Friday FO on Saturday: socks edition

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Anastacia Knits

Good morning! yes, I missed Friday FO by a day again, but we’ve been dealing with personal stuff… again… hubby got hurt at work, dislocated his elbow, broke his arm, tore a bunch of liagments, etc., and we’ve been dealing with workman’s comp, the hospital, trying to schedule an MRI so we can schedule his surgery, etc, not to mention the usual break in our routine! Jon is not working, at all, for some odd reason, and can’t drive, so things have been rocky to say the least. But, enough about that! I do try to keep the blog a happy free zone, as much as I can!

So, the socks edition of Friday FO. I think I’ve mentioned I’ve been working on revamping an older sock pattern of mine that was previously published in a knitting calendar. I’ve added a second size, got the pattern tech edited & it’s been going through a round of testing. Well, I finally managed to get the finished socks on Jon for a quick photo shoot…he’s such a good sport, even with one good arm!

And if you want to make the socks yourself, check out the free “cable look socks” pattern, and on Ravelry as a free download.

The second pair of socks I finished casting off this morning!

Love how these came out & will definitely use the pattern again.

yarnalong / wip wednesday

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Anastacia Knits

Good morning! It’s Wednesday! It’s time to catch you up with what I am reading & crafting. I have a lot to share with you this morning!

Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? ~

First, let me share a little miscellaneous personal stuff. Hubby turned 40 last week, and we celebrated in style! We saw Heart in concert on Friday night

bad, blurry, grainy photo of us at the concert. My camera does not like to take indoor, dark photos!

Now, before I show you Jon’s cake for his birthday party, you need to know that Jon has a few hobbies: collecting hotwheels & matchbox box cars, and Garfield.

My friend Laura made this incredible cake for him!

And, one more thing before we get down to business, my new toy!

Now, onto the wips!

I cast on for these yesterday

They are “fake cable” socks, one of my really old designs that was published in the knitting calendar 6 years ago. I always wanted to go back, add an extra size, rewrite the pattern, get it tech edited & tested, and I’m finally doing that. I worked on the pattern yesterday morning & sent the pattern to one of my tech editors, and now I’m working on a better sample for photos. I’m usually a pretty loose knitter, but my gauge with these is much tighter than normal, so I have to frog the toe & start again with bigger needles. My bad.

I’ve also been working on my log cabin afghan, which my ravelry notes show I started back in April of last year!

What’s wrong with that photo? Yup, I sewed the seam wrong – well, not wrong, just not the way I had planned for the number of squares I had knitted up. I’ve since ripped out the seam, sewed the seam correct & finished joining together all of the squares & I’m 3/4 of the way done an i-cord border.

and a little bit more progress on my ugly scrap odd sock

I’ve also been working on my vest – I finished one shoulder strap, finished casting off the back stitches with i-cord edging, and am working on the other strap, but I didn’t think to take a photo.

Now, onto the books!
I’m listening to Matched (Matched, #1) that I got from the library, I just started Lamb of Legacy: A Child’s Survival in Hitler’s Berlin which I got for review, and I’m also reading a book called “Rules” which is due out later this year, which is also for review.

socks in progress- yarn along

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Anastacia Knits

You might have noticed I’m not calling this post work in progress wednesday, but yarn along. I’m going to try – key word try – to actually participate instead in yarn along – where you combine books & yarn into one post. Duh, why didn’t I do this years ago? I’ve seen other people do it, so I’m finally jumping on the bandwagon.

So, without further ado….

Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~

I decided at the last minute to do yarn along, so I don’t have a photo of any books with my wips, so let’s start with the wips, shall we?

I’m not sure when I actually started these socks – before Christmas anyways. I only work on them on work breaks, and only when I’m not reading. I usually have a book & my socks with me every day – if I’m alone in the breakroom, then I read; if there’s someone else in the room with me, then I knit & chat. I’m using up random scraps that were supposed to go into the sock yarn blanket, but let’s face it – they aren’t going to be knitted into miters, now are they?

