Category Archives: Socks

Business Casual KAL – The Winners

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It’s time to announce the winners of the Business Casual KAL!

Can I just say that all you are all winners because collectively we knit a whooping 82 pairs of Business Casual Socks!!! AMAZING!

I know you are all going to enjoy wearing your socks just as much as I have been since I bound off both pairs.

So… Shall we get down to the prize business?

First up was the lovely skein of Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label in the Atlantic Colourway donated by the lovely Tanis herself.

 The winner is LundenKnit! Sara finished 3 pairs socks during the KAL.

Next up another lovely skein of Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label this time in the Thrills colourway donated by Megan of Stockinette Zombies.

The winner is Hundgestrickt!

Tina knit these neutral soft grey business casuals.

We also had a lovely skein donated from the ladies over at Wandering Cat Yarns.

This is Wandering Cat Yarns House Cat.

400 yards of 100% merino in the Water Dragon colourway.

The winner is Divadar who also knit more than one pair, I believe it was 4. Here are her socks.

The next prize was an uber cute sock bag donated by the lovely Susan of GirlCaveBags.

The winner is Carambole! Here are her Fleece Artist Socks.

Next up were our patterns donated by the designers themselves.

SpillyJane donated a pattern of choice.

The random generator chose Hege as the winner. She also knit 4 pairs of socks.

 Jeannie Cartmel donated a Pattern of choice.

This prize goes to LauraH3 who knit these variegated casuals.

Last but certainly not least Elinor Brown donated her colourwork pattern, Culture Socks.

The final prize goes to rstovin who knit these lovely pink grapefruit BC’s.

Thanks so much to everyone who donated prizes and for all of you knitting along with me.

You made this KAL so much fun!

Hope to see you all next time around :)

Business Casual – Finished Pair!

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It’s time for another update and I’ve got a finished pair!!!

These are knit with Tanis Blue Label in Brick

I knit them with 2.25mm dpn’s knitting 4 repeats for the leg and 4 and a half repeats for the foot.

They are a perfect fit and I couldn’t be happier with them!

Lets have a look at our other finisher’s this week!

Viki chose Tanis Blue Label in Aquarium for her second pair of lovelies.

Laurah3 knit her socks with Yarn Bee Walk Away Sock with PBT.

Mum2x2 used Turtlepurl Yarns Big Turtle Toes for the version she knit for her husband. A lovely manly pair!

Gemfireknits used Cascade Yarns Heritage Quatro Colours for her variegated pair. Love the subtle striping.

Pattymatt used Lang Yarns Jawoll Color Aktion for her rustic pair of Business Casuals.

DivaDar finished her second pair of Casuals. This time using Ella Rae Lace Merino!

Mombeauty chose Knit one Crochet too crock-o-dye for her socks.

Michelle is the only participant so far to knit her socks in two different colours. She used Biscotte and Cie La Douce in Lime and Turquoise colourways.

We’re on the downward slope now, with three weeks left to finish.

I’ll reveal the final prizes next week that will hopefully give you the boost you need to finish up those socks.

Business Casual – Chugging

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Sorry this is a little late this week folks! Lots going on and I just couldn’t find the time to sit down and get this done.

My socks are coming along nicely and hopefully I will have some pictures for you next week.

 You all have been knitting up a storm and I love all the FO’s that keep rolling in!

Let’s take a look at those finished Socks!

Nzfriend knit her kitty approved Casual’s in Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in the Thunderhead colourway.

Hege completed her second pair in Garnstudio Drops Fabel. Love how these ones stripe.

Victoriasmum used Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight. Such a beautiful semi solid!

Jhocy Indigodragonfly MCN Sock in the colourway “And then Buffy Staked Edward. The End”

Sara of Lunden Knits finished her second pair in Plucky Knitter Primo Fingering in Gus and Clara.

Claire of Far From Harm Farm knit her in Plymouth Yarn Happy Feet.

