It would appear that this is the year of patterned socks here at Carole Knits. I say that because I just finished my 5th pair of socks for 2012 and they are not a pair of picot edge socks. In fact, I have only knit 1 pair of picot socks so far this year. I’m not sure why but I’m going with it and enjoying the process.

Anyway, these are No Purl Monkeys and I made the mistake of leaving them on the dining room table. I didn’t really think it was a mistake, they were just sitting there waiting to be photographed. And then Hannah moved home and saw them and asked if she could have them. What could I say, right?

The yarn, because I know you will ask, is Yarn Pirate Superwash BFL in the color Cicada. It pooled and striped in a way I did not anticipate but I like it just the same. I also really like the socks and had definitely planned on keeping them for myself. As it turns out, though,  I don’t think they would have fit me since Hannah had to struggle a bit to get them on. She says it was meant to be.

I say she’s been home less than a week and she’s already stealing my socks. Sheesh.

Remember these socks? And that deadline of April 13th for finishing them?

Yeah, that came and went. But I knit and knit and knit in the car on our way to Richmond. And then I knit and knit and knit some more and finally finished them sitting on a bench by the Petersburg Battlefield. On Sunday knit I gifted them to my stepdaughter, Jessica, as a small thank you for watching the dog while we were away.

The pattern is Dragonfly Socks and the yarn is Gypsy Knits in the color Trapeze.

There is a lot of pooling that I’m not too crazy about but most of it gets broken up by the patterning and that’s a good thing.

I do like the way the stripes in the heels look.

And I did enjoy knitting them although I had a hard time keeping the pattern straight in my head. In any case they are done and that makes the 4th pair of socks for 2012. And that means I am right on target for my sock knitting goal for this year.

Yay.

When it comes to my knitting I’m big on self-imposed deadlines. I generally set a deadline any time I start a new project and I usually stick to it pretty closely. I might have to revise a little but it helps me to stay focused on my current projects and I get a great sense of satisfaction every time I finish something on time.

The original deadline on my current pair of socks was 3/31. That came and went.

The revised deadline was Easter Sunday. That came and went.

The current deadline is tomorrow, 4/13.

Unless a sock knitting miracle occurs, I have a feeling I’m going to be revising that deadline, too.

Well, that was an unexpected blog break yesterday. Not to belabor the topic but let me just say – I went to bed Sunday night feeling absolutely fine and then woke up at 12:30am feeling nauseous. By 1am I was hurling and that went on every hour or so until 6am. I spent the day on Monday too sick to knit, to read, to go online or even sit upright. I had a wonderful night’s sleep on Monday night, though, and woke up feeling much better on Tuesday. I was still weak and lightheaded but compared to the way I felt on Monday it was a bit of a miracle. Thank you all for the concerned emails and healing thoughts sent my way, I am quite sure it helped.

Okay, enough about that, let’s talk about something more fun – a finished pair of socks!

These are a Christmas present for Lois and yes, I know that Christmas was almost 3 months ago. Lois is the queen of missing deadlines, though, and she understood completely when I gave her a gift certificate at Christmas that said I would knit her socks from the yarn of her choosing.

I think she made an excellent choice when she selected this Sophie’s Toes yarn in the color Table for Two. The greens are beautifully blended and this yarn is a pleasure to work with.

It’s so nice to knit a pair of socks for a friend; it’s a gift from the heart that will bring warmth and comfort for a long time.

I have a new pair of finished socks to show you today.

They are a simple sock, entirely different from those fancy socks I showed you last week.

2×2 ribbing on the legs and top of the foot makes a very snug and comfortable fit.

The yarn is Mountain Colors Bearfoot that’s been marinating in my stash for ages – I  bought it when I visited Norma a gazillion years ago. It’s fuzzy and a little bit thicker than most sock yarns. The colors are fantastic.

And a new pair of socks – plain or fancy – is also fantastic.

