Tuesday Sock Watcher: At All Stages

Can you believe that we've been Sockapaloozing for almost a month now? Everyone is at different stages in the sock-knitting process, from choosing a pattern to weaving in ends. But we all have something in common, we're busy thinking about our pals!

Before casting on

Amy has received some blue yarn for her sock pal.

Mrs. Hipp is going to use Sockapalooza as an opportunity to learn some new things about pattern and technique.

Mirzu is trying to decide between three sock patterns.

Work in progress

Helga is knitting a pair of colorwork socks in blues and greens.

Hippezippe is knitting some "poisonous" socks for her pal.

Mithranstar is designing and knitting some lacy socks.

Deborah is knitting the Smokin' Socks pattern out of Silkie Socks That Rock.

Finished object

Grace has finished three pairs of socks, including the ones for her pal.

Rosemary has finished her pal's socks, RPM in Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock.

What stage are you at?

Let me know how far along you are on planning or knitting your pal's socks, and I'll include you in my next Tuesday Sock Watcher post!

One Year

It's my first blogiversary! That's right, I made my first post here one year ago. It's hard to believe that I've had this blog a whole year now. And what better way to celebrate one year of Blue Lace Fiesta than to cast on for some blue lacy socks for my sock pal?


Pattern: Waving Lace Socks (ribbed cuff variation) from Favorite Socks
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Denim

I know I haven't been the best at posting regularly, although I do aim for at least once a month. Thankfully, Sockapalooa Four and the knit pligg are encouraging me to post more often.

Getting a blog has taught me a lot about, well, blogging. I've gained a new appreciation for bloggers, especially those who post almost daily. Now that I have my own blog, I realize how time consuming blogging is, between writing posts, adding links and pictures, and reading through the comments. But even though blogging is a lot of work, it's also a lot of fun, and I have absolutely no regrets about starting this blog.

Owning my own blog has also made me a better commenter. I used to only lurk on blogs (see the sidebar for some of my regular reads), but now I leave comments. Not all the time, but a lot more than I used to.

Finally, I'd like to say thank you. To whoever reads this blog and to all of you who have left comments or e-mailed me. To my family, for all of their enthusiasm about my knitting and this blog, despite being non-knitters, for the most part. And to my fellow knit bloggers, who continue to inspire me with their wonderful posts! I definitely wouldn't be the knitter I am today without reading all of your blogs, which have introduced me to new yarns, new patterns, and even more great knit blogs.

If you're reading this, I'd love to hear from you! Happy blogging and happy knitting!

Tuesday Sock Watcher: Color

Sockapalooza socks come in all sorts of different sizes, patterns, and, of course, colors. Here's some from this week.

Reds

ReluctantMANGO is knitting some red hot socks with a crosshatch lace pattern for her pal.

Courtney is going to knit some Saucy (pdf) socks for her pal out of Fleece Artist Merino in Brick.

Lauren can start her pal's socks now that she's freed up her needles. But now she is wondering if the yarn she's chosen is too bright. What do you think?

Greens

Jagienka is knitting some Teosinte socks for her pal out of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock in Jade.

Kathinka has finished the first Kew sock for her pal.

Emily is making some Go With the Flow socks for her pal.

Browns

Heather is knitting Roza's Socks for her pal.

Variegated

Knitty_kat is knitting the Friday Harbor pattern from Knitting on the Road.

Stacie is planning to knit Monkey socks for her pal, but first she has to order some yarn. Help her decide which color to get.

Colorwork

YTT is working on a toe-up pair of socks with a nifty slip-stitch sole.

Soapturtle is making some unique stranded socks for her pal.

What color are your pal's socks?

As always, if you'd like to be included in my next Tuesday Sock Watcher post, please let me know by either e-mailing me at bluelacefiesta AT yahoo DOT com or leaving a comment here. Thanks!

Possibilities

The Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Baltic Sea that I showed you the other day has been through a lot. I wound up one skein, and then I started the Waving Lace Socks by Evelyn A. Clark, one of my favorite designers. I was really enjoying the pattern, but the pooling, not so much. So I set that aside, wound up the other skein. and cast on for Roza's Socks by Grumperina. Looking at some of the suggestions given to Alli, who was also having pooling problems, I decided to try knitting from both ends of the ball. Didn't like it. It was tangly, and I was getting grumpy, even though the colors were working better. So I tried knitting with only one of the ends for several rounds and I liked the result well enough--it seems that the different stitch count and pattern made enough of a difference. Since I wanted to knit both socks at the same time, I frogged the mismatched WIPs, unkinked the yarn, and cast on again the next day.



