Hot Mess

One of my goals for vacation was to finish these Hot Mess socks.  My son is very pleased and hoping for cooler weather-soon please God!

Hot Mess

So I'm knitting away on some Hot Mess yarn for Red. 

CO 68

K1P1 for 13 rows

K2P2 for 71 rows

Heel over 34 sts

This is Hot Mess yarn, specially dyed by Beach Bum for Red.  She even made a custom label for his skein!

Almost to the heel

Very nearly at the heel. I think I'll do the leg at 7 inches.

Timeout

I was having some cramps in my forearms and my sister put my knitting into a 72 hour timeout.  Not knitting just feels unnatural!

 Here is a closeup of the pattern I'm knitting.

Ready!

 Finished and ready to go for our anniversary!

Yellow enough?

 Do you think this yellow is yellow enough for Tig?  I am using Opal color # 5182.  This yellow has a bit of orange in it that doesn't show up well in the photo.  I am using the Classy Slip-up pattern from  Knit Socks! by Betsy Lee McCarthy.  I cast on 72 sts and knit 17 rows of K1,P1.  You knit one row plain and then start the pattern.  I really hope Tig likes these.  I do kind of want to cast on a pair on NBK socks but I might focus on those socks instead so maybe not!

I thought I had a ball of another yellow opal sock yarn somewhere but maybe I used it for my sister.  She is also a big yellow fan.

coming along

Knitting along on DH's sock.  I need to check how many rows for the foot.  This ball of yarn feels light so I hope I have enough.

Anniversary socks

Cast on a pair of anniverary socks for DH last Friday.  Our anniversary is in February so I better get cracking.  DH received this yarn in his stocking for Christmas and he really loves the purple.  Opal yarn, usual sock recipe.

Finishes

One of the best parts of Christmas was when Tig asked me to knit some fingerless mitts.  I thought they for when he was bicycling but they are actually for gaming!  I was delighted and these are my last finish for 2025.  He will also get another pair of socks sometime this new year.

I knit these with plymouth encore worsted on size 6 dps.  I probably could have gone down to a 5.  I cast on 40 stitches, knit k2p2 ribbing for 15 rows, knit plain for five, increased one and then knit one more row.  Started the thumb gussets (15 sts for gusset). I knit until Tig said they were long enough and bound off in pattern.

These socks are for Red.  And they are my first finish for 2026.  LOL. Same yarn as the two pairs I knit for my sister and myself.

Love this so much!

I am crazy about this colorway. It's supposed to be Halloween but I see Weasley Wizard Wheezies!

Hobbi Halloween scary sock wool. Lot ss-04 col 4 witch party. I'm using the feather and fan sock pattern with a size 2 needle for the pattern.  I'll switch to a size 1 when I get to the heel.

First hidden prime

I finished the first hidden prime sock. So named by my son, the intended recipient.

Co 52 stitches.  Knit on size 2 in ribbing for 13 rnds. Switch to size 3 and continue for 53 rnds total.  Heel knit over 24 sts for 13 slipped stitches.  Return to size 3 and complete gussets and knit plain for 61 rnds. Usual toe reductions for 13 rnds.

#6

This is #6 for the year. I think they turned out pretty well. The yarn is Aktiv and this is the second pair I've made using it.  Farbe 75-25 Partie 29928 in the Santa colorway.

Sock #7

This is the second time I've knit these socks for Red (he outgrew the original pair).  Fortunately the first pair fit me but he wanted another pair for himself.  This is Vice Brazen DK in the colorway PAY Candy Christmas.  I think this was an exclusive colorway for Park Avenue Yarns.

So I cast on 52 sts with size 2 needles and knit thirteen rounds in ribbing.  I then switched to size 3 needles.  Red suggested I alternate the needle sizes every 13 rows but I declined.  (We like prime numbers LOL).   I'm enjoying the knit. I'm using some bamboo needles and they feel nice and light and warm in my hands.  These socks will be pair #7 for the year.

I finished my Christmas socks but haven't taken a photo yet.

Matching stripes

After seeing how easy it was on DH's anniversary socks, I decided to see if I could match stripes on mine.  So very close!

Socks #6

Socks #6 for the year.  I bought this yarn because I wanted some Christmas socks to wear in December!

Niece socks

Completed May 7. 2025

Left sock is the Hermione pattern. Right socks is the Jeck pattern.

ETA: my niece loved them!

Two sides of the same sock

The yarn is Tofutsies which is a splitting blend of soy silk, superwash wool. Cotton and chitin. It is knit over 64 stitches in the Hermione pattern with my usual toe and heel. I found the pooling/flashing exasperating and tried several patterns trying to get it to stop. I am knitting the second sock in the Jeck pattern. I think my niece will be amused by the change in pattern.  I do not like this yarn both for the color issue as well as overall splittyness.

Feather and fan socks

Feather & Fan Socks by Judy Sumner from Socks, Socks, Socks 

Needle US 1 - 2.25 mm

 Yarn Austermann Step Colorway 18 Vulcan Dye lot 200206

Originally cast on 4/9/2017

April 20, 2017

I’ve just started the heel on sock #1. I should have gone up to a size 2 needle (which was my first impulse). The feather and fan pattern seems to really draw the knit fabric in. Also this yarn seems really thin to me. I wonder if it will bloom when I was it? It’s a little splitty but super soft. If the socks feel too tight for me I will either give them to my sister or my friend who gave me the yarn.

 

April 25, 2017

GRRRR. I was starting to reduce the gusset stitches when I thought I should try this sock on. Far too tight! So I ripped it completely out this morning on the way to work. I really enjoy this pattern so I should mind the reknit too much. As long as it fits!

2025

These socks were added to my 2025 bingo chart so I alternated working on these with the Girly Girl socks.  I'm not sure when I reknit the lace on the first sock.  These were in serious timeout! Basically I knit the lace portions at home and did the heel and foot on the go.  These were finished on April 18, 2025.

Girly Girl Socks

These socks have a long history.  I wanted to knit them for my sister since around the late 1990s but didn't think that I could handle the lace pattern.  In 2016 I said "Self, you have been knitting for nearly twenty years.  You can handle this pattern."

Well could I?

Girly Girl Socks by Robin Fouquette from Socks: A Spin-Off Special Publication for Knitters and Spinners 

Needle: US 1 - 2.25 mm

Yarn Brown Sheep Wildfoote Luxury Sock Colorway Kansas Sky, Dye lot 3

05-19-2016

CO with size 0 and 54 stitches. Knit about 10 rows and found it really didn’t fit over my heel-and broke a needle doing it! Started over with size 1 and 64 stitches. Knit 15 rows and began pattern. 

Then they went to timeout.

April 1, 2019

Actually I have 63 stitches on my needles. I’m knitting the heel 14 rows long (over 29 stitches/left 34 for instep). K16 then turn.

 At some point this sock went into severe timeout for several reasons, one of which was that I lost the second ball of yarn!  And it was discontinued!  I finally found an auction on Ebay in October 2020 and overpaid for a ball!  Yet still it sat.

I made a bingo chart of projects for 2025 and put these socks, and others, on it.  So after I finished my Anniversary socks for DH, I pulled these out and went to town.  Washed, blocked and dried on April 8, 2025.  I plan to give these to my sister immediately upon her arrival this summer and she better like them!

Slow but steady progress

My this is a terrible photo!  Making progress on the second Girly Girl sock.