Yes, I’m aware they aren’t the prettiest socks in the world. I’ll probably make just the one odd sock & add it to my pile of mismatched socks.

Last week’s wips that I showed you are complete & blocked… now I just need to take photos!

I also have some progress on my garter stitch short row scarf / shawlette thingie, using scrap sock yarns in purples…

I also started a new Wiggly Way ripple afghan for charity (last one I finished blogged here)

Now, onto the books:

Technically, I have a ton of books I’ve started reading, some of these were started back in July, according to my goodreads profile! Yes, July!

In no particular order, I’m reading:
When Calls the Heart (Canadian West #1) – just started on a lark, not sure if I’ll get beyond the first chapter, honestly
Addicted to Magic (Addicted, #1) – I don’t even remember this one, but it’s on my goodreads “currently reading” list
Thwarted Queen – I started this in July & loved it, have NO idea why I never finished it!
The Stolen Crown: The Secret Marriage that Forever Changed the Fate of England – another one from July that I loved & have no idea why I didn’t finish it.

These last two I started so long ago, I’ll probably start reading from the beginning again & at least skim the parts I read 6 months ago, to refresh my memory a bit

For the Outlander challenge, I picked up Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander, #6) from the library & I’ve started reading that again. Man, I forgot how much I love this series & it sort of makes me wish I had started from the beginning again, but when I look at the earlier books in the series (which I all own) & see how many pages of reading it involves… which means other books don’t get read…

friday fo: socks

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Anastacia Knits

At the car show, I grabbed these two long outstanding wips & finally finished them up…

scrap cotton socks

jon’s christmas socks

(ignore the yarn ends)

fiber fo

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Anastacia Knits

Look what I finished !

a stack of scrap afghans for the nursing homes. I used various acrylic yarns & 12″ square patterns, various joining methods & edgings. I think they came out great!

These are all “boy” colors, I have some squares good to go for “girl” blankets, but haven’t started joining them yet.

While on vacation, I also got finished shots of my wrap

and I finished my socks on the way up to Maine, too!

sock on vacation

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Anastacia Knits

My lucky sock got to go on vacation!

Here he is, just cast on, on his way to vacation!

Here he is, at the York Wild Animal Kingdom & Zoo,

enjoying a nice ride on the merry go round

Here he is, the next day, having grown a bit, at the Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge,

a little wet from all the rain, but enjoying the day all the same

Now he is at the Antique Auto Museum, where it’s much nicer than all the rain outside

The sock enjoyed camping, even though it rained

and even managed to get to the beach

Man, wasn’t he lucky, that sock of mine?

wip wed

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Anastacia Knits

I’ve been trying, really I have been, to finish things & not start new things. Do you believe me?
(you shouldn’t believe me, just for the record)

That being said, the stuff I’ve started that’s new, is either for a test, or for a new design – stuff I can’t share, & it’s “work related” (or so I rationalize *big grin*)

I did manage to take a few pics to share with you today, though…

toe up scrap cascade fixation socks, remember these? I was working on these on Sunday, & my mom saw them & said “Oh, are these for me? They are purple, they must be for me, purple is my favorite color”. I explained that they were scrap socks, showed her the less than matching pair “Oh, I don’t care they are purple” was my reply. So apparantly I’m making these for my mother…

next, another pair of socks

this is a design I’ve been working on. It’s just about ready to go, it’s been tech edited twice, been tested, my testers are just about done… what’s lacking is my finished, somewhat matching pair to go along with the pattern. this is my progress, or lack thereof…

you’ve seen these a few times before, they are the same pattern as above.

the mate that it goes with was the prototype for the pattern & the slip stitch patterning is different, I’ll wear them together all the same as a pair, but they aren’t good enough to match really for a published, paid pattern. My mom calls them my Halloween socks. The mate has been finished & will be shared on Friday.

that’s all she wrote! what have you been up to?

mystery CAL / socknitting

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Anastacia Knits

Three things today!

