Goodies from Breidag #2

A pair of socks, made on this sock knitting machine. 

Cool, isn't it? Especially for me who doesn't knit socks.

FOs for hands and feet

I'm trying to finish off some UFOs and do some stash busting before I go to Shetland for the Wool Week in October. The sheepy hats were stash busting projects, these to are old UFOs finally finished (not that I don't have older UFOs, but anyway...) The mittens were started in March 2011, it says on my Ravelry project page (that never lies....).

It's the first version of my 

"All I want for Christmas"  mittens.

With colours from the original inspiration. Here's what I wrote atbout the pattern: "In my town there is a Christmas jazz concert every year. Their definition of jazz is wide, and it’s usually a varied, beautiful and joyful concert. The last song is always a cool and cheerful version of Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas is you”. The scene where the concert is played is an old scene that was redecorated for the Winter Olympics in 1994. The mittens are inspired by these decorations. The original colors are beautiful golden shades, but with too little contrast to show the mitten pattern, so I chose blue for a wintery pair of mittens, perfect for a Christmas gift."

Yarn: Rauma Finullgarn

Needles: 2,5 mm

Modifications: In stead of picot edging at the bottom, I did two garter stitch ridges (later decorated with chain stitches, which sort of made it look like a Latvian braid). The Latvian braids on cuff were also substituted with garter stitch. And I decorated the flower a little differently than in the pattern.

And, surprise, surprise! A pair of socks!

Knitnetty's Lovely & Thick Rose Socks,

a free pattern.

I used several colours, from my stash,

otherwise followed the pattern as best I could.

Sea horse socks

Those of my readers who are not interested in pot holders, have probably stopped following by now. In an attempt to get you back, today I'll show you some beatiful socks.

Remember my Selbu Sea Horse Mittens?

Here are some Ravelry projects of the mittens.

It's a free pattern that can be downloaded from the "free mitten pattern" page on top of my blog.



Rose Hiver (ravelink) has made a beautiful pair of socks based on the pattern.

Photos © RoseHiver

"Hold your Sea Horses"

Btw, there's still time to join the pot holder swap, click here.

"Oda a los calcetines" - Ode to socks

If you've followed my blog for a while, you'll know that I'm not a sock knitter. And I never thought I'd own a sock blocker. But look at this!

The pattern is Pinnguri's Jernverk sokker (Socks Wrought Iron Work).

It's a lovely pattern. I've used sock yarn from Ninukka and Black cat fiber, both Etsy shops. Needle 2 mm (I'm quite impressed by myself, I must admit). But I won't make it a habit....

When the first sock was finished, I felt a sudden and surprising need for a sock blocker, an item I never thought I'd want. I looked around, and I saw that Annepålandet was looking for the same thing. She got several answers, among other a tuorial for making one yourself. But knowing myself, I knew I'd never get around to do that. So I ended up buying from Projo. I actually expected I'd get two blockers for the price, but when I looked closer at the order, it was only one. But I won't be finishing two socks at the same time, I reckon.

The blocker is is quite thick and heavy, so if necessary I can use it as a weapon. A boomerang, maybe...

And here's the proof - two finished socks!!

On Pinneguri's blog I also found a link to Knit Picks' podcasts, and listened to a post about knitting and literature. There was a beautiful poem about socks - and I learned it was by one of my favourite poets from Chile, Pablo Neruda. I found the original version somewhere on the Internet. You can find the English translation here.

Oda a los calcetines

Me trajo Mara Mori
un par de calcetines,
que tejió con sus manos de pastora,
dos calcetines suaves como liebres.
En ellos metí los pies
como en dos estuches
tejidos con hebras del
crepúsculo y pellejos de ovejas.

Violentos calcetines,
mis pies fueron dos pescados de lana,
dos largos tiburones
de azul ultramarino
atravesados por una trenza de oro,
dos gigantescos mirlos,
dos cañones;
mis pies fueron honrados de este modo
por estos celestiales calcetines.

Eran tan hermosos que por primera vez
mis pies me parecieron inaceptables,
como dos decrépitos bomberos,
bomberos indignos de aquel fuego bordado,
de aquellos luminosos calcetines.

Sin embargo, resistí la tentación
aguda de guardarlos como los colegiales
preservan las luciénagas,
como los eruditos coleccionan
documentos sagrados,
resistí el impulso furioso de ponerlas
en una jaula de oro y darles cada
día alpiste y pulpa de melón rosado.

Como descubridores que en la selva
entregan el rarísimo venado verde
al asador y se lo comen con remordimiento,
estiré los pies y me enfundé
los bellos calcetines, y luego los zapatos.
Y es esta la moral de mi Oda:
Dos veces es belleza la belleza,
y lo que es bueno es doblemente bueno,
cuando se trata de dos calcetines
de lana en el invierno

Pablo Neruda

I'm so proud of these socks! Maybe I should frame them? No, I'll wear them! And I will not knit another colourwork sock on 2mm needles in a long, long time!

Sock sadness - and madness

Last year I was amazed by all the people who joined the 52 pair plunge, planning to knit 52 socks during the next year. At least two of my knit blogging friends have finished their 52 pairs: Erica and Pinneguri. Congratulations! And Annepålandet has joined for the next 12 months. Good luck!

My plan was less ambitious, two pairs of socks. And this is my progress - so obviously I didn't make it.


So, my ambition for the next 12 months is to finish this pair. I also want to try Pinneguri's new sock pattern.

2 pairs in 52 weeks

No, it's not a misprint, I'm not one of those crazy sock people who're planning to make one pair of socks every week for a whole year! Have a look at their Ravelry group 52 pair plunge III and blog. I'm not a sock knitter, I made one sock a couple of years ago, and before that I hadn't made a sock in years. But I must admit I get inspired by all the beautiful socks out there. Pinneguri has already made #4 of 52 pairs. She's also inspired me to buy a German sock knitting book: Socken aus aller Welt.

I did learn German at school, but knitting vocabulary was not part of the curriculum - so we'll see...

My ambition for the next year is, as the title indicates, to make 2 - two - pairs of socks: One in stranded pattern, maybe these or these, and one pair of lace socks, these maybe (photo from the book):



But why does sock patterns have such tight gauge? I'm a loose knitter, and I hate using needles thinner then 2,5 mm. So how the ...... am I going to get a gauge of 36 sts / 10 cm?