socks Archives • Jessica Smith Creates

April 25, 2019January 1, 2020

Movie Socks

socks on

I’m definitely an impulse knitter. Unlike sewing where I’ll plan and mostly execute, with knitting I’ll get started on a project and let it simmer for altogether too long until I marathon to the finish.

These socks were started the night I saw Deadpool for the first time, probably a week after it’d been released in theaters (prime knitting in an empty theater time).

The first one has a bump, or rather a pattern miscalculation, near the toe from an unfortunate incident with a movie called “How to Be Single.” I was there for a friend’s birthday, but I couldn’t stand the movie, so I was the weirdo who pulled out spiky sock knitting during a friend’s birthday outing to a chick flick and then cupcakes (RIP Sugarland). These socks are old enough that the cupcake place has since closed.

sockblock

I would tinker with these at various movies, watching TV, passenger in long car trips for a while. Definitely some Star Wars was input. Possibly Spiderman Homecoming.

And at some point I finished the first sock. I should note here that I was basically making this pattern up as I went. I knew I wanted a small twist up the front, and a larger twist up the back leg, so that’s what I aimed to design. With mixed, but overall good success.

sockprogress

I had taken moderately good notes on my self directed pattern, but second sock syndrome hit me hard. When I finally did start working on the second, I had accidentally deleted part of the notes… Whoops.

So the second sock is definitely more sister than twin, but I think that’s okay… Because it’s done!

FINISHEDSOCKS!!!

Over the holidays in 2018 I finished the sock during the super long drive.

socks watercolor.jpg

Victory! Till the next round of procrastination, at least.

February 5, 2016August 19, 2018

Warmth, in this incredibly Warm Winter

So after the large winter storm passed by here, it got warm.

Like really warm. There were some people wearing shorts. Winter, even around here, should not be that warm.

So its a fitting time to be knitting with wool, right?

In reality, both of these projects were conceived earlier in the month/last year.

Knowing that its supposed to be winter, I had decided that I needed a warm hat. I’m not a hat person, really, but I walked home (about 2 miles) one night when it was near freezing, and I only had a thin scarf and my “fall” coat (because its lighter than my winter coat, but still normally warm enough), and I’m pretty sure that I nearly died. It took me about 45 minutes to warm up enough to function like a human being, and then another hour past that to eat and drink enough hot stuff to warm up enough to fall asleep.

The next day I started this hat. I had this orphan skein that I got on sale when I was looking for sock yarn. I couldn’t find any on-sale sock yarn, but even with my full-price sock yarn, this still fit into my hobby budget. It may have been 4 dollars, and I’ve got a couple of yards left.

So the pattern is Helios, free on Ravelry. It’s a pretty good pattern, though I stuck with the size 7 needles throughout, since I don’t have a slightly bigger needle. It makes it more of a globbular slouchy hat, instead of a beret/tam kind of slouchy hat. The one thing I’m afraid of is blocking it, since it’s a tad big, and I don’t want to stretch it out any. My other green knit hat was too small, so I gave it away to my cousin, so I guess I overcompensated with this one, and made it too big.

Oops! Its still wearable, which is perfect. Because I was not going to admit defeat and try again.

And the second knit project is this pair of socks! This project can be described in three words:

Second Sock Syndrome.

Yes, this time I fell prey to SSS hard. Really hard. There was a thought in the back of my head that I should somehow work both socks together, and my circular needle collection does not include a skinny enough needle with a long enough connection. So I planned it that once I got to the ankle of the first sock, I’d put it on stitch holders, and start the second. Which worked perfectly.

Yarn-wise this is an alpaca merino blend that I intended to use for socks for my dad… last year. Meaning 2014. Sorry dad. It’s also not machine washable, so perhaps its best that I made them for me, since I’ll be more likely to remember that…

The pattern is ish-designed by me. Meaning, I used this book I got, Socks a La Carte 2 Toes Up to plan it out, with a rotating rib leg, technically a double picot cuff that I’m too lazy to fold over and seam. But once I made the toes of the first sock, I realized that I would get super bored doing a simple stockinette for the foot, so I found this.