There are still lots of pretty socks in progress too!

From left to right by: Tanis Lavallee, Dimples74, TammyG

From left to right : Rosehiver, Porcupine, Jansezknit.

We are at the halfway point now with almost 4 weeks left to go!

I’ll have more prizes for you next week as well so keep chugging so you don’t miss out on a chance to win!

Business Casual KAL – Prize Alert

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We have more beautiful FO’s this week!

Rhonda of JediKnits finished her pair of Business Casual’s in Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label in Pink Grapefruit. I have a soft spot for the Pink Grapefruit colourway and might have gasped when I saw these. Love!!

Viki of Ruby in Stitches used Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in the Twilight colourway for her socks. Love the semi solidness of these!

Sarah of Wicked Stitches knit her socks toe up and two at a time using Tanis Blue Label in the Dove colourway. Another beautiful grey pair. *Grey seems to be a popular colour for this KAL.

Mel of Knits with Camels used a variegated skein of Tanis Blue Label in the Aquarium colourway. I don’t recognize this colourway, not sure if its an OOAK or an older colour…. I love that this pattern works well with solids right through to variegated’s. Endless possibilities.

  Tracylw knit Business Casual’s for her husband who has a size 14 foot!!! She used  Tanis Blue Label in the midnight colourway.

DivaDar used Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Multi for her socks. Love the striping of this Pleasant Prairie colourway.

SOMESylvie knit her version with Squoosh FiberArts Merino Cashmere Sock in the Blackberry Crush colourway.

RoseHiver knit these gorgeous BC’s out of Tanis Blue label in a OOAK *one of a kind* colourway Raspberry Burst.

Hege of Cloudberry knit business casual’s for her husband using Garnstudio Drops Fabel in colour 300.

Pam of Califishknits finished her socks using Knit Picks Stroll Multi in the atmosphere colourway. Another fun stripey pair.

Well done everyone for finishing your socks so quickly!!

Since we are on the topic of yarn…. how about a few more yarn prizes!

The lovely ladies of Wandering Cat Yarns are generously offering up a skein of their delicious hand dyed yarn as a prize.

 This is Wandering Cat Yarns House Cat.

400 yards of 100% merino in the Water Dragon colourway.

Thankfully this prize isn’t at my house because I don’t think it would ever make it to the mailbox!  Thank you so much ladies for this beautiful prize.

Megan of Stockinette Zombies dipped into her own stash and is offering a skein of Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label in the Thrills colourway for one lucky finisher!

Photo copyright Tanis Fiber Arts used with permission.

Thrills was the May 2012 colourway from Tanis Year in Colour Club.

So 3 skeins of yarn are up for grabs if you finish your socks and have a picture of the FO up by March 25th. I do have more prizes coming up but I’m going to hold off on those for a while yet :)

How are your socks coming along this week??

I know quite a few people that finished early have started a second pair!

Business Casual KAL -Travelling Stitch

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I made great progress last week on my socks. I’m cast on one sock in each colourway and have been tandem knitting them back and forth. This method seems to be working out well for me and Iove being able to play with both colours at the same time. I managed to turn the heel of each sock this week.

 The Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label in Brick.

This colourway seems to be pooling a bit but I think the colours are close enough that they won’t be that noticeable once they are complete.

Tanis aptly named this colourway Brick. The colour is spot on!

Wandering Cat Yarns Barn Cat BFL in Parrotfish

I thought this was going to be a variegated skein but to my surprise when I started knitting I realized it was striping. I’m really enjoying this colour combo, reminds me of the beach.

Now how have your socks been coming along??

Woweee! We have two finished pairs of socks already!

Sara of LundenKnits knit her socks in a mere 3 days! Incredible.

She used Tanis Purple Label Cashmere Sock in Sliver Plume.

I love the shades of grey with subtle pops of pink in these socks.

The colourway is a special kit colourway and not available through Tanis shop.

