Socks, Socks, and Mittens

Right off the bat in the new year, I have two pairs of socks on the needles and once par of mittens.   The mittens were actually started in mid-December at the Foothills Spinners and Weavers Holiday party….and one pair of socks was started at Thanksgiving, but never really progressed.   The final pair of socks was started just a  couple of days ago….part of the Team Bazinga knit-along that we’re doing between Nerd Wars tournaments. 

The  reddish sock is being done in the “Hermione’s Everyday Sock” Pattern (the one chosen for our knit along).   The sock cuff is much wider on this one than on my 2x2 ribbed socks, so it will be a bit baggy in the ankles I’m afraid.  Plus, there’s enough color changes in the yarn that you can’t really see the subtle stitch pattern.   Ah, well….I really like these….and have made fabulous progress on them!  You can see the difference between the two  patterns below.  They’re both at the same point of construction.  

 

Same sized needles (0) using sock weight yarn, but totally different patterns makes a BIG difference in size!

 

 

The basic 2x2 ribbed sock uses the pattern, “Hellen’s Favourite Socks” from Fiber Trends.   I’m using Maskerball Yarn from Opal.  I love the subtle colors – perfect for wearing with blue jeans! I’ve just finished turning the heel  and am starting on the gussett decreases. (I had to get to this point so I could easily knit on the Metro when I went downtown for dinner and a show last evening.)  Once the gussett decreases are done, the rest of the foot will go quite fast and I’ll have the first sock done in no time!

And now, the progress on the mittens.  These are just basic mittens using the Berocco Boboli yarn and the freebie pattern that comes with it.  They’re barely started.  Actually, I’ve knit and torn our this much twice, so by rights, they really should be about 6 inches along!   (I used the wrong needles the first time.   The second time I ripped out was because II had to fix lot of dropped stitches.   The yarn is a bit slick and the stitches fell off the needles in transport….and I found that it was just easier to rip it back to the start than to struggle getting the stitches picked up and aligned.

Hopefully I’ll be able to get two of the three projects will be completed by the end of the month.   Wish me luck!