To be honest, I’m not sure where I found it, but I think it was on a Russian stitch pattern website, and since this was before I started the sock, so I never anticipated needing to cite the source. If you know who’s this is, please let me know! Because its a beautiful lace pattern, and I’d definitely suggest it!

So after finishing both feet of the socks, I started in on the rotating rib of one of the socks, and I got a long way through when I realized that I should weigh out the yarn so I could maximize the height of the sock. Once I double checked that, I ribbed until I got to the cuff, made the double picot cuff, bound off, and then the socks sat there. For months. And months.

What I haven’t told you yet, is that these socks were started over the summer. July or August.

Oh yes.

These took me about 6 months.

When I went home for the holidays I brought these with me, and didn’t even make it a row. So once I got back I vowed that I would finish before the semester started. Which also didn’t happen. I made progress, but didn’t finish it.

It was during the first week of the semester, and I told myself that I couldn’t start any new projects until I finished these. Trust me. These got finished really quick after that. I even took them with me to the movie theater when I saw Star Wars the second time. I had the whole row to myself, so I didn’t even feel (too) self conscious about KIPing. There are some advantages to itsy bitsy theaters.

And then I started on the hat! So a happy ending finally. Plus, the hat got done in less than a week. All that pent up knitting energy I guess!

Got any SSS, or longtime knitting projects?

February 4, 2015

What’s on My Needles Wednesday – New Socks and Shawl

I’ve been working with yarn more this year than ever before, and not just because 2/3 of the Christmas presents I gave were knitted.

So I’m going to be sharing pics of what I’m working on. Most of the posts will have minimal wording, unless I’ve finished something.

For instance these orange socks are done, made up with the Water to Sky Anklet pattern, which worked up beautifully in this alarmingly bright orange sock yarn. And look at the cool pattern they left on my feet (likely due to a snug shoe, so don’t be alarmed)!

The wrap has a long way to go…

August 6, 2014

Catching up!

Last time we spoke, I was making socks.

Scratch that, I succeeded at socks. And actually right now I’m working on another pair.

I’ve been working on stuff since then, but slowly. And at the same time quickly. I seem to have made a lot of stuff, but for some reason it just seemed to come out of nowhere. Blog posts, however, did not.

Individual posts should be coming up soon for these, but here’s a snapshot of what I’ve got:

teaser

And a few more that aren’t quite completed or photographed yet.

I’ve also begun Christmas presents early… as in the aforementioned socks. I know that most people say that and then promptly fall off the wagon, but I’m a woman on a mission… Objective: finish gifts before November, or at least before December. That really means before finals season. I wish I could show you what I’m working on, but then I run the risk of ruining what little surprise they’ll have left.

Cooking has also come up recently as a thing. I’ll admit, I love to cook and bake and candy-make, but rarely do my concoctions turn out pretty, or appetizing to people other than me, or at all. For instance, the last bit of bread I made turned out tasty, I guess, but dense… Having now watched the video on how to actually make a round bread loaf, I think I’ll do better next time.

Knowing that I’m not a food blogger, and that I have no interest in becoming one, I think I’m going to start occasionally highlighting recipes that I’ve used or want to use. Making food can be cheaper than making clothing and yarn stuffs. And therefore I’ve been doing quite a bit of that this summer, so I’ve already got plenty of fodder for these posts.

Well then… talk to you soon! Err… sooner than the last time I posted.

July 15, 2014August 19, 2018

Socks in Four Parts

I finished just under the wire of my deadline! At 4PM I was the new proud owner of wool and silk socks!

They’re so pretty and comfy and though it’s regularly in the 90s here, I’ve barely taken them off. I determined, though, that they weren’t suitable wear for going to the library… That involves going outside where it is quite hot, and I didn’t think my feet could handle it.

But since then, I’ve continually worn them… They’re so comfy!

But I should tell you, this isn’t my first foray into sock making, just the first time I ended up with two socks. Behold the tube sock of doom!!! It was made of a variety of worsted weight acrylic yarn, and it’s not comfy and doesn’t smell nice after a while. I think I made it in middle school or early high school, and I only wore it once, when I had this massive blister on my foot, and had to remove some of the callous on my heel and my entire foot felt odd.

Well that wraps up my sock escapade!