I believe Sara has a second pair on the go already!

Monika of Smoking Hot Needles also finished her socks in 3 days.

I want these ladies sock knitting stealth for sure!

Monika knit her version with Wandering Cat Yarn’s Alley Cat BFL in the Fern Gully colourway.

Everyone else’s socks are looking good!

Here are a couple of WIP’s from this week.

Left to Right : Versions by Deadlysmurf, Laina and Hotcheese

Left to Right : Versions by Fancybell, Redknitz, and Tracylw.

Make sure your projects are tagged CCObusinesscasualkal because there are ton’s more WIP shots to come next week!

I’m going to leave you with a short video of how I do the travelling stitch. I know some folks are having a bit of trouble so I’ve tried to explain how I do it.

The video was a quick job because I have a sick little girl at home so hopefully this won’t confuse you even more!

Travelling Stitch

Welsh Country Socks

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Pattern: Welsh Country Socks by Nancy Bush from the book Folk Socks

Yarn: Patons Kroy Sock, undyed and Knit Picks Stroll Solids in Ash.

My Rav Project Page

I have been wanting to knit this pattern for years. In fact Folk Socks was the first sock book I ever bought back in 2006. I’m glad I finally took the time to make them. Simple with just enough colour changing and stranded knitting to keep it interesting.

If you are looking for some mindless socks with a few simple changes I would definitely recommend this pattern.

Mods: I started out with 82 sts and decreased down to 64 for the foot. If I were to knit these again I would cast on less stitches for a tighter leg.

I also added the stranded motif to the start of the toe as well as the leg. The original socks in the book were knit this way and I think it really ties everything together nicely.

 I finished knitting these almost 3 weeks ago but am only now getting around to taking pictures of them. I knew there was no way I was going to start a sock KAL with socks still on my needles. I would have been doomed from the get go. I don’t plan on having any languishing UFO’s this year. I’m going to knit and complete everything in a timely manner and not bombard my needles with too many projects. I may even tackle some of my poor sock UFO’s from last year that I just didn’t have the heart to frog.

I  already have a list of sock patterns ready to cast on once my business casual’s are complete so I best get knitting!

Business Casual KAL – Casting On

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I’m so excited so many of you are joining me in knitting Business Casual. I expected 10 -20 and got 115 participants to date! I am gobsmacked to say the least and cannot WAIT to do an FO Parade. Just think of all those finished socks!

Of course with that many people joining me I couldn’t just leave it at one prize…… I’ll be adding more to the list as we go along so keep a look out for Prize Alerts!

Tanis has given us the go ahead to use the picture above for our project pages and blog posts about the KAL so feel free to spread the love. Don’t forget to sign up HERE to be eligible for prizes and tag your project pages with CCObusinesscasualkal so I we can all see each others progress. I will be using some of your pics for update posts, with permission of course. If you need help tagging let me know and I’ll walk you through it.

I loved hearing what yarns you have chosen to use so I think its about time I share mine with you.

I have this lovely skein of Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label in the Brick colourway that I’ll be using to cast on with for my business casuals.

Its a semi sold so those different peaks of colour will add some interest to the diamond pattern as I knit.

That isn’t however the only pair of business casual’s I’ll be knitting. I won this skein of Wandering Cat’s Barn Cat in the ParrotFish colourway last year on Monika’s blog.

 I always thought it would make a nice pair of variegated business casuals and since I couldn’t decide whether to do a variegated pair or semi solid I’m just going to knit them both!!

All caked up and ready to go!

Now before you all go running off to cast on I wanted to show you the cast on method used in the pattern. Tanis refers to it as an elastic cast on. It is my first time casting on this way  but one that I will absolutely be using from now it. It leaves a wonderfully stretchy edge and takes most of the fiddle work out of casting on and joining that first row.

I know some of you are fairly new to sock knitting and even those who aren’t new like me, may find it interesting!

