Noro Taiyo Sock Love

Hi, Knitters,

I have been playing around with the Smooth Operator Socks pattern a little, making some new twists and turns. I love the results. I started a sock in some Noro Taiyo Sock yarn that I purchased quite a few years ago in Door County, Wisconsin, at Spin of Door County, when we were on an end of summer trip. I lost the label on this one so I don't have the color number but I do know that the Taiyo Sock is a single ply cotton/wool/silk/nylon blend. It is a wonderful mix of fibers and I love the feel and look of the yarn. The sock is soft and textured and really has the appearance of handspun yarn. 

You may notice that I have streamlined the decrease even more on the heel and toe of this Noro sock. I had been thinking of trying this different technique and lo and behold it worked. I honestly wasn't sure if it would work but I really love the result.

For the sock in the photo I just let the Noro yarn do its thing for the cuff, leg and foot of the sock and then I striped the heel every two rounds with two different balls of the yarn that I had wound off before starting. The effect is stunning and I am pretty excited about it.

The wooden sock blocker is from theloopyewe.com. 

What I am going to do is write up a few notes on the minor pattern tweaks I have made here on this new sock. These variations include:

~ a different decrease technique for the heel and toe.

~ a new technique tip to help round out those corners on the Kitchener stitch heel and toe.

~ and a twist on the finishing of the toe and heel that doesn't involve the Kitchener stitch at all. 

The toe in the sock photo above doesn't have any Kitchener stitch and I think I kind of love it! I love trying new things and experimenting. This is how things change and get even better.

The write up of these few notes (which I haven't done yet) including these variations will be included at the end of the Smooth Operator Socks pattern. I will send an update when it is completed to everyone who has already purchased the pattern. And of course, the new variations will be included in the pattern for all future pattern purchasers.

The variations should be coming out sometime in the next week or so.

Click here to find out more about the Smooth Operator Socks pattern! Still available for an automatically discounted price. No coupon code is necessary. 

Click here to check out the Smooth Operator Socks Knitalong! We have over 230 participants now which is fun and exciting. You can join in anytime up to August 22, 2016. All you have to do is participate, post a photo and mainly have fun to enter in. You don't have to finish your socks or even one sock to be entered into the prize drawings, of which there will be many.

In fact, I just sent off the first two prizes....

Knittedtowel (rav username) or Jessamyn won this beautiful gradient mini-skein set from Vice Yarns. It is 600 yards of merino/nylon fingering weight and it is so vibrant.

The second prize was drawn from the Instagram hashtag #SOSkal photos. The winner of this gorgeous set of fingering weight mini-skeins from Vice Yarns is pjknits (Instagram) or Pennyj (rav username)! 

Click here for Vice Yarns! Thank you so much for the beautiful prize donations. 

The prizes have already been sent to the winners. I will be drawing for 3 prize winners later this week. I have some excellent prizes lined up.  

Amazingly enough there are already 322 pairs of Smooth Operator Socks posted on Ravelry which is so much fun to browse through. The yarns and color choices are varied and inspiring.  

I have some new projects and a few new patterns that I am working on right now for various publications. Things are moving right along this summer. I hope you are having a good summer and that you are getting out to enjoy the warm weather. Fall will be here before we know it which actually sounds kind of nice.

I'll be back soon with much more.

xo ~ susan