Lime-ade Socks

Happy Mother's Day!! Since I finished a pair of socks for my youngest the night before last, I thought it would be fun to share the pattern with anyone who is interested. It's a fairly simple pattern and knit up rather quickly. I believe the sock yarn is from Red Heart (Heart and Sole). It was a really great yarn to work with. Knit up easily and there was no splitting. Plus the color changes were just so lovely to watch. It was absolutely perfect for using on a nice simple pattern repeat.

Here is the pattern for it. It was written for my youngest who wears a size 5 1/2 (US) shoe. It also has a reinforced heel.

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Lime-ade Socks

Shoe Size: Woman 5.5
Style: Cuff to Toe
Length: Standard
Gauge: 9.00 sts, 11.25 rws per inch
Needles: 4 dpn
Needle Description: 2.75mm US size 2
Yarn Description: Super Fine Heart & Sole

Estimated Yardage: 346

Finished Measurements:
Circumference: leg = 7", foot = 7"
Length: cuff = 2.0", leg = 4.5", heel = 2.1", foot = 8 3/4"


Pattern Repeat
Openwork Rib:
Row 1: *K2, P2. Repeat from * to end of round.
Row 2: *YO, slip 1 st, K1, pass slipped st over, P2. Repeat from * to end of round.
Row 3-6: *K2, P2. Repeat from * to end of round.


Sock Start:
Cast on 64 sts loosely.
Divide sts on 3 dpns as follows:
N1: 16 heel sts
N2: 32 instep sts
N3: 16 heel sts
Join. BOR (Beginning of Round)

Cuff:
Work cuff in (K2, P2) for 22 rnds. [2.0" from cast on edge] End at BOR.

Leg:
Work in Openwork Rib pattern for 52 rnds. Complete sts on N2. Stop. [6.5" total from the cast on edge.]

Heel Flap with Heel Stitch:
Slip N3 sts onto N1. Add 2 sts from N2 for a total of 34 sts……leaving 30 instep sts. While this will give a bit more room in the heel for the arch, it also allows for the pattern to be worked evenly (or symmetrical) on the instep.
With RS facing,work back and forth as follows:
Rw 1: *Sl 1 purlwise, k1. Repeat from * to end.
Rw 2: * Sl 1 purlwise, p to end.
Repeat these 2 rows until 38 rows are complete. [2.1”]

Turn Heel:
Note: Sl 1 = slip 1 purlwise

**NOTE: One more knit and one more purl row may have to be worked
in order to end up with 18 sts remaining.

Round Heel
Rw 1: (RS) K 18, ssk, k1. Turn.
Rw 2: (WS) Sl 1, p 5, p2tog, p1. Turn.
Rw 3: (RS) Sl 1, k 6, ssk, k1. Turn.
Rw 4: (WS) Sl 1, p 7, p2tog, p1. Turn. Rw 5: (RS) Sl 1, k 8, ssk, k1. Turn.
Rw 6: (WS) Sl 1, p 9, p2tog, p1. Turn. Rw 7: (RS) Sl 1, k 10, ssk, k1. Turn.
Rw 8: (WS) Sl 1, p 11, p2tog, p1. Turn. Rw 9: (RS) Sl 1, k 12, ssk, k1. Turn.
Rw 10: (WS) Sl 1, p 13, p2tog, p1. Turn. Rw 11: (RS) Sl 1, k 14, ssk, k1. Turn.
Rw 12: (WS) Sl 1, p 15, p2tog, p1. Turn. Rw 13: (RS) Sl 1, k 16, ssk. Turn.
Rw 14: (WS) Sl 1, p 16, p2tog. Turn. 18 sts remain. Work 9 sts. BOR

Heel Gusset:
With a free needle, knit remaining 9 heel sts. [N1]
Continuing with the same needle, pick up 16 sts along the side of the heel.
Pick up and knit a st from row below the first instep st to prevent a hole. [N1: 26 sts total]
With a free needle, work across 32 instep sts. [N2]
With free needle, pick up and knit from row below the first heel st to prevent a hole.
With same needle, pick up 16 sts along side of the heel and work across remaining heel sts. [N3: 26 sts total] BOR

