AtomicKnits

At last! A baby gift!

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for someone I know to get pregnant (it's sure not going to be me!) so I could knit some baby stuff!  During one of my yoga classes, I noticed a little bit of a tummy on my yoga teacher.  Of course I wasn't going to ask, but one of the other women wasn't scared, and our teacher, Joey, announced that she's pregnant!  Immediately I wanted to knit her something for the baby.  I was stuck, because I don't have a lot of gender neutral yarn in my stash that isn't super bright or really earth toney.  Nothing really fitting for a baby.  A couple of weeks ago, Joey mentioned that the baby is a boy and I was like 'YES!' I knew I had some blue cotton lying around waiting to become something!  I found the pattern for the booties in one of my baby knitting books, and I used Allison's toddler hat pattern.

I think these booties are so cute!! I hope the baby can wear them for a little bit.  I know the hat is a little big, but I figure the brim can be rolled up for a smaller head and also worn when the baby is a toddler.  I can't wait to give these to Joey!

Baby Booties & Hat Set for Joey
Pattern Source: Booties - Natural Knits for Babies and Moms, Hat - Mission Falls Cotton Hat - Baby from A Day Late and a Dollar Short
Yarn: Jaeger Aqua, colorways 313 & 306
Needles: Booties - US 6, Hat - US 7

Spring Forward Socks are finally done!

I blocked these and left them to dry during my week home, so that's why I don't have pictures of them until now!  This is another good solid sock pattern.  The only thing I didn't like about it was that the heel flap wasn't done on half of the stitches, it was done on half of the stitches minus 3.  I did it that way, but I didn't feel like it was for any reason.

The lace pattern is fun, because it is so easy, but the results look way more complicated.  I like how the color of the yarn makes the lace pattern look like moss.  I'm looking forward to seeing how this yarn wears.  It's superwash wool and nylon so I'm hoping they will last with easy care.

Spring Forward Socks
Pattern Source: Knitty Summer 2008
Yarn: Plymouth Happy Feet, colorway 1 (light & dark greens)
Needles: US 2

New socks on the needles

While my sweater was blocking, I started a new pair of socks!  These are the Spring Forward socks from Knitty.  The yarn is Plymouth Happy Feet in a light/dark green.  I really like how this yarn isn't pooling too much.  The wavy lace pattern is really fun to knit!

Embossed Leaves Socks Finished!

I love the way these socks turned out!  Blocking them on my new sock blockers was so easy, and it made the socks come out in the exact perfect shape.  This pattern was a breeze to knit.  I find that I can knit sock the fastest when the pattern features a simple repeat.  I always want to finish the section I'm not and move right on to the next.

When these socks were wet, you could really see the difference between the two skeins.  One sock was a lot bluer and darker, and the other sock had a lot more green bits in it.  You can't tell so much when the socks are dry.  I know one way to combat this type of thing is to alternate balls of yarn with every round. I don't think I have the patience for that.  This yarn was lovely to knit with, though, and I am so pleased with the way the variegation in the colors turned out. This project also counts toward my Knitting Resolutions, because the pattern is in one of my books!

Embossed Leaves Socks
Pattern Source: Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave
Yarn: Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Fingering Weight, colorway Sea Dreams
Needles: US 2

Embossed Leaves Socks

I have been working on a new pair of socks!  These are the Embossed Leaves socks from the book, Favorite Socks. I cast on for this project, because we were watching lots of episodes of Battlestar Galactica, and I had just finished knitting swatches and I had no project going! I found 2 skeins of Claudia Hand Painted sock yarn and thought it was a good color for the pattern.  This photo does not show off how pretty the colors are, and I will take better ones when they are finished.  This yarn is amazing!  I bought it a couple of years ago at ImagiKnit while visiting Eric in San Francisco. I can't wait to finish these so I can use my new sock blockers!

Dumbledore Socks are finished!

