another pair finally finished

I've blogged about these ad nauseum but they are done. The rib was pretty straight forward, the intriguing techniques revolved around knitting a sock from the toe up.

I thought the eastern cast-on was fiddly but effective (particularly being a tight knitter made it a bit more difficult). 

The short row heel worked out better than I anticipated. I like the sewn bind-off.

My mother bought me this beautiful yarn right when I first got into sock knitting. I love the colours and love the way the raspberry stripes came out. I needn't have worried about the yardage of the colinette jitterbug, they've added another 10g since many people were remarking on the low yardage. I could have added another inch or too, which is frustrating since they are toe-ups. Next time I'll have an electronic scale on hand and make an informed decision about when to bind off :-)

Holiday knitting goal #2 done and dusted.

louisa is no longer wayward

Yay... so pleased that I've finally finished these beautiful socks. They are the wayward socks from the Cookie A Sock Club. I've ravelled them here.

They certainly are the most complex socks I've ever knitted. Largely due to the twisted stitches, complex charts and the way the socks mirror each other.

The 2nd sock essentially took 5 days of hard knitting... but a lovely way to spend a long weekend. The yarn is a beautiful blend of merino, cashmere and silk. As I may have mentioned before.... Perhaps the stitch definition wasn't all it could have been but I haven't taken them off since I finished them. Smooshy...

Holiday knitting goal #1 completed.

As to whether I myself am wayward or not you may need to speak to me about that directly  ;-)

holiday knitting goodness

Well we've done a road trip of around 900km to go hang out with my mum over Easter. I finished my most pressing pair of birthday socks. And I didn't receive my delivery of yarn for the next few birthday pairs before we left.

Oh dear! I'll have to do some knitting for myself.

Here are my ambitious holiday knitting goals:
- finish my waywards  by the 11th to be in the running for a cookie a prize: so far only just passed the cuff on the second sock
- finish my raspberry toe-ups: I only have one leg to go
- knit myself a 'slouchy' hat for winter with some stash wool: I'm thinking of 'norie' by Godrun Johnston.

Any slouchy hat recommendations???

hawaiian socks for mum

I love these socks. A beautiful cookie a pattern as per usual with the most fascinating gusset, the decreases were made on the top of the foot rather than around the heel flap resulting in the travelling ribs.

The pattern is called 'haleakala' and is named after the volcano on the island of Maui. I think the lacy cables are reminiscent of lava flow. The pattern is available here. And I've ravelled them here.

These socks were particularly poignant because 3 years ago my mum and dad took all of us kids and families on a trip to Hawaii. It was 6 months or so before my dad was diagnosed with cancer. It was such a special time. We did so many great things together: the best snorkelling ever, walks, a great aquarium in Waikiki (which dad and giggi particularly liked). And regarding haleakala: a couple of the more adventurous ones cycled down it, and my parents and the AJs walked across the crater.
My favourite holiday snap:

My dad died last May, so we're still going through a lot of firsts. These socks were knitted for my mum's birthdays with lots of love and prayers for her and reminiscing over those halcyon days.

These socks are a little big on me, so can't wait to get a picture with my mum's feet in them :-) Happy birthday mum! We love you so much.