WIPs: Works in Progress

I most enjoy sock knitting at the moment. Actual socks to wear more than Christmas stockings. So I have 4 different socks on the needles at the moment, as well as Christmas stockings. 

In the top left hand corner I have a pair of "Frankensocks", that's going to be a pair of socks that will look like two different socks have been stitched together (unnaturally). There's a very obvious seem indicated by a fair isle. I'm sure they'll look great, but they're turning out very small. Next time I'll use bigger needles.

Then there's the Christmas stocking in the middle, very nice colours. It's going to be a set of 4. 

The purple sock has a easy knit and purl pattern, it's 6ply yarn and I'm only knitting with 12 stitches per needle. 

Next to it is a vanilla sock, no special pattern, for when I don't want to concentrate.

And at the bottom is possibly my next masterpiece. A whale/ shark pair of socks. The top part is knitted in double knitting, then there's a wavy pattern with contrasting blues. The cast on was extremely! awkward, but it was all easier after it and well worth the trouble. I'm hoping to get the pattern written as I knit the second sock. Then I'm going to model the socks for photographs which is always fun and I get to keep them for myself... 

When a sock is finished and yarn is left - sock yarn leftover projects

I have lots of yarn. This is one box of sock yarn, but there are more boxes (1 for cotton, and 2 smaller ones for 6ply and 4ply):

Mostly I make all kinds of socks out of the sock yarn. 

There is a good bit left over when a pair of socks is finished (using 100g sock yarn), so I might make socks that need 2 or 3 different colours.

I still have lots leftovers from the various socks I have knitted. 

So there will be some monster socks, anything-goes-socks, that might only have the same colour in heel and toe. 

And after this, the yarn that is leftover will have become less again, and it goes into a jar. This is pretty enough in itself and would work for me as a home decoration. 

I'm making a sock yarn blanket out of the tiniest little bits. It's just knit stitches, and the yarn is held double. This is a long-term project, I've been doing it for about 3 years (though I haven't done anything for about 2.5 years, but I'm back motivated again to continue).

Sock yarn is great! I can justify buying lots because it will get used up eventually ;) I've been watching the World Cup in the last few weeks and needed something easy to knit without paying attention. 

Check out my socks for sale and knitting patterns in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Gigi82Knits

How I learned sock knitting

I was 12 years old, it was winter, around Christmas time. That makes the year 1994.

A few weeks earlier, my mother picked up knitting again, trying to teach herself sock knitting with a magazine article. She almost had it figured out, just the tricky part of turning the heel didn't quite make sense to her. So she asked my grandmother, her mother, for advice and sure enough, her way of turning the heel worked very well.

 

So as it happens during the holidays, there's lots of downtime (at least if you're a kid) and I decided or maybe someone suggested to me, that I try a pair of socks. A little bit earlier I had learned how to knit in the round (which is how socks are knitted, around and around, no turning, no seams, just knit stitches). In school we knitted a decorative parrot, which taught me the in-the-round-technique.

 

My first attempt at sock knitting wasn't too bad, I think I managed the cast on, then knitted the leg part, then my mother had to do the heel part for me, then I knitted the foot part, then my mother got the toe part. The first pair was either grey or blue, a boring color compared to today's choice of self-patterning yarn. And it was huge! I used to knit very loosely, I must have been so relaxed back then.

 

My mother showed me how to decrease and finish the socks, that was really easy. After a while she got fed up turning the heel for me, showed me how to do that too and I was able to do it all by myself!

 

For whatever reason I decided to rip back the first pair of socks, I probably wanted to re-use the yarn, but it didn't work out (they were washed lots of times) and I ended up binning them. But I do have a few pairs of socks from that time. They still fit and look good.

 

I knitted lots of socks as a young girl, in the winters, and only for myself. Sometimes I went years without knitting anything, but if I needed something to do to relax, I always went back to knitting. Sock knitting is very versatile, there are so many patterns for socks, lace socks, fair isle socks, cable knit socks etc. The basic sock pattern is very easy, I never had it written down.