Shape Gusset:
Rnd 1: (Dec Rnd)
N1: Work to 3 sts from end. K2tog, k1.
N2: (Instep) Work even…..work in established pattern.
N3: K1, ssk, work to end.
Rnd 2: Work even.
Repeat Rnds 1 and 2 until there are 64 sts remaining. [20 rnds total]

Foot:
Continue working in rnds until foot measures 7.25" from base of heel. [about 50 rnds]
Complete sts on N3. BOR

**Note: Instep stitches will be worked using Openwork Rib pattern.

Shape Toe - Classic Standard
Rnd 1:
N1: (Sole) Work to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.
N2: (Instep) K1, ssk, work to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.
N3: (Sole) K1, ssk, complete round.
Rnd 2: Work even.
Repeat Rnds 1 and 2 until 44 total sts remain. [10 rnds]
Work decrease rnd only until 20 sts remain. [10 instep sts, 10 sole sts] – [about 6 rnds]

Finishing
Work sts on N1. Slip sts from N3 to opposite end of N1.
Holding two needles together, graft sts using Kitchener Stitch.
Weave in ends.

Work second sock.

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I hope everyone enjoys the sock pattern. If an error is found, please feel free to e-mail me so I may correct it. I was knitting up the socks as the pattern was written.....so it may not be perfect.....and probably isn't. :.)

Happy Knitting!!!

Sheep in Spring

I've been working on this for a while and have finally finished it. The inspiration for this wall hanging (which measures about 35" finished) was a pattern by Janet Claire. It was for a small quilt (9" x 5") with sheep and crow pictured on it. I loved the sheep and crow.....so enlarged those by 200% (or somewhere around there). Then had the wonderful idea of doing a scrappy background using 6" squares.....of which I have a ton of and the number never seems to get any smaller. The appliqued flowers were born one night as I was looking at what was finished so far. The center seemed like it needed something to finish it up. It wasn't until I went outside to see my sheep that I noticed all the buttercups that had sprung up all over the place....in what seems like overnight. This was exactly what my quilt needed. And the buttercups were born. :.)

What makes this quilt a bit different from the others that I have done is that it is the first one that I have ever done on my Pfaff 7550. I decided it was time to see exactly what the Pfaff could do (just about everything!!) and the Bernina really needed to be taken in to get cleaned. I discovered that the Pfaff does beautiful machine applique....is easy to use.....and has several advantages over my Bernina when it comes to machine quilting. I also discovered that the Bernina has a larger throat space and the bobbins can hold a bit more. All in all.....I really love both machines and hope to have them both set up for use someday.

Now a bit on the machine quilting....of which I'm very happy with. :.) In the sky area I chose to do a Baptist Fan pattern. The applique was all outlined and a curly pattern was done in the sheep....with the hopes of giving it a bit more "woolly" look. The flowers (as the bird) were outlined. The grass area was done using a small meandering pattern. The dark areas of the scrappy half square triangles were done using a 1/4" outline....repeatedly. This was so incredibly easy to do with the Pfaff. All I had to do was put on the 1/4" foot (with the guide), put the built-in walking foot down.....and then simply keep the guide on the line that I wanted to follow. The end result was a very nice, very even 1/4" outline every single time.

In the light areas of the scrappy half square triangles I did a feather within a feather type of free motion quilting. Once I got used to the feel of the Pfaff, the free motion went very easily and very quickly. It's a wonderful machine to free motion quilt on. Just need to practice a bit more to keep my stitch size consistently consistent. The corner blocks were done using a flower that kept on going all the way out to the edges of the block. Finally, the outer border was done using a free-hand feather motif. Oh! And I did stitch-in-the-ditch on all the borders, including the dark parts of the half square triangle border. I used a foot that has a guide in the middle of the foot. All you have to do is keep this guide right in the seam....and the needle just follows along behind. Works like a dream!! And, yes, I will be making more quilts on the Pfaff. :.)

