 1726 4ply  and this....

which were left overs from the Maurits (yarn info can be found in that post) socks from my 1st sock adventure, to make Harlequino. 

When I started this sock I was kind of nervous as this was only my 3rd pair of socks ever and this sock is an unusual construction. Not only is it knitted in diamonds but I had to do provisional cast on's and pick up stitches as the sock progress and diamonds were added.

I have to say that the pattern was straight-forward and the notes from all the ravelers as well as the pattern designer were very helpful. Everyone kept saying trust the pattern, and I did. And here's the result.

I can say I am pleased with the results and would definitely knit this pattern again. Want to see more pictures check out My Ravelry page.

Thanks for stopping by....more sock adventures to come.

Carnival Beanpoles- 2nd Sock Adventure

Beanpoles are done. At first I wasn't too sure if I liked the color combo but as the sock progressed I began to like it more and more. From knitting the my 1st sock adventure Maurits I had an idea of what size needles I needed to use to get a sock that fits my foot when worked stranded. I cast on Beanpole on May 9th with 2.25mm needles and changed to 2.5mm needles before starting the gussest. Well I got to the heel and didn't like the tightness of the sock so I started over. Started the second go round on May 20th casting on 84 stitches instead of the 74 still with the 2.25mm needles but changed to 2.75mm/US #2  needles for the remainder of the sock. So here they are:

The end result was rather nice. I can say that I'm getting better with the Kitchener's Stitch (here's a handy video) for closing up the toe. I named them Carnival Beanpole because the Regia stripping yarn reminded me of the carnivla at night when all the lights are light up. Yarn details can be found here and more pictures can be seen on my Ravelry project page. These were knitted as an entry into the Sock Knitters Anonymous May 2015 KAL. 

Project Bag For My Sock Knitting.....

Well today didn't make for much knitting as running errands was priority but I did get some crafting in this evening. I finally decided on the next sock I will knit, Beanpole and I got all 19 pages of the pattern printed. This will be the 2nd sock i've knitted and the 3rd sock in my Adventures in Sock Knitting talked about here. My yarn choices are Regia Design Line 4-ply in Golds Color 3309 and Regia 4-ply in natural.

Beanpole Yarn Choices

In the middle of reading over the pattern I remembered that about a week ago I dug around in my fabric stash and pulled out two fat quarters I ordered a few years ago that now I have no clue what I was going to do with them. I figured they would make a cute project bag. So it was a toss up to cast-on socks or sew me up a project bag.....and the project bag won!

The bag can be reversible and is currently holing 3 50gm balls of sock yarn with room for 1 or 2 more. There are things that I will change on the next bag as this won't be my last and I forgot to add a snap before I sewed it up so I could close the bag if I want. And maybe an inside pocket would be nice. It probably took me more time drawing up the pattern than it did to sew it, but now that it's done I can cast-on my socks.

Thanks for stopping by,...

1st Sock Adventure, And It's No Plain Jane

Ok, no I have never knitted any socks. In my sock ventures and sock searching I came across this book  and it has been on my wishlist for a while now. Op-Art is a wonderful sock book with stranded color-work patterns. I like that they show them in different colors and yarns as well as in classic black and white for each sock.  As a first time knitter I know I probably should have chosen something simple and plain and not a stranded color-work sock but I couldn’t resist and that just wouldn’t be me. I want to make them all in colors and black & white and it’s hard to choose which one to do first. When adding the book to my Ravelry library  I found the Op-Art-Socks Group. This group does a KAL for the socks in the book. I joined the group in March and I couldn't join in that months KAL because my yarn took forever to get here but I was determined for the next month. April's KAL sock was Maurits.  I wanted and could not resist to join but of course I have no sock yarn. I scoured the internet and found the perfect yarn for the lovely lizards on these socks.  I ordered some Regia Fluormania in a greenish-yellow colorway and some Schachenmayr Regia Africa Style Stretch Uni & Color*4ply 

Regia Flourmania Neon Leaf

from Hotyarns. I thought this might make a pair of bright colorful socks that reminded me of how lizards changed colors. Along with yarn I purchased a few different needles. The socks called for US #1 circulars so I ordered two 24-inch Addi Lace Circular needles, a size #1  9-inch HiyaHiya Circular needle,  a size #2 pair of  ChiaoGoo Twist Red Lace needle tips along with a  30-inch twist interchangeable cable, and last but not least a pair of  Karbonz double pointed needles in size #1.  I order so many types of needles because I wanted to not only try them out but I wasn't sure which one's I wanted to use and you can never have too many needles. 

     

Now I think i'm ready to begin.  I started my cast-on  4/20 as to qualify in the KAL the sock had to be cast-on in the month that particular sock was for.

 I started cast-on with the 9-inch circular because I though it might might my life easier and it did my only concern was that my floats would be too tight. It took two try's to get the Baltic braid at the beginning of the sock and finally on the the sock. To make sure that my floats had lots of ease I made sure to keep the stitches on the right needle stretched which makes the floats longer. I started the instep  and right heel on 4/22 and here I switched to the two 24-inch circulars. This section began the increases so I knew I would have needed more room. This was my first time knitting with two circular needles at a time. This is also my first time working with such a stretchy yarn, the black,  and i'm not too sure about it but it's gonna have to work. On 4/24 I started tuning the heel, this had to be the scariest part for me...and I still don't know if I really did it right as it did not say wrap & turn it just said slip the stitch but in the back of the book it looks like wrap & turn for turning the heel. By 4/28 I was finish the heel and now on the sole and remainder of the instep. This part was pretty straight-forward as it was only following the chart.

Sock Front

Sock Back & Heel Before Turn

By 4/28 I was on the toe and by the next day I was finish with sock #1.  Sock #2 took me about 5 days. I kept the i-cord for both socks for the end and completed that after the 2nd sock was finished. So by 5/3 both socks were finished and I couldn't be happier. And here are the finished socks.

Well for today my adventure stops here but I still have more to talk about as far as these socks go so this one is to be continued.......

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend,

Terra M.

Back to Knitting

I have recently picked up my knitting needles again instead of just crocheting. On my searching for new things to knit (not that I need anything else with my Ravelry favorites , knitting books and magazines, and Pinterest board) I happened upon socks. I am a lover of socks and whenever I see a pair I like I get them sometimes not ever caring of the price. So I figured why not knot or make my own socks. Between Pinterest and Ravelry there are so many choices of knit sock patterns to choose from, My only worry is that I've never knitted socks. nor do I have any sock yarn or knitting needles small enough to knit socks. This mean SHOPPING!!! On my searches I found so many different patterns, yarns, and needles I wanted to try. I figured I'd blog about it and call it Adventures In Sock Knitting. I will detail my knitting's not only as a reference for me but for others that may be interested in the particular pattern of yarn I used. Have a sock pattern that you like feel free to leave me a link in the comments section. First adventure coming real soon, later today or tomorrow. Yes the adventure has already started. Hope you join me in my adventures......

Thanks for stopping by,

             Terra M.

More Scarves.....

I figured since it's getting cold out and I usually make blankets why not make other things that I can either potentially use or add to my Etsy shop so I decided why not make some scarves, cowls, and infinity scarves.

Red Hounds-tooth by ELK Studio

Black Hounds-tooth by ELK Studio

Triple Purple Triangle Cowl by  Sara Dudek

All three were fun and quick to make. For the most part I followed the pattern directions except on the Hounds-tooth I chained 22 for the black & white one and 20 for the red & aran one. More info on the yarn and hook size I used can be found here and here.                                                                      

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY......HAVE A BLESSED DAY!