Even though these socks are done in plain stockinette, I think they are among my favorite pairs of socks that I have knit because the colorway of the yarn is so fabulous.  The stripes and other patters in the yarn line up somewhat, but I wasn't worried about lining them up exactly.  I think I have enough of this yarn left to knit a whole 2nd pair of socks with a short cuff (at least).  I think I might do something extremely dorky and knit the 2nd pair and then send them to the MuggleCasters.  MuggleCast is my favorite non-knitting podcast, and they might appreciate these socks if only as an item in someone's collection.

Dumbledore Socks
Pattern Source: I made this up as I went along, simple toe-up sock pattern
Yarn: Zwerger Garn Opal Harry Potter, colorway 2357-Dumbledore
Needles: US 2

Harry Potter socks!

When I was visiting home over Christmas, Justin and I took a trip to Kaleidoscope Yarns in Essex Junction, VT.  When I saw their collection of the Opal Harry Potter colorways, I had to buy one.  Ever since I bought my skein, I've been dying to knit it into a pair of socks.  I decided on the Dumbledore colorway.  Since this yarn is self-patterning, I decided to knit just a plain, toe up stockinette pattern that I'm making up as I go along.  The sock starts at the toe with a Turkish Cast On, then increase at each end of the two needles until you get the number of stitches you want, then knit in stockinette for the length of your foot (minus about 2 inches), then do a simple short row heel, then knit in stockinette for the desired length of the cuff, then do a 1x1 rib for about an inch, then use a stretchy bind off of your choice (I used Elizabeth Zimmerman's sewn bind off) and voila - socks good enough for the likes of 'ARRY POT-EH. I can't wait to finish these!

First FO of 2009!

I had a lot of fun over the holidays, but I'm glad everything has pretty much gone back to normal for now.  I'm anxious to be able to post about my knitting projects as they are getting done, instead of just FO shots.  I started these Nutkin socks before Christmas, so I could have something to work on when I was around the people I was knitting gifts for.

At first I wasn't into the way the colors of this yarn were doing some kind of pooling/striping effect, but as I went along it started to grow on me.  I'm glad the striping and pooling is consistent.  If it wasn't, I think I would have to barf at this colorway.  The pattern was really easy to memorize and I really love how it looks.  These socks seemed to fly off of my needles.  I hadn't done short row heels and toes on a sock in a while and it was nice!

Nutkin Socks
Pattern Source: Knitzi
Yarn: Made By Ewe Sock Yarn, colorway dark brown/light brown/orange
Needles: European Size 2

Christmas Gift 1/3 - Thuja Socks for Justin

Justin and I exchanged Christmas gifts last Saturday, so I can share one of the gifts I made this year!  Justin wears wool socks a lot, but he doesn't like the seam on the toes that a lot of commercial wool socks have.  To avoid the uncomfortable seam, he wears some of his socks inside out.  I knit him a simple pair of worsted weight socks, which have a grafted toe and no seam!

These socks are knit out of some of my handspun.  This is the first time I've knit with any yarn that I have spun.  I am really pleased with the way the colors and the stitches turned out in this yarn.  It will be interesting to see how well they wear.  I have enough yarn left of this color to make a whole other pair of these socks!

Thuja
Pattern Source: Knitty Winter 2005
Yarn: Handspun from Ashland Bay multicolor merino roving, colorway sandalwood
Needles: US 6

Ending Socktoberfest with another pair of socks!

Socktoberfest is coming to and end, and I'm really excited that I finished these socks on time.  I knit two pairs of socks in one month!  I really don't think I've ever knit socks this fast.  The faster I can knit them, the easier it is for me to see their charm and why some people only knit socks.

I think it was a good choice for me to add the beads in.  I'm glad it see it was much easier than I had thought.  I'm looking forward to starting a larger project with beads!

These socks also mark the end of the Tofutsies Sock Club for me.  The sock club was cool.  I am a little tired of Tofutsies, but I did learn a handful of new techniques by sticking to the club patterns.  A few of the new skills I have now are the Turkish Cast-on, knitting and attaching a folded cuff, and knitting with beads.  I'm excited to use some of my other sock yarns now!

Blackberry Socks
Pattern Source: Tofutsies Sock Club - April 2008 Exclusive Pattern
Yarn: Southwest Trading Company Tofutsies, colorway maroon/black
Needles: European Size 2