 

When I moved away from home, I stopped knitting for a few years, I only got back into it in 2009 or so, after briefly trying my hand at sewing and patchwork. But the sewing machine is just too cumbersome, there isn't space for it in my apartment and you can't watch tv while you're doing it. So I went back to knitting, always knitting, must knit now! 

My socks on Etsy

My sock drawer (in Dublin)

It's weird and wonderful, and who would believe it?! Summer is making a guest appearance in Ireland. This evening and last evening, first time in a long time, I didn't feel like knitting. So I sorted my paperwork yesterday and today I sorted my sock drawer. 

The socks are in the third drawer. 

I have more pairs of socks, some are in the to-be-washed pile. 

Check out my sock drawer in Germany: link
 

Time lapse knitting video

I made a time lapse video of me knitting a chunky sock! It's so cool! I'm showing my face on youtube, who would have thought?! Not my voice, though, not yet anyway. 

Time lapse videos are a technique where you take lots of photos over a long period of time of something that is changing slowly and then the pictures are displayed in quick succession to show the progress of it. This can be done for lots of things, maybe the most popular is inner-city traffic, or movement of clouds, how a flower blooms, or remember the one with the pregnant woman? 

It was made with an app called Lapse it which allows you to take photos from your phone at certain intervals, i.e. every 20 seconds (like mine). All you need is a tripod or something to hold your phone while shooting the video (= the photos). Then you have a few choices to make, such as select how many photos per second you want displayed. Then the video is rendered. 

This was the third video I made of me knitting a sock. I made some more, to test settings, how I look, etc.

For the first attempt I used the free version of the app which has a lower picture size thing and you can't ad music, and apparently you can't change the direction of the video, once it's taken. So you will have to hold your head or your screen sideways now, here it is:

I took one picture every 5 minutes (I figured that would be enough, not much progress to make when knitting a sock), but I got only 21 frames. So the video is very short. 

For the second video, I decided to get the Pro-App, which is $1.99. I also got a haircut, I removed the stocking in the background (overkill?), and I turned my phone around. A big improvement, I think:

On the second video I went for 1 photo per minute and then displaying them as 10 pictures per second. The second and third video have music which I got from a composer who provides royalty-free songs (credit is given in my video on youtube). Unfortunately, the clock got cut off a little at the top. I had my phone (=the camera) in a sat nav holder which I balanced on top of a high table, a low table and some books. I wanted to get an angle that makes me look slimmer...

This is the third video again:

I decided to show some more hair in the third video and cross my legs more to make them seem thinner and more elegant ;) I forgot to wear my knitted socks and I forgot to plug the charger into my phone, but the battery held for these 2.5 hours.

Every video has a toilet break in it, after I drink the colorful juice and I'm turning my head to the right because I'm watching season 4 of 24 (the tv show). Mostly, this is how I knit.

By the way, this is the sock again (the first two videos were a different color):

For sale (some colors) in my Etsy shop: Chunky socks

Some more Christmas Stockings (in April...)

I've been very good, knitting lots of Christmas stockings (orders placed through my Etsy shop Gigi82Knits) .

Snowman, Polar Bear and Reindeer stockings

These colors work really well together, and the different patterns distinguish them from each other. 

New purple snowman stocking and hockey stick stocking

This set of 4 has two new designs, a purple stocking and hockey sticks as a pattern on the green stocking. I struggled a little with the design of the hockey sticks (I'm not a fan of adding stitches by hand later on), but it turned out nice.

Classic design stocking green and red with penguins

I love these two penguins stockings! Such a cute pair! The darker green looks very Christmassy, though I like the regular green I have as well. 














My next projects will be some more custom orders, I hope. I also have to finish an order of a set of 5 within the next few days. Just yesterday I drew new patterns, an angel and a gingerbread man and I can't wait to try these out on stockings, possibly large stockings again, or "Merry Christmas" stockings.