Elastic Cast On

Now GO CAST ON!!!

If you would like to link blog posts about your projects for others to catch up on feel free to do so below with the link.

 

Business Casual KAL

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Well that was pretty much unanimous and I am very excited with the choice.

We will be casting on for Business Casual by Tanis Lavallee. I’ve been wanting to knit these since Tanis posted this as a free pattern.

© Tanis Lavallee

This is a great unisex pattern so if you don’t want to knit these for yourself I’m sure there is someone who will love them. Early christmas or birthday gift perhaps?

We’ll be casting on 4th February 2013 and casting off 25th March 2013 so you will have 8 weeks to complete the socks if you want to be entered in for the prize.

What is the prize you may ask??

Well the lovely Tanis is generously donating a skein of her Blue Label Fingering Weight in the Atlantic colourway as seen in the pictures. *swoon*

© Tanis Lavallee

I’m doing things a bit differently this time as far as sign ups go.

If you want to join the KAL please enter your info in the link below.

LINK TO JOIN KAL

I found it hard to keep track of everyone last time so hopefully this will make my life easier.

Head on over and download your copy of Business Casual. I’d love to hear what yarn you are going to knit yours with!

KAL Thoughts…

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I know there was interest in another KAL and I thought since so many of you want to knit socks this year then we could do a sock KAL this time??

My thoughts would be to start this some time in February…

Left to right : Business Casual by Tanis Lavallee, Spot Check by Beth Parrot ,Butterflies Are Free by Rose Hiver

I’ve pulled a few sock patterns from my queue as inspiration and maybe we can all decide on one pattern and tackle it together?

From left to right: Go with the Flow by SockPixie, Child’s first sock by Nancy Bush, Cranberry Biscotti by Sweet Paprika Designs, Lateral by Cookie A.

What do you think? Would you be game for a sock KAL?

Is there another sock pattern out there you think everyone will love?

I’d love to hear from you.

Sock it to me!

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You will never guess what I’m knitting…….

yeah ok the title probably gave it away but HEY I’m knitting SOCKS!!!

It’s been a while since you saw a pair of socks around these parts hasn’t it?

It seems that around the same time every year my knitting cravings turn toward socks. It usually lasts through one pair…. or half of a pair….*ahem* and then the craving vanishes but I’m hoping to rectify that this year. I’ll tell you more about that in a minute.

I cast on this pair of socks just before Christmas. I wanted plain stockinette, nothing fancy but enough to keep me interested. My mind flew to the many Nancy Bush books that are on my knitting shelf and I knew immediately that I wanted to knit the Welsh Country Stockings. I have been coveting this pattern for years and they fit the bill perfectly for the kind of knit I was craving.

These have mostly been knit in the car or while visiting someone at Christmas time. I usually get a mummy break when we visit others because there are new people to play with. They are flying off the needles quite quickly and I will be happy to have a new pair of socks, almost knee highs at that to add to my arsenal.

So the plan for 2013 is to knit more socks. I have quite a few skeins of sock yarn that are never going to see the light of day if I don’t get them knit up.

Truth is I prefer socks with complicated lace and cable patterns but most of the time they are the ones that steer me clear of knititng socks altogether. So in 2013 I will be using up my sock yarn stash and knitting socks, plain, patterned, colourwork whatever I’m in the mood for.  Just so I don’t fall off that band wagon right away I’ve choosen 6 skeins of sock yarn from my stash to use.

Some I have a pattern in mind and some I don’t. I’m not nailing myself to these skeins either. If after a while I want to switch a skein out or using for some other kind of knit I will but at least it will give me something to go by and hopefully use up my poor neglected sock stash.

There will still be sweater knitting OF COURSE, heaven knows I’d die without my sweater knitting but hopefully I’ll have a few more pairs of socks along with the sweaters this year.

Do you have stash lingering that you are eager to knit up this year???