Thursday, October 05, 2006

PACHA!

**PACHA**
hehe how do you like my special effects noise???
Introducing the one the only *so far* pair of Claudia's scrummy hand painted Jungle socks!!!!!

Aren't they purdy????? I love love love this yarn. I think this is what Laura would call Sproingy yarn. Its not tightly plied but it just bounces, I love it!
Yarn: Claudia's Hand Painted colourway JUNGLE
Needles: Started out with size 3's with socks in two circs but 3's were just wayyy to big so it was back to my size double pointed's.
Pattern: Gentleman's Fancy Sock from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks
Peeves: Not much yardage in Claudia's. I like long tops and I knit them top down. The toes are a little on the tight side but I'm hoping they will stretch out with wash. I was literally left with 6 inches of yarn for each sock.
CLAUDIA WE NEED MORE YARDAGE!!!!!! I'LL PAY THE EXTRA JUST GIVE ME MORE YARDAGE!!!!
These socks as far as I can tell were started on the 10th of August and the final sock was cast off on the 5th or 6th of September, a month is pretty darn good me thinks.

Now in the Spirit of Socktoberfest and my lovely Jungle socks I'm going to answer the sock history questions Lolly posted on her blog for us to answer.

When did you start making socks?? I started making socks in 2005

Did you teach yourself?? I did teach myself from the band around the sock yarn.

What was your first pair?? My first pair was here made with lion brand magic stripes/

How have they held up over time?? Not sure exactly how they have held up, they were a gift for a friend in England.

What would you have done differently? I would have not listened to that stupid band on the yarn and took a class instead.

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?? I love Claudia's Handpainted!!!!!

Do you like to crochet your socks? What do you knit them on? I don't crochet socks, I prefer knitting to crochet. I knit using size 1 bamboo dpns. I have recently bought size 3 circs to try knitting with two circs but found them too big :(

Which kind of heel do you prefer?? I tried a short row heel my last sock and couldn't figure it out so I go with flaps usually. I may try it again though.

How many pairs have you made?? I have 6 completed pairs and one part of a pair finished.

Believe it or not it was Lolly that inspired me to knit socks again. You see the very first pair of socks frustrated me soooo much I swore I would never knit them again. Then when I discovered the world of knit blogging, Lolly's being among one of the first, she kept talking about how she always has a pair of socks on the needles, and she loves knitting socks and oh socks this socks that. I was thinking "Man is this girl NUTS???" After hearing about her many sock's and seeing all the lovely patterns there were to choose from I decided to give sock knitting one last shot, if I didn't like it this time I was through with sock knitting.
So that's when the Jaywalker crazy was in, a free pattern couldn't be a better way to test my fate with sock knitting. So I grabbed some Regia from a yarn store close by and tried my hand at Jaywalkers. Well holy COW! I was doing it, I was knitting these socks just like the pattern said and I wasn't having any problems. So my jaywalkers turned out to be the first pair of socks I knit for myself, even thought they are tight to get on, they still rock and I will always love those socks. The rest my friends, is history!
I've been glued to sock knitting ever since. I've picked up quite a stash of sock knitting books in the last year and hope to keep curning them out for many years to come.
So lets all raise our glasses to LOLLY!!!! For hosting this fabulous celebration of socks and for inspiring me to give sock knitting one last shot! *clinking of glasses* CHEERS LOLLY!!!

p.s. I three needle bound off my first Lorna's Lace sock today and hope to get the second one on asap

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those socks are fabulous! Thank you for sharing your sock knitting history with us all. Its good to see that you stuck with it. I'll be shipping your Knitters Tea Swap package soon :-) I hope you like...

Dave said...

Great socks! I love the colours. I'll have to give that pattern a try. It looks interesting without requiring a ton of extra brain power ;-)

Aren't socks fun? Aren't you glad you stuck wtih it? ew

C+SK said...

Ohhh fab socks, Kelly!!! I really like them! :-)

Jeanne said...

Those are great socks. I might have to try some Claudia's sometime. You should try knitting socks from the toe up, then you don't have to worry about running out of yarn for the toes. I was resistant at first, but now I do them both ways...each method has it's advantages.

Chris said...

Your Claudia HP socks are GORGEOUS!! I'm glad Lolly inspired you to try sock knitting again - because really, what else is as comfortable as a hand-knitted sock??

Laura said...

Beautiful socks Kelly Pelly!! Isn't it such a fabu feeling to finish a project - and it's for YOU!! hehe I'm knitting 2 socks on 1 circ (magic loop) right now - started a few days ago during our trip to Texas and I'm ready to start the heel flaps!! Girl, if you ever started knitting socks like this you wouldn't go back - you'll never have second sock syndrome!! And this pair is for MEMEMEMEMEME! :)

Amy said...

the socks look great! sorry to hear you ran so close on the ball of yarn, they look great either way!