plain ol’ socks

paintbox yarns fair isle :: storybook colorway

regia 4-fadig :: color 07200

We are finished with the second full week of school and I am happy to report that things are going pretty well. One thing that has helped tremendously is giving ourselves plenty of time to get ready in the morning by waking up a little earlier. My husband is an early bird who wakes up at 5am every morning to meditate, do yoga exercises and go kayaking before he has to start work. Me? I’m definitely a night owl and find early mornings quite painful. But not having to rush before getting the kid to school is a good thing for both him and me so I’m willing to wake up with the early birds, at least on school days. An added perk is having some extra time to relax and knit before seeing the kid off. My project of choice for early mornings is plain ol’ socks since they can be knit even while half asleep. It has taken a couple of years but I have finally come up with a recipe that fits great and is fun & relaxing to knit.

For my plain ol’ socks, I cast on 56 stitches with 2.5mm needles using the German Twisted/Old Norwegian cast on or 64 stitches using 2.25mm....it depends on the yarn. I like a pretty tight gauge for my socks, about 9 stitches per inch. Then I knit 2x2 rib for 20 rows. I knit the cuff + leg for about 5.5 to 6 inches before starting the Fish Lips Kiss heel which is my absolute favorite heel as far as fit goes. Also love how quick & easy it is to knit. I knit the foot for about 7.5 inches before starting the toe. My favorite new toe is similar to the umbrella toe by Kay Jones which can be found in her Drippity Drop Socks pattern except that I forgo the Kitchener stitches at the very end and just fasten off the few remaining stitches. Much simpler and neater for me and the resulting fit is perfect for my toes. And that’s all there is to it! Here’s an action shot:



Are you an early bird or night owl? What is your favorite easy knitting project?

hello september

Hi friends! Today was the first day of school for the kid. It’s been a fun and relaxing summer but I think that we were both ready for school to start again. He’s excited to be in eighth grade this year and I am hoping that the transition from vacation mode to school will be a smooth one.

We had a long holiday weekend here in the States and I spent it chilling out at home with my two guys. We were basically couch potatoes all weekend. I treated myself to three new cast ons. The first one will be a pair of scrappy Halloween socks for the #monstersockkal2018 on instagram.



This is actually my second attempt because the first one was judged not spooky enough by the kid. Who knew that he had such strong opinions on Halloween monster socks?!? Where were the zombies, blood & guts he asked. Well, his ideal Halloween would be more along the lines of the Exorcist while mine would be Jasper the Ghost. So in the end we compromised and went with skulls & crossbones.





I also started a new blanket for the Harry Potter Blanket KAL hosted by Adelaide Cottage and the Knitting Broomstick. The pattern is the Giant Square Scrap Blanket and it’s a fun one. I am currently knitting with a gorgeous mini-skein set by Adelaide Cottage inspired by the colors of the HP books. Don’t you think that she did such an awesome job interpreting the covers? Looking forward to listening to the books & watching the movies while working on the blanket. It’s a yearlong KAL so there’s plenty of time to join in. This will be my sixth blanket on the go but that’s ok. Blankets make such comforting and cozy knitting.



And lastly...more socks! It’s been a while since my last pair of Felici socks and I was drawn to this pretty colorway. The pattern (ifthen socks) works so well with self-striping yarn. Even though the colors totally scream Spring, I am enjoying knitting on them nonetheless. In fact, all of my current wips are bringing me so much joy. I hope that your projects are doing the same for you! What are you knitting on right now?