You are the boss of the yarn.

Remember: You control the yarn, not the other way around.

I bought a ball of self-striping yarn - I can't remember when I picked it up, but it was obviously an impulse purchase. It's Opal Schafpate in the colourway Kate.

Schafpate is a wonderful sock yarn - I've knit a pair of socks in it before and I love them. It's got the sturdiness I expect from a no-nonsense German sock yarn, and just a bit more softness. The wool comes from a German flock and the project is specifically aimed at supporting local shepherds - more on the Schafpate project here.

There have been dozens of colourways of Schafpate - they seem to drop like seasonal fashion, passing quickly in and out of the range. And they're all self-striping 'faux Fair Isle' style, for better or for worse. I happen to like this yarn so much that I would be very happy to have a range of solid colours to supplement the striping ones, but ah well.

So here is the manufacturer image of the yarn I bought:

The purple? Love it. The green? Love it. The gentle, pale gradient between the two? LOVE IT.

...The bitty bits of blue and white speckles? Do not love it.

This ball sat in purgatory in my stash for a long, long time. Why was I so foolish to buy a yarn with a fatal flaw? I knew I could never love socks that interrupted a beautiful colour gradation with those loud, rude speckles.

And then I remembered that this is not buying a whole sock out of a catalogue: This is knitting. I control the yarn, the yarn does not control me.

I started knitting, and when I hit a section with speckles, I simply cut it out. Then I wound a new ball of the colours I wanted.

This had the fun side-effect of parcelling my yarn out into pre-defined repeats, allowing me to pre-wind the balls for the second sock and know exactly how much yarn I'll need.

And now I'm knitting socks that I love. All is as it should be.

~Joyuna

An assessment of WIPs

On a lark the other day I decided to check if some of my favourite old blogs were still updating. Turns out, the Yarn Harlot is still going strong.

I found this post of hers rather inspiring: An airing of UFOs and taking a good hard look at them.

The beginning of the year brings out a decluttering urge in me. Or if not decluttering, at least surveying my hoard. I'll never be a minimalist (not even close), but sometimes it feels good to let go of things that are burderning you, rediscover lost loves, and just get a sense of where you are with everything.

I keep a lot of things on the needles. I have a short attention span and a fickle heart. I know this about myself and I don't try to restrain myself too much - knitting is my hobby, after all, and in the grand scheme of things, a halfway-finished project isn't a tragedy.

But I lose things, and I forget things, and my body changes shape, and my tastes change, and worst of all, sometimes the moths come. So it feels like a good idea to take out all those projects and get a sense of where they are.

PS: If like me, you haven't been keeping up with Yarn Harlot, I highly recommend this post about the whole family knitting a wedding blanket. It chokes me up a little.

Now, on to the WIPs!

---

Angostura Vest

I'm surprised to see I only have a few inches done on this, because it felt like I had put a LOT of work into it already. I spent a long time planning it, trying to figure out how gauge works between ribbing and negative ease and a yarn that will stretch.

Its fate: So long as I can find my notes, I'd like to pick it up again, hopefully before next winter. But with the fiddly cables plus the fact that I'll need to seam it, I might not actually finish it this year.

Sheep Heid

Love this in theory, but there are two problems:

1. I didn't check gauge, it's too big, I'm planning to felt it but I'm scared about how that will go.

2. Moths have struck. I took the project off the shelf and one of the little things flew right in my face. Now it isn't as bad as it could be - they only just started to nibble, there are a couple of broken threads but no big holes. It's fixable.

Its fate: I'm putting it away for long enough to get over the moth trauma, and then we'll see what I can do. It's halfway done! It's handspun!

Hexipuffs scrap blanket

This project is stored on a shelf just above my bed, so I see it all the time, just staring at me.

It's a weird one - one of my oldest projects, and every time I re-visit it I think that I'm very close to finishing it, and then something else comes up. I'm running out of stuffing. Or it's not quite big enough and I need to add some extra columns. Or I need to mend it. Etc.

Its fate: Yeah, I'll finish it off one of these days...

Un-puffed Hexipuffs

What kind of monster am I, casting on a second project in the same pattern before I finish the first one? My fickle heart. In a moment of weakness, I hunted down every variety of beautiful honey-coloured yarn I could find, to make this honey-themed honeycomb blanket. I love it, it's my dedicated on-the-go project.

Its fate: I adore it. There's a hole in my life when I don't have hexipuffs to work on.

Kalajoki socks

Picked this up again just recently, after thinking about how much I loved the yarn. This is The Fibre Co Cumbria Fingering, a wool/mohair blend in a very heavy 'fingering' weight which makes a beautiful cushy fabric. And oh, that colour! A bright red-leaning purple with just a hint of heathered dimensionality.

Its fate: Back in the saddle! Nearly finished the first sock.

Garter Stitch Mashup Blanket

This project isn't bad, I just have a glut of blankets in the house at the moment, so there's no urgency. I have two crocheted blankets in the rotation, I received a nice big one for Christmas, I have a really beautiful quality woven alpaca blanket from my mom, and we have one for every chair and sofa space. We're not wanting for blankets. So I'm not compelled to work on this, even though it's reasonably fun.

Its fate: Save for later.

Leighton House mitts

Beautiful. BEAUTIFUL. This pattern, and this yarn, makes me wax poetic. The way the colours shine on Wensleydale. The delicacy of it. The way it's silky, but woolly at the same time. I'm smitten. But I know exactly why I put this down. The colourwork is too much for my tiny brain to handle.

Its fate: I'll keep it in mind for the day when I want more of a challenge.

Dreambird shawl

I've gotta pick this back up sometime. I know why I bounced off it - the instructions are funny, and I made some mods, so each row was a lot of thinking. But if I can get into the swing of it, it could be something really fantastic.

Its fate: Read some other people's project notes and try and make sense of things.

Rainbow Scale Mitts

Wow, how 'bout this one. I made one mitt already! I'm half way through the second! Why did I drop it?

This was intended to be a design. I love this stitch pattern. It won't be worth it to publish this pattern, but I owe it to the mitts to finish them. It would only be the work of an afternoon or two.

Its fate: Pick it back up when I need some instant gratification.

Pink socks

OK, *this* is probably my oldest WIP. Look, it's on double-pointed needles! I haven't knit a sock on DPNs since... I can't recall. I don't love the yarn, I don't love the colour, and I think I was only knitting these to get a chance to re-photograph this pattern (one of my own designs).

Its fate: This one is on notice. I'm not frogging it, yet, mostly because I don't think I could do anything better with the yarn either.

Handspun Romney shawl - Emanuela

I have complicated feelings about my lace projects. My style and identity have evolved since my days of wearing lace shawls. Dang, this is pretty nice though. Handspun Romney, the yarn is thin but strong.

Some of the edge stitches fell off the needles and laddered down, so I have to do some restoration work before I knit this again.

Its fate: Save for later.

Lady Russell shawl

Oh. *Oh*. Hello, beautiful.

(Forget what I just said about lace. This, I would wear every day of my life.)

I didn't get to keep the sample of the original Lady Russell shawl from Jane Austen Knits, so I cast this on pretty soon after finishing that so I could have one of my own. Decadent yarn, big lovely shawl, with a real weight to it. If I remember right the lace pattern is relatively intuitive. I'd like to make this one of my projects this year.

Its fate: Put this one on deck for after I've finished a couple other things.

Icelandic Shawl - Lambton Panes

Good yarn and pattern combo, I just need to get into the headspace for it.

This is Einband yarn that I got in Reykjavik 4 years ago, and now I've since been to Iceland once again. Oops. Well, at least I didn't bring back any yarn this time.

Its fate: I can't see myself working on it at the moment, but I want to finish it eventually.

Peaks Island hooded scarf

It's a scarf. A seed stitch scarf. Dear god.

Its fate: I'm halfway done, so I'll consider picking it up again soon. But if that doesn't stick, then it's off to the frog pond.