Christmas stockings are for sale in my Etsy shop: Gigi82Knits 
Early orders for Christmas 2013 will be rewarded with a discount.

Introducing: Really really thick socks

It's this time of the year again: Days are getting shorter and it's getting colder. Cold feet anyone? 

Try these:

I've been knitting very warm socks and getting the creativity flowing with the different cable patterns. This style is inspired by my trip to the Aran Islands (where the famous Aran sweaters are sold). The yarn is also called Aran yarn, but it doesn't mean the yarn is from the sheep from the Aran islands. It just means that this is the suitable yarn to knit those big, warm, heavy Aran sweaters. And surely, the material will work well with socks too. 

Last year I made the first pairs, and I tested them myself. 

Test results: 
The socks are warm. The ones with cable pattern especially.
The socks are great inside the house, to wear instead of shoes. 
The socks are great for wearing in bed too. 
The socks make great presents
The socks are washable, I've washed mine quite a few times, and they are still as new (in the washing machine, 30 degrees, with other knitwear)

The material is between 25 and 30% wool, 75 to 80 % acrylic (except the grey ones which are 100% acrylic). It's very soft and nice. 

As always, none of the socks I have for sale have ever been worn, I don't have the greatest pictures, but the socks were not worn by anyone before. (I have a bit of an issue with feet myself). If there are photos showing my socks worn by somebody, then a fresh pair was knitted for Etsy. 

Socks can be bought here (while stocks last): 
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Gigi82Knits?section_id=12177719

Finished projects

The projects I finished this week:

This is a Christmas stocking that will be hung up at my mother's front door. She'll have the time of her life telling people that her daughter made it and sells them on the internet.

A pair of grey Aran socks. These will be for sale in my Etsy shop.

Beautiful scarf, but it didn't work out for me. I dropped a stitch and ripped it back. I can't even get the last bit untangled, this was difficult and frustrating, but I'll do the pattern again some day.

A pair of mittens, turned out quite big, I'll keep it with my possible Christmas gifts.

This shade is beautiful, the pair will be for sale in my Etsy shop.

 Here's the link to my shop: Gigi82Knits

Current Projects

A pair of Aran socks, made out of thick yarn. I will sell this on Etsy probably.

This yarn is a silk blend, and I love the colour! It's going to be a pair of socks.

This will be a lace scarf made out of merino wool. The pattern is quite difficult, but I love the look of it.

This will be a pair of fingerless gloves. It's quite big, so next time I'll know I need less stitches, or I'll knit a pattern.

This will be a Christmas Stocking for my mother's front door, so she can hand out my business card to everyone who visits.

I'm trying out granny square and patterns for a crochet blanket, for my friend who's having a baby. I'm having lots of fun trying out things at the moment, but I won't start until I know if she's having a boy or a girl. I kind of think it's a boy... but girl would be easier!

Why knitted socks are better (2)

Knitted socks are available in the most amazing colours and styles. You have thick woollen socks, lightweight cotton socks, lace socks, knee high socks, ankle socks etc. 

My socks on Etsy

Why Knitted Socks are better... (1)

The list is endless and I have more Blog posts dedicated to this absolutely non-controversial topic in mind. 

1. Knitted socks are fun! Fun to look at and fun to wear. Who wants to wear boring black socks? Colourful socks are good for the soul. 

My Sock Drawer (in Germany)

Etsy has a new feature, you can add info in and "About You" section. I decided to include a picture of the socks I knitted for myself, over the years. Of course, I moved to Ireland six years ago, so some of my socks came with me, and I knitted new ones in Ireland, but these here are the ones I have left in Germany:

It's 50 pairs exactly! The first three are from my grandmother, the large stocking at the bottom right is for sale on Etsy.

My complete "about" page can be found here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Gigi82Knits/about/


Here's another text from the Dog: