Sunday, April 30, 2017

Year of Projects 6: Week 44


It's possible that I'm catching up. Although it's tenuous and things could go off the rails at any moment. The house was cleaned, staged and listed. Now we're at the cottage while the realtor schedules showings and Open Houses. At least now there's enough of our gear at the cottage that we can function normally. Pretty soon I'll have to stop calling it "the cottage" ... it'll just be home!

Last night I finished my Fidget Socks. It's a nice little pattern, perfect for busy yarn and super easy. A bit yarn hungry though. I knit these toe up as written, and used every last bit of yarn. The legs are not as long as I'd like but that's all she wrote. It'd help if my feet weren't so long.

And if you're wondering, no that's not a trick of the light - one sock is dramatically darker than the other. I noticed when I caked the yarn that the light shades and the most contrast in the variegation was concentrated in the first half of the skein. I am somewhat annoyed by this. Am I right to think that a knitter ought to be able to make a matching pair of socks from a skein labelled as "sock yarn"?

It's the first time I've made a Fish Lips Kiss Heel with adjustments to increase the stitch count on the bottom of the foot in order to lengthen the heel cup. It works really well and fits very nicely. I increased 10 sts - my heels are POINTY - but I think 6-8 sts would have done the trick. Still, they fit well, so it's all good.

I'm happy to have these off the needles because the knitting was getting a bit boring. Now that I've moved all the yarn stash to the cottage both Gavin and I have had a chance to see exactly how much sock yarn I have. LOTS. Not many full skeins but three shoeboxes full of sock yarn scraps. Now I'd better get knitting it! I plan to start with Somewhere Socks. I spread all the yarn out on the floor and have organized two possible colour combinations. One combination is made up of six different shades of light to dark neutrals. I'm going to start with those. Another combination is made up of ten different shades of blues and greens. If I'm not bored of the pattern after the first pair, then perhaps I'll make a second blue/green pair.

It's a cold, windy and rainy Sunday hereabouts. Is that good for a real estate Open House? Or are people likely to stay home? I guess we'll see. Fingers crossed that the home buyers are out today!



12 comments:

Leftycrafter said...

That is crazy how the sock yarn was over dyed in half the skein. Looking forward to seeing your somewhere socks. Fingers crossed that your house sells quickly and your cottage becomes home. I loved house hunting in the rain. It let me get a feel for how weather worthy the house was and also how much natural light was allowed in on gloomy days.

Breathing Life said...

Overdyed or not, they look fantastic. Congrats on getting the house listed - that seems like a long way off for us - we just have to get off our butts!

Renee Anne said...

I suppose it depends on the yarn. Commercial variegated sock yarn should absolutely be consistent. Items that are hand dyed or OOAKs I would expect the possibility of a difference (especially if they're a small indie dyer type of operation). I mean, most dyers have figured out how to do variegation in a consistentish manner but newer ones (like me) may not have that all figured out....but I also wouldn't sell it without noting that.

Anonymous said...

This green is cool; it's like it was carved out of a quarry or something. Yay for another pair of socks!

Sam I Am...... said...

Very strange on the sock yarn coloring for sure but they still look lovely and I have 'faved' that pattern. I like the Somewhere socks too especially with the Oz flavor! LOL! Good luck on the house and a 'cottage' sounds delightful! That is exactly what I want or an old farmhouse. Scaling down as fast as I can! Please post pictures of your 'cottage'...is it on the beach, in the woods....cottage just evokes all kinds of wonderful images. The more I think about it the more those green socks remind me of malachite? I'm not a gem person but I think malachite is green with all kinds of striping and marble type effects. Cool! I like it and who said socks have to match? Have a great week!

Wanderingcatstudio said...

I've had a skein of yarn like that - as a dyer, I'm still not sure how they managed it. I agree, I prefer mind consistent through out.

Judy S. said...

Thanks for the link to the Fidget pattern; I love it!

Becki said...

How nice that you have a cottage to go to while you're selling you home. A place where you can hangout and be yourselves while your house-for-sale stays perfect. Is this cottage your new home, or is it a vacation spot? I like Stefanie's description of your socks. That pattern, done in that colorway do look like something straight out of nature. Something both hard and soft at the same time.

Cyra said...

What a fabulous emerald green colour those socks are, matching or not, they are gorgeously yummy.
Fingers crossed for a quick house sale. Great idea to have somewhere else to live while selling your house. We put most of our furniture and belongings (my craft stuff, lol) in 2 shipping containers and plonked them in a paddock, out of sight, lol) so that we could minimalise the farmhouse and stage it for selling. It worked fine for us.

R's Rue said...

Love.

kathy b said...

Hoping your house sells quickly. Life at the cottage sounds idyllic. your socks are always lovely. THis pair no exception

Lucy Bowen said...

I do hope that the buyers were out the other day. I love those socks and the colour is glorious. The pattern looks lovely, I do love all the textured socks.