Missing in Action

I know I have these projects in the house somewhere, but can't locate them at the moment.

Oolong Sweater (rav link)

How do I lose two finished sleeves and a sweater's worth of yarn? Just Joy things. I would like to pick this up soon if I can find it, as a few miles of stockinette in tiny yarn would do my soul good.

Ten Stitch Blanket (rav link)

Garter stitch blanket of handspun wool samples. It's been hit by moths before and it probably has again, wherever it is. It can stay in its corner until I feel like doing some mending.

Queen Anne's Lace (rav link)

I don't know about this one. It's beautiful, and I mean beautiful. The yarn is gorgeously delicate, and a great colour. But I don't wear my lace at the best of times anymore, and I certainly wouldn't wear a circular shawl. It'd be one of those projects that I cast off, block, look at lovingly, and shove into the back of the wardrobe. Even if I find it, I don't see myself finishing it, at least for now.

---

I am really glad I took this opportunity to take stock, and I've been inspired to pick up a few of these projects or slot them in later in the year. The temptation to cast on new projects is great, but I was really losing sight of everything I already had!

~Joyuna

Driven by a sock

Do you ever have a project that just won't leave you alone? Where you just feel... compelled to work on it?

Not in a bad way; actually, in a very fulfilling way. These are the socks I've been working on in the evenings, pulling out on my lunch breaks, every spare minute I'm knitting on them and I'm loving it.

I don't know why this project should compel me in this way; in fact normally I should be dreading these socks. They're a pair of socks for my partner, He of the Size Thirteen UK Feet. If you ever sit near me while I am working on socks for him, you will hear me whingeing. Whingeing about the 84 stitches around. About the more than 100g of yarn that they require. About how knitting socks for him takes for-everrrr.

I am an expert at whingeing, especially about knitting projects. BF does greatly appreciate his handknit socks, however, and when a pair recently bit the dust, he had me promise a replacement pair.

Last weekend we took a short break up to York, where we visited the lovely little wool shop RamShambles. There, he picked out some stripy Regia yarn (from the Jazz Color line) and I purchased the requisite three 50g balls.

(Happily, it won't take the entire 150g - but it takes just enough of the extra ball to require it if I don't want to do contrasting heels and toes)
That was last Saturday, and I cast on that very night. I worked on them each evening of the holiday, and on the train home, and I just keep working on them.

It's one week later, and I've cast off the first sock. (Trust me, for a BF-sized sock, that's very good going)
I tried a new bindoff for these socks: Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bindoff. I had heard of JSSBO before, but I had gotten it confused with Jeny Staiman's other bindoff technique, the interlock bindoff. Interlock is a sewn bindoff which matches the long-tail cast on - looks nice, but fiddly to work. JSSBO is worked on the needles, and is very easy to do.

It stretches just as far as the knitting does - perfect. It beats out my old standby, the Russian BO, which is normally fine but to get it that stretchy it has to be worked carefully and loosely. JSSBO came out perfectly stretchy on the first try. I might have a new favorite bindoff. As you can see in the picture, it does flare out a bit, but so does the Russian BO, so I don't mind too much.

~Joyuna

How long does it take to knit a pair of socks?

People ask me this sometimes. On average, how long does it take to make some socks? Well, let's find out with some examples...

Exhibit A:

Pomatomus socks in Koigum Painter's Palette Premium Merino

Yarn purchased: January 7, 2009

Pattern chosen: January 10, 2009

First sock cast on: April 19, 2013 (4 years and 3 months later)

Second sock bound off: April 13, 2015 (just shy of 2 years after cast on)

Total time between yarn purchase and finished socks: 6 years, 3 months.



Exhibit B:

Stockinette striped socks in handspun Suffolk and Swaledale with a little bit of Regia for the dark stripes and the heel

Yarn for toes spun: April 11, 2015

First sock cast on: April 11, 2015

First heel turned: April 11, 2015

Second sock cast on: April 13, 2015

Second heel turned: April 15, 2015

Bound off: April 19, 2015

Total time between yarn finished and finished socks: 8 days.


