Mini Cable Socks

Design: Mini Cable Socks

Designer: Charlene Schurch from Sensational Knitted Socks

Yarn: Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett (75% Wool and 25% Polyamide)

Colour: 4251 Landscape Storm

Needles: 2.5mm Knit Pro DPNS

 

Another pair of favourite socks - although I wish they weren't so blue ... The 'cable' effect is actually a twisted rib, very simple to do, but it looks very effective. The rib makes these socks very comfortable to wear, and because of the pattern row, not too tedious to do.

 

I again used a flap heel with a slip stitch pattern, which cushions them a little.

 

 

Welt Fantastic Socks

Design: Welt Fantastic

Designer: Charlene Schurch from Sensational Knitted Socks

Yarn: Regia Ringel Color(75% wool, 25% nylon)

Colour: 5048 Clown

Needles: 2.5mm DPN

Another pair of Charlene Schurch socks - I love how she has opened up the mysteries of sock knitting for me, and given me a lot of confidence in my own abilities to construct various designs and ways of finishing.

Having stitched a plain pair of socks in this colourway for my niece, I wanted a pair for myself, but I also wanted them to be a little more ... 'out there' I guess, to complement the yarn. These seemed to fit the bill, with their chevron design and 'bullseye' heel.

The pattern itself is really easy to memorise, and the slight bias to the fabricp roduced means the socks stay up well.

The heel is a technique Schurch calls a 'forethought heel' and it basically involvescreating more live stitches and then shaping as you would a toe. It wasn't hard as such, but it was a bit of a faff and I could have done with a third hand in the early stages! I'm not entirely sure the effect is worth the effort, but I'm glad it's a new tool in my repertoire.

 

Corded Rib Socks

Design: Corded Rib Socks

Designer: Charlene Schurch from Sensational Knitted Socks

Yarn: Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett (75% Wool and 25% Polyamide)

Colour: 4258 Mirage Fire

Needles: 2.5mm Knit Pro DPNS

These are currently one of my favourite pairs of socks - the design is a simple pattern repeat based on 2x2 rib, yet it looks really exotic, the rib makes the fit great and the colours make me so happy :o) Kaffe Fassett's way with colour is just fabulous and right to my tastes. I think in larger pieces - needlepoints, fabrics, big garments, it does get a little overwhelming, but for socks - perfect!

Regia S-T-R-E-T-C-H Wool Socks

Design: 60 stitch basic socks

Designer: Regia (leaflet that comes with yarn). Heelflap.

Yarn: Regia Stretch Color (70% New Wool, 23% Polyamid, 7% Polyester)

Colour: 121 Toronto

Needles: 2.5mm Knit Pro DPNs

In my quest to find the ultimate sock yarn, I'm working through as many yarns as  I can - it's a calling, I tell ya! - and making basic stocking stitch socks for a fair comparison.

This yarn is nice but on close examination you can see the stretchy core that is at the heart of it. The socks seem to 'shrink' more in the wash than others, but they are still wearable and expand to fit.

I think I'd be tempted to use this yarn for knitting socks for someone not immediately at hand to check the fit, and I'd not sure I'd want to do a patterned sock with this.

It was only when blogging I realised that this yarn was called 'Toronto' - which is a nice tip of the hat to The Hermit's heritage :o)

Bless My Little (Wool) Cotton Socks!

Design: 60 Stitch Socks, stocking stitch, stocking stitch heel flap

Designer: Regia (leaflet given with yarn)

Yarn: Regia Wool Cotton (34% Cotton, 41% New Wool and 25% Polyamide)

Colour: 4082 Top Winner

Needles: 2.5mm

Another Christmas gift from my sister - well, the yarn was, I had to do the work! Although my sister can knit - or could - she doesn't, and leaves it up to me and my mum to make stuff for her and The Tot :o) So guess who is going to be teaching said Tot?

This yarn is lovely and soft, and is great for spring and autumn wear, the cotton adds just a hint of coolness. There's not a huge amount to say about these basic socks, really - although I should add that I deliberately didn't try to match them up.

Does anyone have any tips for taking pictures of self plus socks?

Elongated Corded Rib Socks - Charlene Schurch

Design: Elongated Corded Rib Socks from Sensational Knitted Socks

Designer: Charlene Schurch

Yarn: Regia 4 ply Classic Color, 5025 Papillon

Needles 2.5mm Knit Pro DPNs

I've moved on from plain stocking stitch socks to patterned socks (and back again) but I'm so behind on photos you'll have to take my word for it!

Anyway, I knitted these in my 'patterned' phase from my favourite sock knitting book, Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. Originally, these were going to be for my own use, but the colours just are so not me (I still don't know what I was thinking of when I bought the yarn) that I gifted these to my Ma for her birthday. She seemed a tad underwhelmed when I gave them to her - well, you probably would be too if you'd been given woolly socks in late July! - but has since praised them for their warmth and fit, and has asked for another pair for Christmas ... so, I think they've gone down well in the end :o)

The rib was fairly straightforward and looks pretty without sacrificing elasticity - there's nothing worse than slouchy socks when you don't want them to be slouchy! My Ma has slightly smaller feet than mine, so thanks must go to a friend at my SnB group who not only has the same sized feet as Ma, but was prepared to try the part finished socks on in the pub so that I could calculate when to start the toe decreases!

I think, so far, Regia is my favourite of the easily available sock yarns. It knits beautifully, washes well and although it gets a little felty where it rubs, the yarn colours make it look great - especially the Kaffe Fassett colourways...