I finished the Through the Loops Mystery Socks on January 31 which just happened to be my self imposed deadline. Knitting them both at the same time (but definitely not on the same needle!) really helped me get through them in a month’s time. It also meant I avoided second sock syndrome which just may have been an issue with these since it’s a fairly complex pattern. Wanna see?

Yes, they are awesome but they are loaded with bobbles and twisted stitches and cables.

How about a closer look at the bobbles on the legs? They combine to form the shape of a beautiful flower.

And then the stems meander down the legs and make a beautiful pattern on the heels. The yarn, as I said in my other post about these socks, is Woolen Rabbit’s Pearl Sock in the color Pussywillow. It is really hard to capture this color accurately but I did my best.

The foot is the reverse of the leg so that you can look down at the pretty flowers when you are wearing the socks. I just love the meandering cables and the way the purl stitches really make them pop.

Finally, the toe is finished with a few more smaller leaves and they set off the rest of the design beautifully.

I couldn’t say it until now but these socks were never meant for me, they were a birthday gift for my dear friend Blogless Sharon. I gave them to her the other night at spinning and she promptly modeled them and declared them amazing, beautiful, and perfect.

It’s no coincidence that those are the same words I would use to describe her.

If you are knitting a pair of  Through the Loops Mystery Socks for 2012 and you haven’t worked your way through all three of the already released clues, you may want to look away now because I’m about to show you my socks and I don’t want to ruin the surprise for you.

Everyone that is still here wants to see these, right?

Here they are. I’ve got the cuff, leg, heel flap and heel turn done on both socks and I love this pattern. Sure, it’s kind of a pain in the ass to knit with all those twisted stitches and bobbles. And it’s definitely not one I would choose on my own because of all those twisted stitches and bobbles and the paying-attention-to-the-pattern that comes with knitting them but I am loving the way they look.

The texture is amazing and the design is lovely.

As for the yarn, it’s Woolen Rabbit’s Pearl Sock in the color Pussywillow. It’s a tricky color to capture but I think it’s most accurate in the 3rd photo. You should recognize it from this post. And also this post. Those Gentlemen’s Socks just didn’t do it for me so they were frogged and the yarn has been repurposed for these mystery socks.

I think I made an excellent choice.

I promised you glamour shots of my last pair of socks for 2011 and I always deliver on my blog promises so here they are.

You’ve seen this picture already but it’s bigger this time and these socks are so lovely I don’t think you’ll mind seeing it again. I’m sure you recognize the yarn as Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn. It’s my favorite of all sock yarns and for good reason. The colors are always beautiful, it’s soft and it wears really well.

Of course the most amazing thing about this sock yarn is the striping. Julia’s stripes match perfectly every time. Truly.

The stripes are so perfect that I don’t even have to measure the length of the leg or the foot, I just count the stripes. This makes for very quick progress on sock #2, and that was a lucky break last week as I raced towards finishing them.

Since I didn’t finish them in time for Christmas I will tuck them away and not wear them until next December. It’s like I’ve already got a present finished. It’s a present for me but those are the best kind of presents!

I finished my 12th pair of socks for 2011 on Saturday – just under the wire. I’ll show you glamour shots of those on Wednesday Thursday, but in the meantime here is a mosaic of my sock knitting for 2011.

I love seeing them all together like that. I also love knowing that 6 of those pairs of socks are being worn by people I love.

My daughter Hannah is very fortunate to have a wonderful college roommate. She and Karly met last year and they are like peas and carrots, they just go together. Karly makes Hannah a better student and a neater roommate, and, well, I’m not sure exactly what Hannah does for Karly other than make her happy. That’s pretty good, though, and I’m relatively certain that these two have forged a life long friendship. So what’s a mom to do to show a young lady how happy she is that she’s in her daughter’s life?

Make her socks, of course.

The socks should be knit from the mom’s own special pattern.

And they should include the roommate’s favorite color, purple.

They should be soft and warm delivered just in time for Christmas.

Mission Accomplished.