So... statistically speaking... How long does it take to make a pair of socks? On average, about 3.13 years.
(/facetious) :)

~Joyuna
"A statistician can have his head in an oven and his feet in ice, and he will say that on average, he feels fine."

Socks that tell a story - American Sock Knitting

I have a new design that's been a long time coming, but I'm very pleased to see it come to light - it's called From the Fields to the Stars, and it features in the new book American Sock Knitting.

American Sock Knitting is a book of sock patterns inspired by US states - mine takes inspiration from my home state of Ohio. Ohio is the birthplace of presidents, astronauts, innovators, those whose names end up in the history books; but it's also the home of farmers, factory workers, those who have shaped the country in an often-forgotten way.

These toe-up socks are a journey - from waving wheat fields, over the horizon, and up into a star-studded sky. They're fun knitting, too - they feature mini-cables, a touch of lace, and Fibonacci striping. You can knit a pair with a 50g ball each of the two colors, so they're great for stashbusting or leftovers. They are a real treat for a process knitter.


~Joyuna

Koigu, I love you

Sometimes hand-dyed yarn can be a disappointment. Sometimes it looks so lovely in the skein, but you just can't capture that magic on the needles.

But sometimes, a very special yarn knits up exactly how you expected it to.

The good people at Koigu are color alchemists. I've had this yarn for a long time, afraid that I'd ruin it by knitting it. I've always known I would knit it into Pomatomus socks, a pattern that somehow does wonders with hand-dyed yarns, no matter how chaotic they seem.

There are so many distinct shades in this skein of yarn - I've tried to decide how many, but I always lose count - but they all come together in perfect harmony. I just love this project.

And yet, I'm apprehensive - no matter how enchanted I am by the colors, by the yarn and the pattern, the yarn is 100% merino and I'm knitting socks. Historically, 100% merino socks have not done well on my feet. Koigu has a tight twist, and I'm knitting a firm fabric, but I don't know if that will be enough.

I long for the magical colors of Koigu with a bit of nylon - better yet, a many-ply yarn structure (Koigu is only 2-ply) and maybe not even merino. Short color repeats, nonpooling, myriad colors, hard-wearing sock yarn - any suggestions?

~Joyuna

Rose Tendrils socks

You may remember that when I went up to Scotland for The Glasgow School of Yarn, I had a sock entered in the Charles Rennie Mackintosh design competition... Well, the design has finished test knitting and tech editing, and is ready for sale.

I'm so very happy to release the Rose Tendrils toe-up socks. These socks are an engaging knit for someone who wants a little bit of a challenge, and a beautiful pair of socks at the end of it. The textured knit & purl pattern on the top of the foot was adapted from two different Japanese stitch patterns, and the lace motifs clocking each side of the ankle, in the shape of a Mackintosh Rose, are wholly original. The sock is constructed from the toe up with a gusset and heel flap, and has three sizes for an easily customized fit.

for $5.00

Yarn: 100g/400yds of fingering / 4ply / sock weight yarn (Shown: Juno Fibre Arts Milly High-Twist, color Rosewood)
Needles: US 1.5 / 2.5mm
Special Techniques: Toe-up socks, short rows, charts

~Joyuna

Making do and Mending

There was a time when materials were costly, and time was plentiful. To get a pair of socks, you would need to get the wool off the sheep, prepare the wool, spin it into yarn, take that yarn and knit it... you get the idea. Nowadays, if you want a pair of socks, you can hop down to the shop to get any flavor of sock yarn. Or, you can just buy the socks themselves.

But when your materials are scarce, you want to conserve them in any way you can. That means unravelling and re-knitting sweaters as children grow older, or darning socks. Recently I had a mishap when my darning pile got mixed in with the laundry pile - my pair of merino cashmere socks were already wearing thin, and while they didn't felt in the wash, the thin spots got even thinner to the point where I just couldn't darn them any longer.