Shearing is Done!!

Shearing is done!!! Yea!!! All 21 sheep are now sheared and loving their new look. I finished up the last one a couple of days ago. Feels absolutely wonderful to have it done, too. :.} Now the task of skirting and sorting begins. I have only set a couple aside as mine. The rest of the fleeces will be offered up for sale. And there are some very lovely fleeces this year. :.}

Every year there is at least one fleece that stands out for one reason or another. This year it happened to be a lamb's fleece. It stood out for several reasons. One is the color. This fleece is light gray (almost white in places) at the base and graduates in various shades of gray until the tip is reached.....where it is black. We have pulled several locks from various parts of the fleece and every lock has this same coloration.

The second reason this fleece stood out is that it was so clean.....which is rather unusual for a lamb fleece around here. My lamb fleeces tend to collect quite a bit of vegetation in them. The lambs are always in the feeder, under the larger sheep, under the llamas, or climbing over each other. So it's not unusual to get a lamb fleece that makes you want to say "yuck" when you see it. Usually the worse parts can be skirted and you are left with a pretty decent fleece that takes just a little bit more work than normal to clean up. That wasn't the case with this fleece. Very little skirting had to be done and it looks like it will be a sheer joy to work with. I honestly don't know how this little lamb managed to stay so clean. Especially since.........

Reason number Three.......the staple length of this fleece is ..................14"!!!!!!! Yes, it was hard to believe, but several locks were pulled from different areas of the fleece and measured. Then measured again. The staple length of this fleece is a whopping 14". I have never had a fleece this long before. It's incredible! Plus the fiber is amazingly soft and has a nice soft sheen to it. And all this from a little lamb who turned a year old a couple of weeks ago. Makes me wonder what his adult fleece will be like next year. :.} Needles to say this fleece has been set aside for myself. I can't wait for the weather to warm up (it actually snowed here a couple of days ago) so I can get it washed and start playing with it.

March's Block

Here it is! March's block all finished. I really love this block! It's makes me smile everytime I see it. In fact, all the finished blocks make me smile whenever I see them. This is going to be a great quilt once it is done. Very cheery. :.)

I haven't started on April's block yet. Hopefully sometime this weekend.....if I ever finish up that darn second sock. This pair of socks has been going rather slowly. Don't know why though. The yarn has been really nice to use. Lovely color.....and the color changes have been fun to watch. The pattern has been relatively easy to knit. Maybe it's just due to lack of time......something that will hopefully change once shearing is done.

Shearing is going well. Or at least as well as the weather will permit. We actually woke up to it snowing the other morning. Snowed real hard for most of the morning. The ground and trees were all covered with a blanket of white. Not something you want to see in the middle of April, that's for sure! By the afternoon it had warmed up so much that all the snow melted. There was ice on the sheep's water bucket yesterday morning.....and a light frost on the car windows this morning. But the days have been really nice. Yesterday we were out shearing in t-shirts. Got four sheep done. That leaves us with 7 (out of 21) left to do. Yea!! Out of the 14 sheep already sheared we only had two that were a bit jumpy on the stand. One that actually sat down and didn't want to get back up. Took a bit of persuading to get him to finally stand up so we could finish shearing. And we did have one that figured out how to get out of the head piece and decided to run around the backyard for a bit half sheared. Once we caught him and he was back on the stand, he was great. Very loving and sweet. Had to be coaxed down off the stand once he was done. Guess he just felt he needed a bit of exercise half-way through shearing. :.) All in all, it's been a very uneventful shearing so far this year.....which is a good thing. :.)

