Zebra - Take Two

Well, one ball of Opal Rainforest Collection Zebra made me a pair of socks and a this pair of Spiral Rib socks for the 5 year old - with about 1 yard left over! This pattern is from Socks Socks Socks.


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On the needles


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Since I was sockless, and the kals will be announcing the new sock patterns in a few days, I couldn't possibly not have socks on the needles but needed something quick I'm working on a pair of my Chevron Socks for my sister for Christmas.

Also, still working on the yellow dishcloths.

And a new mitten is underway! The Gotland Island Mittens from Folk Mittens. These are a learning experience for me. I've already frogged it once as they were coming out too big. I had to go down to a US#0 to get gauge. I'm using Lang Thema since I bought a bag of different colours from elann to make mitts this winter. I also have switched to 5 dpns. I've never used 5 dpns before and am surprised at how easy they are to use, especially for the stranded work. The floats over the needle joins are so much easier to work this way.

Comments on Comments

Thanks for all the nice words about my knitting! If you leave your email address when you comment, I can respond to you personally.

mitz: the zigzag multi-d scarf used a mystery yarn from my stash. No label, and I can't remeber what it was, sorry.

tanja asked where I get my dishcloth patterns. Knitting Pattern central. This is where I get almost all my on-line patterns.

rebecca: I belong to the "I-belong-to-too-many-knitalongs-club" and there is a new one , which you've gone and started, for Folk Socks that I.must.not.join.

Sky for Sandy (and Mitts, too!)

Sandy asked for a sky picture, so here is a picture of my gloomy overcast sky.



And since I always think of mittens when I think of Sandy, these are appropriate for this post, too!

Finished the mittens with the fringe and love them! I'm using up my stash yarns as much as poss. these days and used vintage Pingouin Challenge 4 (a DK weight) which is an acrylic/wool blend but very nice and soft.


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FOs

I have a big ball of yellow cotton that I've been using for washcloths. These will be for Christmas presents. I have three done with more to come.



Another Multi-D scarf finished. I love doing this technique! Here is the zigzag scarf. This pattern is from Iris's yahoo group and obtained free after you have finished the first multi-D scarf.



And last, but certainly not least, are the completed Feather and Fan socks for the socksx3 kal in Opal Rainforest Zebra. I kinda lost steam on the second sock. I really like it and the pattern is easy but I guess the neutral black and white numbed my senses a bit.

I followed the pattern almost exactly as written. The only changes I made were a 24 row heel and I did not do the garter stitch rows at the the end of the leg.


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I've made a bargain with myself to work on different techinques for heels and toes. Up to this point I have got into the habit of ignoring heel,gusset and toe instructions in a pattern and just using my normal (favorite) methods. So, for the Feather and Fan socks I had always wondered what a ribbed heel would be like. I like the look but am not too crazy with fit, but it's ok. A dutch heel with short gusset fits nice. The dutch heel does look wonky when it's not being worn, but it does fit nicely. The toe (Decrease every 4th row till a certain point, then decrease every row) I was afraid I wouldn't like and I kept thinking it was going to be way too long but surprisingly, it wasn't and I really like the fit of this method.

On the needles: The nordic mittens just need their thumbs, more dishcolths, and I'm using the leftover Zebra to make spiral rib socks for the 5-year-old.

On the Needles

Three new projects currently on the needles.


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From left to right,

Iris Schreier's multi-directional zig zag scarf. This is the free pattern you can receive after you have posted a photo to the group of the first free pattern.


Nordic mittens with fringe: This is a pattern from a vintage McCall's Accessories magazine that I have wanted to make for ages. The fringe is wild! It was not fun to do (crocheted with double strands and a tiny hook) but worth the effort.


and feather and fan socks in Opal Rainforest Zebra. I love how this turned out. I think the feather and fan pattern would look good in practically any yarn: solid, variegated or self-striped. The ultimate sock pattern!

Finished x 3

Woo hoo! Items just flying off the needles in the past few days. Finished off three things!

First, the bias blanket. I used scraps for this and knit to the point where I was sick of it and then decreased. Knit in garter stitch, it lays flat so I didn't bother with a border. It's a little smaller than I had originally intended but it's the perfect size for the 5-year-old, who is thrilled to have his own cuddle blanket.


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Next on the block are the basketcase socks. I've been using up some of my vintage yarns and again these use a vintage sock yarn by Embassy. The sock in the foreground is still wet and you can see the faint variences in the colour of the yarn. The neutral yarn has very faint almost rose highlights and I think the red on the heels and toe really bring it out on the sock in the background which is dry.


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Finally, we have the munstersocken, which were pure joy to knit!

Something New

Finished the last scarf for the time being. A feather and fan:



The basketcase sock is a lot of fun to knit. I'm using fingering and #1 needles and it has a lot of stretch. Decided to add some colour and am using the leftover red from Amble for the heel and toe. One sock done and the next one almost has the leg finished.


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One night last week, I didn't feel like knitting anything I had in progress so I picked up the needles and cast on for a 2x2 rib sock for the 5-year-old. I start rooting around in my odds & ends and before you know it .... I had a munstersocken! My very first one and it was so fun to knit. I kept saying to myself, just one more stripe ... just one more stripe ... There are going to be a lot more of these in the future.


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Been thinking about mittens lately, the fair isle urge is starting to raise it's head. I think it's fair to say mittens will be on the needles soon.

Oh, and the Socks, Socks, Socks knit-along has chosen the Feather and Fan sock as it's first pattern. I'm going to give it a try in Opal Rainforest Zebra.