Friday, April 18, 2014

Sunshine & 2 More for the Drawer!



Hi, Knitters,
My family has been enjoying some warm sunshine and beach time together this past week. I have been knitting a little bit here and there but mainly we are just hanging out together, walking, swimming, reading, running on the beach and eating!


This one has a real love for the beach and hot weather.


I grabbed a couple of almost finished pairs of socks to bring on the trip with me. I want to keep adding to my sock drawers as much as possible and I have been off my regular pace lately. Click here to read about The Drawer. 

These finished socks are knit in Opal Vincent Van Gogh in the Starry Night color way (this line has been discontinued). I love this Opal sock yarn and the Van Gogh prints. The stitch pattern I used is in the free Hermione Everyday Socks pattern (click here!) but I used my regular How I Make My Socks recipe. It was fun and simple and a bit of a change of scenery. I most often knit easy stockinette stitch socks but every once in awhile it is good to throw a purl stitch in here and there.


 These fit great and I am excited to have another pair finished for The Drawer and off the needles. I have so many pairs of partially finished socks. I need to work on getting more socks done.


 I finished a second pair to add to my sock drawers. I have shared these before in progress.


This pair is knit in the Regia Super Jacquard sock yarn in the Kolibri color way. I think this can be found on Etsy if you search for it. I'm not sure if it is still available.


 Buddies on the beach.


The lovely Joanna Johnson of Slate Falls Press knit a pair of socks in this Opal color way and posted a photo of them. I asked her about the yarn and she gifted me a ball! What a surprise. Thank you Joanna! I love the yarn, it is so whimsical and different.

I never am quite sure what the name and numbers mean on the Opal bands so here is what I see:
Opal in Variation nach Hundertwassers Werk 956 Seeschlange. Farbe 1436  Partie 178.

I hope this helps if you are interested. I don't know where Joanna purchased the yarn.


Here is the start. I love the colorful little band of checkers.


And I love the black lines randomly placed.


 Here I am on the heel flap. I did 6-inch cuffs. Sometimes I do 7-inch cuffs but not usually longer than that. Those are 6-inch Signature Needles double-pointed needles, US size 1, 2.25 mm.


As I was rearranging the stitches for the start of the heel I noticed I had dropped a stitch quite a few rounds back. I hooked it on my stitch marker to hold it until I could fix it.


After I finished the heel flap and heel turn I worked the dropped stitch back up to the needle and it's as good as new. I am hoping to get this one sock finished up on the trip. Maybe it will happen, maybe not.

I hope you are all doing well. It feels good to have a brief break with my family. I will be back to the grind as usual next week. I am traveling to the Dayton Ohio Knitting Guild Retreat to teach all weekend as soon as I get back.

Take care and have a good holiday if you celebrate this weekend.
best, susie

11 comments:

Deborah said...

Enjoy your time away Susan!
Looks so beautiful and your socks are so cute.
I've attempted my first pair. Im using a pattern that you knit with straight and circular needles but not in the round. I thought it looked easy enough for me to attempt...so far, so good, but I did make a boo-boo and after the heel I didn't change back to a smaller size needle. I think Ill have to bring it back to my knitting class and undo until that part. ;( Id like to try your pattern but am a little nervous of dpns.
Love your sock drawer and your awesome collection. You inspired me to "begin to attempt a sock"!
Im knitting with Crofter yarn.
Thanks so much for your willingness to share with us. Oh and I already made your braided scarf. beautiful!

All my heart,
Deborah

Dragonquillca said...

Susan, I have long been an admirer of yours. Your sock drawers have always inspired me. I have made a few pairs of knitted socks, using your worsted weight "pattern". Not as many as you, but one day I'll get there. I have recently begun trying the eye of partridge heels, just for something different. I have discovered I love wool socks., but I've also found that I think I prefer knitting socks on a 3 3/4mm DPN. I hate ladders.
So thank you for this post, for inspiring us with more socks and for being so colorful.

Claudia said...

The Opal Hundertwasser yarn is lovely. I was gifted a skein from a friend who visiting Germany last year and asked if she could bring me some sock yarn...well yeah! This yarn series is based on the art work of Friedenrich Hundertwasser. I recently purchased two skeins myself. My son was intrigued with the socks I'd knit from the Van Gogh series, so we looked up Hundertwasser--quite the character. And thanks for the inspiration...I started my own sock drawer!

Vicki Knitorious said...

Hundertwasser was an Austrian artist -- and all around mind-blowing guy -- and Opal has interpreted quite a few of his works in sock yarn. Most are quite swoon-worthy!!

Unknown said...

Images of Hundertwasser's works: https://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=hundertwasser+paintings&gbv=2&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ei=wl9RU4zCCsGbygHV_4HABA&ved=0CCgQsAQ

"Seeschlange" is German for "Sea Serpent"

I just love the Opal series.

Anonymous said...

Time with family, relaxing, knitting. Sounds like a wonderful vacation! I really need to put a pair of sock on my needles and just keep them in the car or at the office or something, so I can start building a collection of handmade socks for myself. Be well!

WildflowerWool said...

Sea Serpent, love that name, perfect for beach knitting!

Anonymous said...

I'm getting the urge to finish up some half finished pairs of socks too. :) A pattern that I tried and liked that you might also like, is Boxcar Willie, that I found on Rav. It was a nice change from my usual plain sock knitting, especially in the simple gray I was knitting. I love your Starry Night socks! I must see if there's still some of that around! Knit on! samm

Judy said...

OMG: you are such an enabler! I've just ordered yarn for three pairs of socks in Opal's Hundterwasser series. Webs has several variations and they are all wonderful! I've also finished two mini bunny loves for my grand cherubs for Easter! What a great and fun pattern that is. Thank you so much!
Hope you and your family have had a wonderful beach vacation. You certainly deserved a break!

Happy Easter!

xxoo

Lis said...

I do the same with stichmarkers to hold on to stiches and do them later.

Enjoy the rest of you lovely warm summer /easter vacation. Lovely pictures your sharing with us.

Love Lis

Unknown said...

ohhh...que envidia la playa¡¡¡besos desde EspaƱa