MG: ace

these socks were finished a few weeks back during a string of hot summer days. still, hubby wore them to work--happy colors hiding under the cuffs of his work trousers--the very next day after their completion. he is a good handmade giftee like that. they are named after a hotel we loved in Seattle, where the blue yarn was purchased.

ace socks
yarn: Araucania Ranco, color 105 (orangish); Claudia Hand Painted fingering in deep blue. needle: 2.5mm addi lace circular, 32". size: 76 stitches around for a hubby with 25cm ankles.

notes: toe-ups with shortrow toes and heelflaps. provisional cast-on 38sts. 12 YO sets to shortrow down to 14sts; "longrow" back up. pickup provisional stitches to start knitting in the round (76sts). stocking stitch for 44rounds until sock reached bony bump on top of foot, changing colors as whim struck.

gussets:: 15 pairs of matched M1 increases on sides of foot; increases done every other row.

heel:: on sole stitches only (excluding gusset), shortrow until sock reaches length of foot (10 YO/wrap sets; down to 18sts). then work all sole stitches back and forth for heelflap, decreasing the shortrow YOs into the sole stitches as they are encountered. shape with a pair of matched decreases along the center of every right-side row; as well as working in one additional gusset stitch + leaving behind a wrap/YO to close gaps on each edge. this maintains overall stitch count in the heelflap.

leg:: once all gusset stitches are worked in (back to 76sts), start knitting in the round again. 30 stocking stitch rounds. 40 rounds of 2x2 ribbing. EZ sewn bind-off.

a white kitty likes them too...

...nice enough to sit on

MG: 5-leaf zeebee

five-corner star atop one's head

zeebee
pattern: schmeebot Thuy's zeebee yarn: Araucania Ranco, 75% wool/25% nylon, 376yds/100gr, about 18wpi needle: 3.0mm (US2) addi natura circular dimensions: 18cm long, 55cm circumference for 62cm head (7cm negative ease) mods: five shortrow sections instead of four.

love this pattern; want to knit some more. nifty construction--made for customization. a bit shy in length but should still work well as intended under a bicycling helmet. had some trouble figuring out garter graft, but this woolly wormhead tutorial taught me the what-is-what, how, and wherefores of grafting in pattern.

a smidgen short?

MG: socktober fescht-ed too

Fawkes Footlets
pattern: my own version of the Interweave Summer 2005 Padded Footlets (scroll down). yarn: Knit Picks Essential (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon)--nearly one ball of burgundy, snippets of fawn. needles: 2.25mm; 2.00mm for ribbing.

toe-up: provisional cast-on with shortrow toes, cuffs hemmed with EZ's sewn cast-off (picking up a stitch from an earlier row during bind off). knitting with this yarn was not a dreamy process--a bit splitty and stringy, probably due to the nylon content. they will be durable socks though. the color is hard to capture; it really is a nice, deep burgundy in person. i'm well pleased with these little socks. yay, Socktoberfest!