I'm officially addicted to toe up socks. I'm so pleased with the pair that I made that I have plans for more. In fact, in a round about way, my b/f asked me for socks for Christmas (through a mutual friend and she told me, guessing that he wanted them from me since I knit....).
This takes me to my trip to the yarn store. I've never been to this particular one. I'm not good when it comes to going someplace for the first time so I was on the anxious side but I made it. It was Rivers Color Studio and I had a really positive experience there. Of course, I went looking for nice, reasonably priced sock yarn. I can't say that the prices were great (better on line) but too, the ladies that work there were friendly and helpful.
I had hoped to find Wildfoote sock yarn but they had a variety of other sock yarns. I ended up getting Opal in white for the b/f since he had said that he would only wear white socks and some 'One Your Toes' sock yarn (DK weight). I've never heard of that brand before but for 270 yards per skein at just over $10, that's not bad.
I was so tempted to get some 100% alpaca yarn that was fingering weight but it was over $20 a skein. Although I'd probably get a pair of socks out of that, it's not machine washable so... that's a big selling point for me. I got 2 skeins of the Gems Opal and 2 of the OYT and 2 skeins of Plymouth encore worsted in a sort of heathered blue. I have plans to make either a pair of hand warmers or a hat and DEFinitely a scarf from that.
They had Sockotta sock yarn and I was tempted to get that, as that was on my mental 'want' list. Maybe next time. I am, however, tempted to go back and get some Gems Opal for myself. They have this purple color that's absolutely out of this world.
I started making b/f's first sock a little while ago and I have to say, the Gems Opal is nice to work with. I'm using size 4 needles and the stitches are really coming out nice. I'm tempted to start a sock with the OYT yarn but I know that I'll get side tracked and I really need to get the stuff for presents done first before I start on my own stuff.
Oh, and I learned how to turn a hank into a ball today too. The Gems came in a hank so I used the tutorial found here on how to do that. It's not perfect but it's a center pull ball and I didn't need a ball winder or a yarn swift. On that, I'm pretty proud of myself. I didn't think that I'd be able to do it without making a huge, tangled mess of yarn.
Although I haven't ventured out of the realm of plain ol' socks, I'm thinking about getting some more plain sock yarn that will show off fancier patterns for future use. I'm also thinking about taking a drive out to Yarn Knit By Sue to see if they're still there. Last I heard, they were moving and there's nothing on their site except a simple page holder. I'm pretty sure they sell Wildfoote sock yarn since the owner hinted that they sell mostly Brown Sheep products.
I figure that I should get at least a few skeins of good sock yarn since I'm really getting into it. Although I have a lot of Sassy Stripes, it's okay.... I do notice that my feet sweat a lot when I wear the ones I made. They do keep my feet warm, relatively speaking though.
So far, I have the toe done on the sock that I'm working on and going into the foot part. If I'm lucky, I'll have the first sock done tomorrow and the 2nd one started. I decided also that I'm going to start the 2nd sock with the fresh skein, even though I have to go through the hassle of winding it. I want to make these the exact same size and I don't want to weave in ends too much (yeah, I'm lazy...).
This takes me to my trip to the yarn store. I've never been to this particular one. I'm not good when it comes to going someplace for the first time so I was on the anxious side but I made it. It was Rivers Color Studio and I had a really positive experience there. Of course, I went looking for nice, reasonably priced sock yarn. I can't say that the prices were great (better on line) but too, the ladies that work there were friendly and helpful.
I had hoped to find Wildfoote sock yarn but they had a variety of other sock yarns. I ended up getting Opal in white for the b/f since he had said that he would only wear white socks and some 'One Your Toes' sock yarn (DK weight). I've never heard of that brand before but for 270 yards per skein at just over $10, that's not bad.
I was so tempted to get some 100% alpaca yarn that was fingering weight but it was over $20 a skein. Although I'd probably get a pair of socks out of that, it's not machine washable so... that's a big selling point for me. I got 2 skeins of the Gems Opal and 2 of the OYT and 2 skeins of Plymouth encore worsted in a sort of heathered blue. I have plans to make either a pair of hand warmers or a hat and DEFinitely a scarf from that.
They had Sockotta sock yarn and I was tempted to get that, as that was on my mental 'want' list. Maybe next time. I am, however, tempted to go back and get some Gems Opal for myself. They have this purple color that's absolutely out of this world.
I started making b/f's first sock a little while ago and I have to say, the Gems Opal is nice to work with. I'm using size 4 needles and the stitches are really coming out nice. I'm tempted to start a sock with the OYT yarn but I know that I'll get side tracked and I really need to get the stuff for presents done first before I start on my own stuff.
Oh, and I learned how to turn a hank into a ball today too. The Gems came in a hank so I used the tutorial found here on how to do that. It's not perfect but it's a center pull ball and I didn't need a ball winder or a yarn swift. On that, I'm pretty proud of myself. I didn't think that I'd be able to do it without making a huge, tangled mess of yarn.
Although I haven't ventured out of the realm of plain ol' socks, I'm thinking about getting some more plain sock yarn that will show off fancier patterns for future use. I'm also thinking about taking a drive out to Yarn Knit By Sue to see if they're still there. Last I heard, they were moving and there's nothing on their site except a simple page holder. I'm pretty sure they sell Wildfoote sock yarn since the owner hinted that they sell mostly Brown Sheep products.
I figure that I should get at least a few skeins of good sock yarn since I'm really getting into it. Although I have a lot of Sassy Stripes, it's okay.... I do notice that my feet sweat a lot when I wear the ones I made. They do keep my feet warm, relatively speaking though.
So far, I have the toe done on the sock that I'm working on and going into the foot part. If I'm lucky, I'll have the first sock done tomorrow and the 2nd one started. I decided also that I'm going to start the 2nd sock with the fresh skein, even though I have to go through the hassle of winding it. I want to make these the exact same size and I don't want to weave in ends too much (yeah, I'm lazy...).
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