Nothin' but socks for March

I have been knitting a lot of socks lately and this month I haven't knit a stitch on anything but socks. That's OK thought because I like knitting socks and my guys like wearing them.

These socks are from Socktopia's Knit-off contest - the pattern was posted on Saturday and everyone had until Monday night to finish them (you did get partial credit in case you couldn't get them done on time). I finished on time but my team still lost, oh well, it was fun. The pattern is not one that I would have chosen on my own, I usually stay away from patterns with holes in them, but I gave it a try anyway. It turns out that I don't mind the holes nearly as much as I thought I would and my oldest said he really liked them and wanted me to make him a pair but in a solid color. Go figure!

Pattern: Eleanor - Socktopia

Yarn: Lana Gross Meilenweit Meeting

Needles: US#1 dpns

Start / Finish: March 24 - 26

Next up, my candy cane socks and your right, they don't match. I started these back in December, my wonderful guys took a road trip to get me yarn for Christmas and gave me this yarn early to make holiday socks for myself. I swatched and swatched to find just the right stitch pattern and finally knitted up the sock on the left (the one with thick stripes on the leg) but I guess I wasn't really happy with it because after I finished the first one I cast on a different sock and three months later, I still had not cast on that second sock.

I decided to start over and try the toe-up pattern I received with my Duet yarn. It was much easier this time (even though I switched to a thinner, tighter yarn and size 0 needles). Once I got the toe done I didn't want to just knit stockinette all the way up so I added a simple slip-stitch rib on the instep. All was going well until I got to the heel. I guess I didn't really read through the instructions very well and ended up with the heel stitches on the instep! After fixing the heel, the rest of the sock went along smashingly.

I even cast on the second one and finished the pair! They turned out quite nicely, if I do say so myself.

Pattern: Toe-up from A Swell Yarn Shop w/ slip-stitch rib

Yarn: Gypsy Girl Creations in Peppermint Twist

Needles: US #0 dpns

Start/Finish: March 6 - 28

FYI about this yarn - This is a superwash wool but it feels a bit stiff with very little stretch, similar to cotton. If you like to knit with cotton, you will love this yarn, if you don't, you still might like it. The socks softened up considerably after the first wash and they feel great to wear. I must say I was surprised when I gave them a rinse to see if the color would run, the red die did not bleed even the slightest bit.

Having had such good luck with the candy cane socks, I pick-up another lone sock from December. The pattern for the first sock (on the left) is Spey Valley from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush. I wanted to knit this pattern and I wanted to knit with this yarn but the two together wasn't such a great idea. I finished the first sock but couldn't get the second started.

This time I used a simple garter stitch rib and size #0 instead of #1's and the sock zipped right along. I knit up to where I thought the toe should start and tried them on - WOW! I love this sock! It was so perfect I jumped up, grabbed my husband's foot, ripped off his sock and slipped this one on. Needless to say, he was not quite as excited and actually said I needed to get out more. This sock was so great I felt guilty keeping it for myself and sized it for him anyway.

The second sock knit up even faster and I really do love these socks. I am so glad I frogged the first sock and tried again! I have another skein of this yarn in my stash and I already have the pattern picked out for it (these will be for me)! I didn't include a pic. of the finished pair (imagine it, just like the one above but both the socks look like the one on the right). Hubby liked them so much he already took them, I tried to get a pic. while he was wearing them but he is a very uncooperative model.

Pattern: Basic sock w/ garter rib

Yarn: BMFA Seduction in Neptunite

Needles: US #0 dpns

Start/Finish: March 21 - 31