July 14, 2014August 19, 2018

Sock Progress – Part 3

Here it is, Monday.

Didn’t check in yesterday, mostly because I slept in and forgot…

But I thought it fitting to give you a morning update, even though today it is an exercise in phone frustration. Darn multitasking.

I’m through the gauntlet, err the gusset. I’m about halfway down the foot.

And since I don’t normally go to the library until five or so, I’ll still have all day to work on it… hopefully I won’t need it all…

July 11, 2014August 19, 2018

Sock Progress – Part 2

It’s time for another update!

After three days of knitting, I have finally completed a sock!

It’s warm, it’s comfy, and fits perfectly. I’ve been wearing it since I finished it. It’s odd to be wearing only one sock.

I did have to tweak the pattern due to the whole gauge sitch. But unlike my normal self, I took careful notes on row counts and configurations, so I can copy them directly into my left sock.

Also learned that Kitchener stitch is not easily accomplished with dpns instead of a needle, but I managed. I know that I have some pink plastic needles lying around, because I definitely saw them when I was moving, but I haven’t managed to find them.

And I cast on for the second sock immediately, so I’ll be continuing that shortly! Talk to you in a few days!

July 9, 2014August 19, 2018

Sock Progress – Part 1

So it looks like it’s going to be an every two day update on the socks, which suits me just fine.

On Monday night I was supposed to be making a gauge swatch.

That didn’t work out.

Instead I spent four hours making a center pull ball of yarn by hand. Four hours. But I have now kinda fallen in love with center pull balls, so we’ll see what the future holds for me and yarn balls.

But doesn’t my yarn ball vaguely look like Turnip Head’s head, from Howl’s Moving Castle? I think so.

Then instead of casting on for a gauge swatch I just went ahead and cast on for the full sock. I know, I know, but I was going to treat it as a double gauge swatch, if it wasn’t working out I’d frog it. But it just so happened to fit the specifications quite well, so this morning I trudged on once I had gotten enough to tell. I should admit now that I’m not using the proper sized needles, because I don’t own them, but also that I’m a tight knitter, and often need to move up needle sizes anyway. It has worked out, that the width of stitches is proper, even if the height is a good amount off.

And so I spent about ten hours of close to continuous knitting on Tuesday. Yesterday.

When I knit, I grasp the knitting needle with my ring finger for stabilization. My ring finger swelled after all that knitting. So much that I couldn’t bend it well and it’s throbbing a bit. That’s why I stopped, really.

But I’m proud of my progress. The entire leg part and heel are completed, and I’ve got a round or two into the main foot part as well. Or gussets… I’m not up to date on my sock anatomy.

I’ll check back in on Friday!

July 7, 2014August 19, 2018

Embellishment

Now presenting my Belle necklace!

In fairness, I actually finished it awhile ago. Still not on time for my self imposed deadline, but I think I’m doing alright considering I don’t have a firm costume deadline anymore. I even photographed it the day after I made it, which is even more of an accomplishment.

However I’ve been procrastinating on posting it. I’m not entirely sure why. Perhaps its because I know that if I wanted to go to my place of choice for photographing the entire costume, makeup would melt off my face and my hair would flatten. It’s quite hot. Even in the evening.

I think I might have to remove the collar from my dress, anyway. Too much of the necklace would be covered if I left the collar on, so I’m thinking of leaving the collar stand, but removing the collar.

In other news I’m going to start a new project, as though I don’t have enough started. Have you noticed that I tend to start knitting or crochet projects, and then the entire thing disappears? I don’t like finishing these projects. Like the sleeve of this sweater I’m knitting. I’ve got one nearly complete, or at least I’m almost done with yarn ball on that side, but the other side needs to advance about five inches to keep up.

So I recently bought myself sock yarn with the intention of actually making socks. I even have a pattern, from a book called Sock Innovation. I’m going to make the Kai-mei socks, since they’re gorgeous, but the catch is that the library book is due in a week. I know I can renew it, but that spoils the fun. So in the next week I endeavor to make at least a sock and a half… and by that I mean the cuff and turning the heel on the second sock.

There will hopefully be daily progress reports in order to keep myself on track. And today is all about gauge.