And my spinning wheels haven't been sitting idle....unbelieveable as that may sound. I actually managed to finish up two skeins of yarn this past week. One is a skein of polypay-x that my youngest hand-painted the summer before last. I spun it up and then navajo plyed it. Looks really pretty. Unfortunately the skein is about 250 yards. I was hoping for a bit more. I want to make socks for her from it. Thankfully she has tiny feet (size 5) and if I do ankle socks I should have enough yarn. I will play around with a pattern once things quiet down a bit more around here. The other skein is a superwash merino/mystery fiber/icicle top blend. That turned out to be a very pretty 2-ply yarn. It's about 330 yards. Hopefully enough for a pair of socks for myself. I really need to learn to spin my singles just a bit finer if I expect to get a bit more yardage per skein. I'm guessing that both of these skeins are about a dk weight (#2). I am pleased with how they both turned out though. :.) I will be sure to share pictures once both skeins are dry (set the twist on them yesterday).

Shearing Time!!!

It's shearing time around here......when the weather holds, that is. Pictures above is Q-Tip (white) and below him is Tristan (gray). They were the last two that I sheared....before the rain hit. I do all my own shearing and the sheep do stand very well for me. They are comfortable on the shearing stand.....as you can see from the pictures. :.) Sometimes they get so comfortable that when it's time for them to come down, they don't. They just stand there and you have to coax them off the stand. It can be quite comical at times. :.)

This year's fleeces are looking great!! They are larger than last year's both in size and length. I think it's due to the heavy snow we got this year. Even my single coated Shetland has a heavier fleece than normal. So far 3 sheep have been sheared. Haven't had a chance to skirt any yet.....or to see how they look as far as vegetation. During shearing they didn't look bad at all. Nothing that couldn't easily be picked out during skirting.....or before washing. Makes me very, very happy!!

It will probably be another week and a half before shearing is completely done around here.....depending on the weather, of course. Today it's raining. No shearing. Tomorrow.....we'll see. With 21 sheep it does take me a while to get everyone done.....but it's so worth it. The sheep are happy and I end up with some beautiful fleeces. Of course the hard part will be deciding which ones I keep and which ones will get sold. After all, I can't spin up all 21 fleeces by myself.....no matter how hard I try. :.)

Catching up.....

It's been quite some time since my last post. Lots has been going on. So much so that I honestly don't know where the time has gone. Anyhoooooooo.........here are pictures of my latest pair of socks. These are done using Bernat Sox yarn (for DD #1 who doesn't like wearing anything made from animal fiber....ie.wool). They were fun to knit and I really didn't mind the acrylic/nylon blend yarn too much. Did make me realize just how much I enjoy working with wool or a wool blend though. :.) I haven't give then to her yet. I'm going to give them to her on her birthday (in a month). I hope she likes them. The pattern is "Simplicity" from the book "The Eclectic Sole".

There are some beautiful socks in this book. About the only advice I would pass on to anyone interested in making socks from this book is this: be sure to take really good notes about what you are doing when knitting up the socks.The instructions are a bit on the generic side of things. Which is good in the sense that you can really custom fit the socks. Not so good if you still need a step-by-step sock pattern. I like the book a lot and plan on knitting up a few more of the patterns in it. :.)

I've been enjoying a bit of spinning lately. Pictured above is the latest fiber on my spinning wheel. I'm so excited about it!! It's a blend of superwash wool, icicle top, and a mystery fiber. I had received the superwash wool and mystery fiber as a "thank you" gift when ordering some other fiber. The amounts were really small and I wasn't exactly sure what to do with it. Then it dawned on me. Why not simply blend the two together?? So I did. Added a bit of icicle for a little sparkle........and the end is pictured above. I'm spinning it into what will end up being a very lovely 2-ply sock yarn. I know. The "perfect" sock yarn should really be at least a 3-ply (if not more) tightly spun yarn. And it should be spun worsted from commercially prepared top. Well, this won't be the "perfect" sock yarn......but it will be mine. :.) And I've got this funny feeling that the socks knit from this yarn will be the ones that will end up wearing like iron. :.)

I've also got some hand-painted polypay-x singles sitting on a bobbin waiting to be turned into a sock yarn. These will be navajo plyed for a lovely 3-ply sock yarn. My youngest (who hand painted the roving) loves navajo plyed yarn and the resulting socks will be for her. So why not!! Not quite sure how the socks will wear....but it really doesn't matter. As long as she loves them.....that is all that counts. :.)

