Sock Knittin'

My last couple of projects in the past little while have been socks.  I really enjoy knitting socks and wearing handknit socks but sometimes I am not a fan of knitting items where I need 2 of something. As many of you know, sock knitting is addictive!!

My first pair I made with Wisdom Prose Sock yarn I got from Wolseley Wool in the colourway Vegitate.  Normally I don't mind if my socks don't match exactly but these ones made it just so easy.  I stated these just after the Manitoba Fibre Festival and finished them at the beginning of Nov.  Can't go wrong with plain ol vanilla socks.  I worked these cuff down and used my regular heel flap and toe.

Talking about mis-matched socks.... I was gifted this sock kit from my friend Nicole.  At first I was a bit confused about what they would become, but it seems I am the only one on the planet who hadn't seen these amazing socks from the Yarn Enabler (and I even follow her on Instagram!)  You can knit these either cuff down or toe up.  These Paper and Pencil socks have been my most fun knit this year by far!  I use my new ChiaoGoo 9" circular (2.5 US 3.00mm) and whipped through these in 2 weeks.  

This kit is called Stationery and includes both paper and a pencil :P  in the words of the Yarn Enabler "What good is a pencil without paper?"  The larger white skein is the loose leaf which I knit as a plain vanilla sock.  The other 3 skeins make up the pencil starting with the lead and wood portion, moving onto the yellow body and finishing with the metal cap and eraser.  I used the No. 2 pattern for the pencil because - come on, you gotta give the pencil its true form.  I used up pretty much every inch of yarn for these socks.

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I used a few different techniques for this pair.  I knit these toe up and since I am a fairly tight knitter, I have a hard time doing Judy's Magic cast on so I use the toe from Charlene Schurch's book "More Sensational Knitted Socks".  This toe starts out using a provisional cast on and then you knit a little rectangle which you then pick up stitches on the side and increase for the toe until you are up to 64 stitches.  I then used the heel and gusset increases from Kelie Oreb's Straight Up Socks pattern.  Super easy, it didn't upset the stripes and I didn't have to switch to double pointed needles.  

For the cuff, I did k1, p1 ribbing until I had enough yarn left over to do Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy bind off.  100% fun the whole way.  I haven't worn the socks yet but I did hear somewhere that people who wear mis-matched socks are geniuses haha.