Serious sockage!

You must know me well enough by now to know that a temporary lack of blogging certainly doesn't mean that there has been a lack of knitting - oh no. I am, however, still stuck in the sock groove and am, quite miraculously, still on target to achieve the 52 pair plunge. The year is yet young, however, and there are some seriously nice shawl patterns out there....

Anyway, just to reassure you of the continued clicking of my needles here are my Herdy Monkeys. The yarn is Yarn Yard Toddy in a colour which Natalie died especially for Woolfest 2009 in colours that evoke the countryside and also the famous Herdwick Sheep. I have been thinking about what sort of pattern would suit them and then read on the Ravelry UK Sock Knitters Forum about a Knitalong using Los Monos Locos, a sock pattern which is basically the famous Cookie A Monkey sock but knit from the toe up. I think this sort of stitch pattern lends itself quite well to variegated yarns and was particularly pleased with the effect which reminded me of birds feathers. The heel had an unusual construction the heel flap and gussets done together across the sole of the foot then a short row heel cup done afterwards. It looks very pretty but doesn't give the arch expansion that a normal flap and gusset does so the socks fit but are a little snug to manoeuvre over the arch.

Today's second offering is also a pair of Cookie A socks, Lindsay from her book Sock Innovations. I have to say that this pattern isn't at first glance as attractive as a lot of the other designs in the book but as it was this month's sock on the Makin' Cookies Knitalong on Ravelry I thought I would have a go. I have to say that I enjoy the camaraderie and encouragement of Knitalongs so have been doing quite a few recently. I think I will become a little selective as time goes by as there are so many beautiful patterns around that I want to leave some room for tackling them.

These Lindsay socks are a very quick knit and the pattern is very easy to remember. I knit mine in some Koigu in muted greys, lilacs and khaki which I think lent itself well to this pattern. The toe and heel are garter stitch short row, the only part of which I found challenging was grafting the seam between sole and heel to finish them off but it was a learning experience.

I also managed to finish off a pair of socks that had been languishing in my WIP bag for a few months. These are my Tanzelope Crocodile Mansocks knit in Yarn Yard Clan in one of the club colours. I used a simple broken rib which whilst rather time consuming to do worked well with the variegated yarn. I used a basic toe up construction based on Wendyknits universal sock pattern.

There will be more sock coverage soon if you can bear it but you will be relieved to know that I took some spinning classes recently so my next post will probably be all about them. Plus, and this may surprise you, in a couple of weeks I am going away for the weekend with the East London Crochet Group. I may come back a changed woman.....