Besides knitting and spinning (and carding up some really pretty batts), I have also managed to get in a bit of quilting. Pictured is February's block for the block of the month that I am participating on. March's block isn't done yet. Yea, I'm just a bit behind. :.) That's okay though. I've really been enjoying this and absolutely adore the completed blocks. It's going to be such a fun quilt when done. And I'm really not a "brights" type of person.....but the blocks make me smile every time I see them. :.) I will definitely be purchasing the finishing kit for this quilt......something I normally don't do. The thought of bringing all those bright colors out into the borders really appeals to me. And I really liked the border treatment on the sample quilt. Really brought it all together so nicely.

That's pretty much all that I've been up to lately. I do have another pair of socks on the needles. They are turning out rather nicely......which is a very pleasant surprise. :.) Shearing is just around the corner (as soon as it stops snowing....and, yes, it did snow the other day.....and it did stick.....although it was all melted by evening). Things will be busy for a bit, but should calm down just as soon as I get everyone sheared.....all the fleeces skirted.....and figure out which fleeces will be sold and which ones I will keep for myself. For those interested in a raw fleece, please feel free to contact me via e-mail. I tend to put my raw fleeces up on fleece sale list that I belong to. They tend to go rather quickly....which is nice. :.) Means I don't have to store them for very long.

More Socks.....

What do you do when you are gifted with one skein of a fun Italian sock yarn? Make footies, of course!!! :.) And here are my completed footsies. I put some sewing elastic in the ribbing so that they stay up a bit better....and was lucky enough to find a nice white sock yarn that I used for the ribbing and toe. There just wasn't enough of the fun yarn to make an entire pair....unfortunately.

The pattern is from the book "Knitted Socks" by Ann Tillman. The yarn is Clown by Marks & Kattens. I used a size 2 (I believe) dpn. These were fun to knit up, although a bit frustrating. Try as I might, I just could not get the yarn pattern to match up on both socks. So these are my "fun" socks. :.) They should look really cute with my Keen sandals, too. :.)

I do have another pair of socks in progress. These are for my oldest daughter (who does not like wearing any natural fibers except for cotton and rayon). I'm using Bernat Sox yarn (acrylic/nylon blend) on size 1 dpns (2.50mm.....although I probably should have used the 2.25mm instead. My gauge is off by 1/2 a stitch...not that is really noticeable anyway). I am using the pattern "Simplicity" from the book "The Eclectic Sole". Surprisingly, the yarn has been really nice to knit with and it is a fun pattern to do. I extended the cuff a bit so it can be folded over (makes a really cute ankle sock). It seemed to take forever to knit the foot of the sock though. I ended up knitting 60 rows in all before I could start decreasing for the toe. Sock #1 is now done and I will cast on for sock #2 later on today.

It's been a while since I was able to update my blog. Life got crazy around here. My father was back in the hospital for yet another surgery. He spent the first night in ICU....and then two more days in a regular room. My mother doesn't drive in town so I was her transportation for the duration of my father's hospital stay. He is home and doing fine. Of course all of this was followed closely by a plethora of events that I had to attend at my youngest daughter's school. It's amazing how many activities there are for graduating seniors!!

So time for things like quilting, spinning, and playing with fiber in general has been pretty much non-existent the last couple of weeks. Knitting is the only thing I've been able to squeeze in. A few minutes here....a few minutes there.....and before you know it a sock is done. :.) Today is the first day I've been able to spend some time in the spinning room. I spent some time trying to finish carding up the lamb fleece I started working on weeks ago. So far I have 10 batts done.....2 more batts to finish up.....and probably enough fleece left for another 8 batts. The fleece was considerably larger than what I had originally thought. :.) It's been a sheer pleasure working with it though. I will have to start carding batts for my etsy site though (just about everything is sold now). So I have decided that I will alternate carding the lamb fleece with carding fiber for my etsy site. I'm hoping this will allow me to get some new batts up on my etsy site while still maintaining my interest in the lamb fleece.