Third pair completed!

I finished my third pair of socks while here in Hong Kong. Have started a new pair now & hopefully it won't be another year before the pair is finished. This pair of socks is a very good example of why you should finish the pair you are working on before moving onto another one. The yarn I was using for this pair of socks I purchased at Hobby Lobby. It has aloe in it. It was very nice to knit with & the skein was a little larger than normal sock yarn. So on the first sock I had knitted an extra 10 rows in the leg. Well, with it being nearly a year until I started the second sock, I had forgotten that! So one sock is slightly longer than the other. When I'm wearing them, only I will know & I always wear them under pants but they will be a reminder to always make sure I double check & measure the first sock & not just assume that I have not made changes to my pattern!

2 Down 1 to go

I have finished my second pair of socks within a week. Mind you, I only had half of the second sock to complete on both. I still have one more pair to finish but it will take me a little longer as I have only just started the second sock.

These socks are made with bamboo yarn purchased from The Yarn Workshop that I dyed quite some time ago. You can see more about that here. This yarn has been a dream to work with. It feels nice on the foot so I'm looking forward to wearing them and seeing how they hold up to my huge feet!

I have found that I always seem to go through the bottom of the heel on my socks & through the toes before they wear out anywhere else. With that in mind, I have started adding strength to these areas but knitting just across the bottom of the heel part with a second strand of yarn. When I'm done with the heel part, I cut the thread to continue knitting in the round, I then start a new thread when I come to the heel section again. The picture below shows these cut threads, before I have trimmed them. I don't trim them right the way down but do trim to about 1/2 to 3/4". So far I have found that this helps the socks hold up better and those extra little bits of thread seem to get worn into the inside of the sock. For the toe area, I use two strands of yarn on the complete round of knitting, starting with where the decreases for the toe start.

One down 2 to go

I love working on socks because with traveling, they are small & compact and easy shove into my bag. Generally I don't have to think about them but the heel part is always a little tricky, especially as I do something different to what is written in the books. I use double the yarn when knitting the heel across the bottom part. It requires constant cutting of the thread so that the double thread is only on the heel part. It is more of a hassle but worth it because it makes the bottom stronger. I do the same thing for the toe.

Because of the fiddle factor, I like to work on the heels when I'm sitting at home. The problem is that I usually have tons of other things to do at home so I rarely sit & knit. So, I have brought to Hong Kong with me 3 half finished pairs of socks. I finally finished the first pair. Yeah!!!!

Socks

Being in Hong Kong is a little frustrating artistic wise as I have only brought my knitting with me. It is the easiest thing to travel with. But I am keeping a sketch book & have all these wonderful ideas of things to work on when I get back to Chicago. I will have lots of things to get caught up on when I get back but the kids will still be in school and my husband still in Hong Kong so I will have the time.I have, though, been knitting away. I have not yet finished this sock but this is the bamboo yarn that I hand dyed. I am loving the look and the feel. I'm hoping that it will also feel good when worn.

I have also started on a knee high sock. So far I'm also loving this too.
I still have a ways to go but without having to worry too much about shaping, it is the perfect thing to be working on when riding the escalator home. Hong Kong has this fantastic way to get from Central to Mid-Levels. It is this really long escalator system. There are lots of fun things along the way to see. We live about 1/2 block from the top of the escalator. The biggest problem is that it can only go one way. Until 10am in the morning it heads down. The whole thing is then manually turned around to go up the hill. I have seen them do it. It takes about 20-30 mins for them to go to each escalator & turn it around. It really is an amazing form of transport.

Socks

I am still here. I've been working on family history research. But I was also in San Francisco & Las Vegas with my husband. He refuses to come all the way to Chicago in the winter because of the cold. Can't blame him actually.

Anyway, I made these socks on the flights. I loved working with the yarn but I will never use it again. There was a join in each ball plus, the balls were wound different. One I had to do from the inside & one from the outside. Very disappointing as I was trying to make them match.

I am still beading. I have decided what I'm doing for February so I'll try to get that done today. I still have one more day of February! :) February is Chinese New Year & this year it is my year, being year of the rat. I will be beading something to do with that.