Roza's Socks are a lot of fun--I'll definitely have to incorporate more brioche in future knitting projects. This is the first time I've done two socks at once, and besides some very minor tangling, I'm enjoying it very much. It's nice to not have to bother counting rounds, or worry about my gauge changing like it often does on the second sock.

I know I said the Baltic Sea was for my sock pal's socks, but now I'm not so sure. I really liked the colors in the skein, and I still do when it's knitted up, but they aren't quite what I expected. I was hoping it would be more green, but overall it's rather grayish-brown. Since I'm not quite convinced that these are the "right" socks for my pal, I went and got more yarn last Wednesday, this time from Article Pract, rather than the usual Stash.


Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (what else?) in Denim.

I think my pal will probably like this color better, and I won't have to worry about pooling. Now I have to pick a pattern. Right now I'm looking at patterns in Favorite Socks, most likely either the Waving Lace Socks by Evelyn A. Clark or the Merino Lace Socks by Anne Woodbury (more blue lace!). What do you think? I'm open to other suggestions too, but the sooner, the better, since I'd like to cast on in the next few days. Once I have a bit knit up, I'll decide which pair is better suited to my pal, and which pair I'll keep for myself (not like I need more socks!).

And while we're on the topic of socks, here's a pair I recently finished.



Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A. I pretty much followed the pattern as written, except I only did five repeats on the leg, fewer rows on the heel flap, and did a slightly different toe (decrease as written to 32 stitches, work decrease round only until 16 stitches are left, graft).

Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in Copperbeach (Colorway 67), one skein. I really enjoyed working with this yarn--its tightly spun but very soft. However, I would love to see it come with more yardage. The second sock is slightly smaller and pooled differently--I must have knit it at a tighter gauge since I was worried about running out of yarn. I probably didn't need to worry though, because I did have some left over. But if you have longer feet than I do (US shoe size 6), you may want to make a shorter cuff / leg or buy a second skein.

Needles: Addi Turbo US 0 (2 mm), 40 inch circular (magic loop method). I had originally started these on Addi Natura US 1 (2.5 mm) needles, but decided that the socks would have been looser than I like for my narrow feet, and so I went to Stash and got the Addi Turbos. When I bought them I made sure to look at the tips and pick the most pointy looking ones, since Grumperina always calls them Blunti Stumpos. I can see why she does; some of them were unbelievably blunt, and looked like they had barely been sharpened (or whatever it is that they do to make needles pointy). But the pair I bought was fine, and I liked them surprisingly well considering that I usually prefer bamboo needles.

A few more pictures for you!

Tuesday Thursday Sock Watcher: Study Session

In addition to studying for my finals (which are now over, yay!), I've been studying what fellow Sockapaloozers have been working on for their pals. Here's a "cheat sheet" for Week Two of Sockapalooza Four.

Identify the Pattern

Jen has started her pal's first sock. What pattern is it?

Can you identify what pattern Regenia is using for her pal's socks? Her contest is over, but the answer is here.

Multiple Choice

Carrie has chosen some Cherry Tree Hill yarn. Which pattern will she choose to use?
a) Monkey
b) Embossed Leaves
c) Hedra
d) Pomatomus

Matching

Gina has dyed some yarn and started the Friday Harbour socks from Knitting on the Road for her pal.

Laurie is knitting Go With the Flow socks out of Koigu for her pal.

Fill in the Blank

Yarnthulhu has some Fleece Artist Sea Wool. Now she needs to pick a pattern.

Shireen has some Claudia Hand Painted Yarn for her sock pal's socks.

Shannah is going to knit the Razor Shell socks (pdf) or possibly the Lacy Scallop socks (pdf) for her pal and gives us some links to her favorite sock pattern sites.

Christina has turned the heel of her pal's socks.

Danielle has finished the her first May Day sock. Make sure to click the picture and see it close up!

Danielle has finished her pal's first sock (Go With the Flow) and cast on the second.

Free Response

Julie has designed her own pattern, Jacobean, for her pal's socks, and is now working on the second one.

Extra Credit

Want to be in my next Tuesday Sock Watcher post? Tell me what your working on for your pal!

Tuesday Sock Watcher: Getting Started

Wow, we're only about a week into Sockapalooza Four and so much has happened. We've overwhelmed Blogger, so Alison and her tech guys have set up a Sockapalooza Pligg. Lots of great links are being submitted.

And of course, the participants are busy getting started--buying yarn, picking a pattern, and even casting on. Here's a sampling of what happened this past week.

Yarn Over Here

Saffron shows off some projects she's been working on and the colorful Claudia Hand Painted Yarn she's chosen for her pal.