Instead, I'll make them into something new.

Read more »

Elven Slippers - A bit of elegance for your feet

Need a quick gift? Want to keep your toes warm during those cold nights? Or maybe you just want to dress up your feet? Whether you're sitting on a high tree branch or lounging on the forest floor, these leafy little socks will look sweet and elegant. Just right for any elf or human in your life: Elven Slippers.

The slippers are knit from the toe up with picots at the top of the foot and cuff, and a lovely lace leaf pattern on either side of the instep. Leafy i-cord laces keep them securely on your feet, or wear them plain.

for $4.00

Yarn: About 160 yds of fingering weight yarn (Shown: Juno Fibre Arts Myrtle, Merino/Tencel) and less than 40 yds of contrast color yarn.
Needles: US 2.5 / 3mm DPNs
Special Techniques: Knitting in the round, Judy's Magic Cast On, short rows, charts



~Joyuna

Tajik Textiles - Jurabe Socks

It's been over a year since my trip to Tajikistan, and I long to return. The people were kind and I learned so much, not only language but also about many other things. Going through my photos, I realized there were a few other fiber and textile pictures I hadn't blogged about yet. These are cell phone pics, so sorry about the rubbish quality.

Here's a charkha I found at TSUM, the nearest thing Dushanbe has to a shopping centre. If I remember right, it was going for about 120 som, or roughly $30 USD. Unfortunately, it didn't work. If it were functional, and I had had the suitcase space for it, it would have come home with me. I also saw some handmade socks...

Read more »

4th Century Egyptian Socks

On my most recent trip to London, I visited UCL's Petrie Museum of Egyptology. I always keep an eye out for fiber and textiles artifacts when I'm in a museum, but I wasn't expecting to see much. Instead, I was just enjoying the mind-bogglingly extensive collection of ancient Egyptian relics. Until...

I was moving towards a new display case. First, I saw the spindles. Then, my eyes drifted to the right, and there they were: A pair of socks, in beautiful condition. Sure, there were a couple holes, but these socks are 1700 years old, and they're in better shape than some of my own knitted socks!

Interestingly, these socks feature a split toe - like 'tabi socks' or sandal socks. They're fairly short and have a rolled hem.

Read more »

KNIT Sock Club shipment #2

Here's the second shipment of the KNIT Magazine (aka Yarn Forward) sock club, from The Yarn Yard.

It's a generous skein of Crannog, a light fingering weight sock yarn in a lovely purplish burgundy color (very hard to photograph!). We got a lace sock pattern with it to, but I'm thinking about using it for Yarnissima's recent sock pattern, 'Gush'.

Our extra goodie this time is very cool - a make your own stitch marker kit! Basically it's some rainbow beads, a wire, and a ring -- so you can design your own marker. Really cute. :)

~Joyuna

Knit Magazine sock club - first shipment

I joined Knit Magazine (nee Yarn Forward)'s sock club - it's my first sock club, and I am oh so excited about it. I just got the first package...

It's a new yarn line from Skein Queen, a UK dyer who happens to belong to my knit group :) This sock club is different because not everyone gets the same color, so it's total lucky dip as to what you'll get. Lucky for me, I really love this color...

(it's slightly more orange-toned in real life)
All the colorways are named after books! And, I got a roll of conversation hearts as well ;)

Not only do I love the colors, I love the name as well. When I got the pattern for the shipment (it was emailed to us before the parcels arrived), I wasn't sure whether I would knit it or not... But, I think it will work really well with the yarn, so I'm going to go for it.

~Joyuna

Understanding Kitchener Stitch

There are some people who shudder at the mention of grafting. Not too long ago, I was one of you, dear friends. But, between a couple top-down socks and a tubular bindoff or two, a lightbulb came on. Something clicked. And now I know it, and I understand it, and I even appreciate Kitchener stitch.

