Knitting a Pair of Sparkly Seasalt Socks
Hello friends,
Yes, I've been knitting socks again. As the days grow colder, I'm always drawn to cosy things, and right near the top of that list are hand-knitted socks to keep my feet warm throughout winter. I seem to have developed a rather bad habit of buying more sock yarn than I have time to knit, which means there's always another pair of socks waiting to be cast on.
In this case, the yarn had been waiting patiently in my stash since 2024, when I bought a 100 g skein of Belladonna, a sparkly 4-ply sock yarn from Dye Studio 54, at the 45° Fibre Festival in Gore. Made up of 70% Merino, 20% nylon, and 10% silver Stellina sparkle, I was immediately drawn to the rich purple tones and silver sparkles, and knew it would eventually become a pair of winter socks.
Wanting to try something new, I pulled out a knitting pattern that had been sitting in my collection for a while, the Seasalt Socks by Maya Macdonald from The Wool Barn Knits. I love the subtle texture of the pattern, and thought it would work beautifully with the semisolid colour of the Belladonna yarn. With the pattern and yarn finally paired together, it was time to cast on and enjoy some cosy autumnal knitting.
It didn't take very long to knit the socks once I had figured out the pattern. The trickiest part was working the gusset decreases while keeping the textured instep pattern flowing correctly, but after quite a bit of scribbling on paper, calculations, and writing everything out line by line, I eventually managed to make it work with the help of hubby.
With the socks all finished, I'm happy to say that they are wonderfully comfortable to wear. Even with the silver sparkle running through the yarn, they are beautifully soft and perfect for keeping my feet cosy on cold winter days.
I'm really enjoying these socks every time I wear them. The little flashes of silver sparkle never fail to amuse me, and they've been keeping my feet cosy throughout winter so far. For now though, I think I'll be taking a break from knitting socks and spending some time working on some of my other crafts. Besides, it's not as if I don't already have a mountain of spinning and other creative projects patiently waiting for their turn!
Have a wonderful day,
Julie-Ann
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I'd love to hear what you're knitting, making, or creating this winter.
Knitting Socks for Mother's Day
Hello friends,
I've recently finished knitting another pair of socks, this time not for me, but for my mum's Mother's Day present. She, like myself, is blessed with having Raynaud's Syndrome, which means that our hands and feet easily go cold and numb in winter, and our skin turns a pale white colour as blood drains away from those areas of the body.
One of the best ways to help combat this is to keep our hands and feet as warm as possible by wearing cosy merino socks and gloves. As of yet I hadn't knitted my mother any socks, so I thought it would be a nice present to give to her for Mother's Day.
The yarn I chose was Country Wide 4 ply merino sock yarn in the shade 452, which is in bright pink, orange, blue and green colours. The pattern I used was the fingering weight Rye pattern by Tin Can Knits. Luckily my mum and I share the same sock size, so I didn't need to measure her feet to get the sizing right.
It only took a couple of weeks to knit up the socks. It was a bit tricky to try and get the colour repeats lined up, but I did the best I could given the time crunch.
The knitting was quite straight forward, even though the yarn was shedding fluffy bits as I knit the socks. Because of this fibre shedding I won't be buying this sock yarn again, as it means the socks will probably fall apart faster as they are worn.
All in all it was a very quick knitting project, and I'm quite pleased with the results. My mum has already enjoyed their toasty warmth, after she received them on Mother's Day, and she's very grateful to have them now over the coming winter months.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
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A Pair of Socks Finally Finished
Hello friends,
Back in May of 2024, my friend Karyn and I traveled down to Gore for the 45˚Fibre Festival. And while we were there, she bought me a 100 gram skein of 4 ply
Bluefaced Leicester sock yarn in the colourway Meadow Mornings (Almost) from the company Purple Sprouting, as a gift for hosting her for a week.
I really loved the shades of pink, teal, and lime green, so of course I turned the skein into a ball of wool straight away, with the intention to knit them into a pair of socks using my plain sock pattern I've developed over the years.
But when I started knitting the socks up, I wasn't happy with the progress I'd made. I really didn't like how they looked knitted up in this pattern...so I frogged the sock I was working on, and put it away for many months. In the meantime I knitted and finished my On the Porch blanket by Fifty Four Ten Studios, and also my Gro Hat by Fiber Tales.
After I finished those projects I pulled out my sock knitting bag and looked at the Purple Sprouting sock yarn once again. Over the coming weeks I did a whole lot of searching on the internet looking at various sock patterns to see what would fit the yarn. I eventually settled on Tin Can Knit's Rye Light sock knitting pattern, which I had already bought previously. It's a simple sock pattern that I've always wanted to try.
Once I got started the socks knitted up very quickly, and within 3 weeks I had a new pair of socks. The socks ended up being a little big for me, but they're perfect as slouchy socks for around the house. I think next time I use this knitting pattern, I'll go down a smaller size.
The socks are super warm, and very soft, and I really liked knitting up the Blue Faced Leicester yarn.
I haven't had a chance to wear these socks yet, but I'm sure they'll keep my feet toasty while wearing them in gumboots while gardening.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
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