Lilachica has picked out some pink and purple Colinette Jitterbug for her pal.

Jayne has dyed up some yarn for her pal and asks for pattern suggestions.

Mathgirl has a skein of Fleece Artist Sea Wool in Seastorm for her pal's socks.

Pattern Picking

Lana is planning to knit her pal two pairs of socks (Snowflake Lace Socks and Bayerische Socks) and discusses what yarns she's thinking about using.

Yarn and Pattern--Check!

Yarn Addict has found a creative way to photograph the fiery Shaefer Anne she has for her pal. She's planning to knit River Rapids (pdf).

Jess is also considering River Rapids, but with Koigu.

Alligator is going to make her pal a pair of Monkey socks out of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Vera. (Check out her cute sweater too.)

KnitterlyJess is also going to knit a pair of Monkey socks, with Socks that Rock in Lapis.

Cast On

Another pair of Monkeys! Sarah is busy working on her pal's socks.

Carrie is going toe-up, knitting the Barvarian Rockstar pattern out of some beautiful blue Sundara yarn.

Colette is already on the gusset of her pal's Almost Argyle socks.

Cindy has started a pair of Waving Lace Socks from Favorite Socks for her pal out of ShibuiKnits sock yarn.

Tune in Next Week...

If you would like to be included in my next Tuesday Sock Watcher post, please leave a comment or send an e-mail to bluelacefiesta AT yahoo DOT com (put "Tuesday Sock Watcher" as the subject) and tell me what you're working on for your pal. Thanks!

First Impressions

As you may have heard, the Sockapalooza Four blog has been having problems because there are so many members. So Alison and her tech guys have started a Sockapalooza Pligg system for us to use. As much as I want to love it, I don't right now. I haven't used it much yet, but I'm willing to give it a try. I may just need some time to adjust; for instance, I hated the new Interweave Knits layout at first, but now I'm okay with it.

I'm still figuring out how to navigate Pligg. But the bigger issue I have with the site is the voting thing. True, it doesn't look like the posts with less votes will be totally ignored, and it will help identify the more interesting posts (although that, of course, is subjective). However, having a clearly noticeable number next to the link saying how many people have voted for that post just doesn't seem all that friendly to me.

On a brighter note, it looks like there other options to come, based on what Alison has written in the comments on this post.

Also, I'm glad that Lexy Girl has started a Sockapalooooza Flickr group. I think it will be a good way for everyone to share there pictures.

What do you think?

Hello Sockapaloozers!

Greetings from the San Francisco Bay Area (California)! My name is Jennifer and I'm thrilled to be participating in Sockapalooza Four. It's my first exchange, and I can already tell it's going to be great!

Yesterday, my super secret sockpal sent me the most awesome color-changing e-postcard. I could look at it all day long! Thanks, sockpal! (I'd like to e-mail you, but I don't know if the address you used anonymous or not, and I'm afraid of accidentally finding out who you are. So if you could tell me the best way to contact you, that would be great!)

I've also been exchanging a few e-mails with my giftee. I'm enjoying getting to know her. I've got some yarn for her socks,



but I'm still in the pattern-picking stage.

If you haven't contacted your pal, I encourage you to do so! It's quite fun. :)

Happy socking!

P.S.--If you'd like to be included in my upcoming Tuesday Sock Watcher post, please leave a comment or e-mail me at bluelacefiesta AT yahoo DOT com (put "Tuesday Sock Watcher" as the subject) and let me know what you're working on for your pal. I'll put everything together in a post either here or on the Sockapalooza Four blog, and link to it on Pligg. Thanks!

Distracted

I should be working on a paper or maybe catching up on reading, but I've been distracted. (Okay, fine, you could also say I'm procrastinating.) But before I tell you why I'm so distracted, I have a public service announcement (of sorts) to make.

Al is organizing a Knitters Against AIDS team for AIDS Walk SF. So, if you'll be in the San Francisco Bay Area on Sunday, July 15, 2007, please check it out. (P.S. You don't have to be a knitter to join.)

So, what have I been thinking about lately? Socks, mostly because of Sockapalooza 4. (Are you reading this, Sock Pal? If so, welcome!) 1006 participants from 26 countries--that's a lot of socks. I've also been thinking about what kind of socks I might make for my Pal, and even have some yarn picked out. However, I'm not ready to cast on quite yet, because I'm (impatiently) waiting for my copy of Favorite Socks to be shipped.

In terms of actual knitting, I've more or less finished up a pair of Monkey socks. I just need to weave in the ends and block them. I'm also pleased to report that after a brief hiatus and a little bit of frogging, my Thelonious socks are back on track. Pictures of both, soonish, I think.