It used to be that every time I wanted to graft an armpit, sew up a toe, or any of the other numerous uses for kitchener stitch, I had to look up the step-by-step instructions on the web and follow them slavishly. It was painful. I was already uncomfortable, having the sewing needle in my hand, having cut my yarn, worrying whether I cut it long enough, just wanting to have my darn socks done already...

Let it go. Leave all that anxiety behind. The trick is simple: you just have to understand it. Once you understand, you will never need to look up instructions again.

Read more »

Knitting socks back and forth...

I'm a really big fan of knitting socks. They're cute, practical, and quick. Another big plus is that they're knit in the round, so there's very little purling and no seaming. The last few sock projects I've done have been a little different, though... They've involved knitting back-and-forth, for one reason or another.

First, there's these 'comfort slippers'. It's a great pattern, and a Japan benefit as well.

Read more »

Spinning socks on the fly

Spinners: Are you impatient, or possessing a short attention span? Do you tire of long stretches of spinning, eager to see how your yarn will knit up? Do you have a small spindle or bobbin, which holds hardly any yarn?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this "socks on the fly" technique is worth a try.

First, prepare your fiber. If you want your socks to match, split the braid in half lengthwise and predraft, or at least give the fiber a little fluff. Separate your fiber into pile A and pile B.

Begin spinning from pile A, using the Navajo ply on the fly technique. This is a fantastic method, and I wouldn't navajo ply any other way! Once your spindle is full, you will have a cop full of 3-ply chain-plied yarn. Wind it off the spindle into a ball, and begin knitting Sock A.

Sock A is on the needles, now start spinning from fiber pile B, chain ply on the fly, wind off, cast on Sock B. Lather, rinse, repeat until you have a new pair of handspun socks.

I started doing this because I am an impatient spinner, who takes ages to spin enough yarn for a pair of socks, always wants to see how my yarn knits up, and my spindle is tiny. When I was spinning for my Gail, I had to wind off the spindle 4 times, for only 2 ounces of fiber! So, if I was spinning it all first and then knitting it, I would have to keep joining the skeins anyway.

I'm loving this project. I get to knit and spin at the same time, I get both socks at the same time, and my stripes match (mostly). You could even adapt this method to knitting the socks 2AAT magic loop, but I don't like 2AAT, so I just put each sock on hold when it comes time to knit on the other sock. If you have two sets of needles, it's even easier.

~Joyuna

The socks that took three years to knit

I'm not what you would call a monogamous knitter. I always need a project for every occasion - lace for when I want to concentrate, a stockinette sweater for watching TV, socks on the train, et cetera. Unfortunately, this means that some projects tend to get lost and neglected for months at a time. Or, even, years.

That's where these socks come in. The pattern is Anastasia, a simple toe-up sock with a spriraling yarnover eyelet pattern. These were my first magic loop, two-at-a-time socks - a technique that I have now discovered I'm not all that fond of.

I guess I like the piecemeal nature of a pair of socks: you work a toe, then a foot, then a heel, then a cuff; then the next toe, foot, heel, cuff. It goes at a quick enough pace that you keep getting rewarded by your effort by being able to move on to the next bit. Basically, the pace of two-at-a-time socks seems too slow for me. Intellectually, I know that it's going at the same rate, but it just doesn't feel that way.

So, Ravelry tells me I cast these on on the day after Christmas, 2007. I finished them this weekend. For the majority of those three years though, they just sat in my closet looking like this:


So I'm very glad to have them finished, finally.


~Joyuna

Pattern: Alessandrite socks

I'm pleased to announce that I have just released a new sock pattern!

The Alessandrite Socks are toe-up, cabled, textured, gusseted love. I loved knitting them, anyway. Normally I'm not very into cabling, but this charted cable pattern only have two twists each row, and can be done without a cable needle.

Alessandrite Socks on Ravelry
for $5.00 (you don't have to have a Ravelry account)

Yarn: 100g of fingering sock yarn (Shown: Cascade Heritage)
Needles: US 1.5 / 2.5mm DPNs
Special Techniques: Toe-up socks, cables from charts, short-row heel

~Joyuna