We got snow! After a mild winter, we got hit with some snow. I took this photo yesterday after work, while the snow was coming down like mad.

I’m running a free mystery CAL on Ravelry right now on the fingerless gloves fanatics group on Ravelry, as part of International / National Crochet month. Please come join us, it’s going to be a ton of fun, & there will be a ton of people to help you out, too.

There is a thread going around on Ravelry right now, of sharing photos of your sock drawer. I couldn’t resist sharing my socks with ya’ll here too…

Drawer 1

on the left are store bought socks, mainly holiday ones. The middle are my heavier slipper socks, knitted mainly in worsted & aran. On the far right are a few pairs of crocheted socks

Drawer 2

my every day, fingering weight, wool socks. You can see I am not a big fan of the solid socks

My “summer” socks

mainly cotton / wool blends, a few soysilk, a few Cascade Fixation ones as well

My basket of “odd socks”

(some were deliberately made mismatched, & others had their mates lost)

a better photo of the singles

Jon’s socks, freshly washed

green scrap lapghan – panels

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Anastacia Knits

I was playing around with a stitch dictionary, threw in a little freeform, and I have a new lapghan for the local nursing home.

It’s simple, it’s easy, it was fun & fast to make, what do you think? Ever just play with your yarn?

(and yes, in case you were wondering, I took these photos way back in September but I’m just getting to share the afghan now)

I finally finished weaving in the ends of the incredibly ugly freeform lagphan / blanket for the nursing home

I wish I could say it was prettier in person – it’s not.

This one is different from most of my freeform, I used a ton of motifs, bits of gauge swatches, leftover motifs from other projects, leftover squares from other projects, all those bits & pieces as a knitter or crocheter you accumulate. I started off with a decent palette of colors, but I started getting a little crazy one night with a glass of wine… and … well…

this is what happened

I finally finished & blocked my 198 yards of Heaven, that I was making for Nerd Wars but didn’t finish in time

and finished up dad’s sport weight socks for Christmas

yes, these took forever! size 11.5 EEE, 68 stitches, toe up, sport weight yarn, size 2 needles

link ups:
Fibers on Friday
FO Friday

Creation Corner

Shabby Nest

fiber friday – circles to squares afghan (green, white, orange)

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Anastacia Knits

This is a quickie lapghan that I crocheted using up odds & ends of scrap acrylic yarn using Lion Brand’s free pattern, Circles to Squares.

I made the lapghan about half the size of the original afghan, & joined motifs as I went along. It was really fast to make, & I’m overall pleased with it! This will be donated to a local nursing home.

Jon’s socks are also done. They are for him for Christmas, but he knows about them & here he is modeling them

Stay tuned for a yarn review.

Various things/notes:
From Attic 24:

hooky trim, as she calls it

This year’s blogger’s quilt festivalÂ is going on now – I had a ton of fun looking at all the quilts last year.

Ucreate posted an interesting make 2 challenge, I really love this idea!

I posted about a pattern giveaway yesterday

And just another reminder, cut & pasted from previous week’s reminder…

I’m also looking for some guest posters for the month of December – pretty much any day is open, though preferably not Friday’s (though I can always show off FOs another day of the week). Anyone who has read my blog for a while knows I focus mainly on crocheting & books, with the occasional family stuff, yard sale finds, shameless Wedgie cat photos, etc. I’d be open to yarn crafts (including spinning & dying), talking about going to a fiber festival, vintage craft stuff, almost anything craft related really. I’d be more then open to other ideas as well. You’d be welcome to include links to your goodies, I’d of course tweet, facebook, etc. your guest post. I’m currently averaging 500-1000 hits a day, with occasional highs of 2000 hits a day. I’ve been holding steady at those numbers for about 6 months now.

link up

Creative Jewish Mom

Anastacia Knits

easy, elegant & edgy crochet designs

Category Archives: socknitting