New "Spring" Socks!

The quotes around "spring" are more about the season than the socks.  We got another 5+cm of snow overnight and there are still a few flakes in the air.

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The view from my apartment deck this morning.  If you squint you can see the edge of the Muskoka River melting.

However, there is nothing like a good pair of new socks to help improve my mood, and its even better when they are a hot, awesome, almost coral-ish, pink.

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For much of my life I've shied away from pinks, as they didn't appeal to me and they were way to "girly" for me.  However as I get closer to 30, I'm discovering how much I like bright, brash colors and pinks like this do the trick nicely.

This colorway is one of those special, unrepeatable skeins that happens when a dyer gets to the end of their day.  This skein, which is Kilcoursie Fingering by Georgian Bay Fibre Co.  was one where Carla had been experimenting with some yellows and had a few skeins she wasn't pleased with, so at the end of the dye day she over-dyed it with leftovers, which must have included some magenta. 

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I even wore them to work yesterday! They make most days better!

As her sister, and resident sock knitter, I offered to take that skein of dastardly pink yarn off her hands and make myself a pair of socks out if it.  I know that was a very generous offer on my part.

So now I have socks that are worthy of spring, now if only "spring" would get the hint and catch up!

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Project: Cavalcade "Spring" Socks
Pattern: Cavalcade Socks by Tanis Lavalle of Tanis Fiber Arts
Yarn: Kilcoursie Fingering in an OOAK by Georgian Bay Fibre Co.

Knitting-a-long with Tanis and Glenna

Another fun thing I missed out on sharing this fall, was a KAL (Knit-a-long) using Glenna C patterns and Tanis Fiber Arts yarns.  I forget what started it but in the Tanis Ravelry group we started chatting about using Glenna's patterns (specifically The Urban Collection Vol. 1 and Vol. 2) for Tanis' yarn and before we knew it we were all in for a KAL. 

For my part I managed to finish two projects for the deadline.  The first was the Armour Road Socks using TFA Yellow Label in Paprika (a OOAK color from an Etsy update in the summer) and the Charlotte Street Mitts in TFA Purple Label in Autumn Sun (a Year in Colour Club offering from September 2011).

I did finish the second sock, later that week.

They were fun knits and I LOVE making DK weight socks, I see many more pairs in my future (especially with KnitPicks Felici Sport discontinued) as they are a fun quick knit and so very warm. I knit the mitts a bit too larger (after many years of too tight gauge this was a bit of a surprise) but I don't care.  They are really soft and so comfortable so I carry on. Also, I still have a half-skein of the Purple Label so I will probably make another pair of fingerless mitts (a different pattern) because this yarn is just so darn nice.

I'm grateful for the KAL because it encouraged me to knit up patterns that had been lingering pretty far down in my queue and yarns that have been marinating in the stash for a while (well one of them ...)

There is another TFA KAL going on right now, however I don't have any projects entered.  I have too many non-TFA knitting commitments right now (including three Christmas stockings and a pair of socks for my mom, all of which are in various stages of completion) but I am really enjoying seeing the WIPs and FOs in the TFA Ravelry group. I hope my queue is cleared up so I can participate in the next KAL because they are a bunch of fun.

FO: Sleep Tech Dressy

I had been holding this post back in hopes of getting better pictures of the socks, but now I'm back in Bracebridge and the socks have already been worn several times, so we go forward with the pictures I was able to take in my dark apartment.

For me knitting fits well into the old adage "if I like you, I'll do it for free and if I don't, not for all the money in the world".  So giving Jim, Carla's boyfriend of about 6ish months, a pair of socks for Christmas shows that I'm happy he is dating my sister.

This was another project I completed during the November TFA KAL along with the Winter Bloom and Moonset shawls. And these make 13th pair of socks for the year, which is quite impressive if I say so myself.

Now, these socks were half of a "Gift of the Magi" like scenario.  I gave these socks to Jim made from an exclusive OOAK Tanis club color way and Jim got me a skein of TFA Blue Label in Cranberry.  If you are a TFA fan and wondering why you aren't familiar with Cranberry, thats because it was the November 2011 club skein.  I used it this spring to make Staked, however, after many months I had to admit I had made them way too small and gave them to Carla.

 But I loved the skein and wished I could get another, but I know they are few and far between and I didn't want to make the effort to hunt down a skein.  However, Jim (and Carla by proxy) was able to get a skein from Tanis.  I'm not sure where she conjured it up from, but she helped make for a very special Christmas surprise for me.

I know Jim likes his socks and I hope that it is the first of many pairs I make for him, as he seems to be a really great guy and he seems to make my sister happy, which in turn makes me happy.

- Details -

Project Name: Sleep Tech Dressy

Pattern: Business Casual Socks by Tanis Lavallee

Recipient: Jim

Yarn: TFA Blue Label in Truffle (January 2012 Year in Colour Club)

Modifications:

• One less leg repeat, which is good because I would have run out of yarn

New Skills:

• None, I'm really starting to get a handle on sock knitting

Feedback:

• Yarn - Blue Label is fast becoming my favorite sock yarn, and was perfect for this pattern and recipient.
• Pattern - Clean and simple.  I am getting to a point with socks where I use the designers pattern as a jumping off point that I can tinker with to make them fit well.

Re-Knit?: Just maybe, because the choices for man socks are few and far between and this is a nice pair.