Jobo Designs

I'm a little bit behind in posting my February socks for my self imposed Sock Knitting Challenge (to knit at least 12 pairs of socks in 2015!). 

I could blame it on the kiddos... but that's a little lame, right?  Sleep is for the weak... right?  zzzzzz.  There was a time in my life where I could polish off an entire pair of socks in a week.  This time, I was doing well to do the pair in the 28 day month.  I honestly just barely squeaked it.

February's Addicted to Sock Knitting KAL pattern was Heatherly Walker's "Love's Wings", which is another toe up lace/cable mashup.  I liked this pattern especially because of the variety of techniques.  I always find that this kind of pattern with the challenge of stitches and combinations keeps my attention better than a plain style.  I'm weird like that - I can knit interesting lace or complicated cables in half the time it takes to knit a plain ribbed sock.  Ribbing makes me want to poke my eyes out... but complicated lace where you have to follow every row of a pattern?  yes please!  It's a sickness...

The yarn I chose is KnitPicks Hawthorne... in a nice blue variegated.  I seem to have thrown out the ball band.  Woops!  I can`t remember what the colorway is and a lot of the blue and purple ones are similar.  I hadn`t used this yarn before, and found it to be ok to work with, though I found it to be a little splittier than Stroll.  I will definitely try it again though for it`s great shimmery, non pooling, rich colors!

Pair Three Success!  Onto March... and Pair Four!

It seems lately I have really been enjoying the camaraderie of knitting along on the same project with others.  I did a KAL for Erato ( a beautiful shawl by Romi Hill) and participated in a sock KAL with the Sock Knitters’ Anonymous group too last month. 

There is a great bunch of ladies who chat openly and often about the furry objects of their affection (mainly Angora Breed Rabbits) over on Ravelry, and they decided that it was high time for another KAL – working on a sock together to challenge some of the newer to sock knitting members and doing a TAAT (Two at a time) Toe up sock together.

The pattern:  Waterfall Socks by Wendy Johnson

I’m no stranger to TAAT… Toe up… or Wendy Johnson Patterns… so I decided I’d join in and play along too.  They promised me that I wouldn’t be left behind in a cloud of dust if life gets too busy :)

I decided to do these in some nice Caribbean ocean blue – Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Blue Yonder.  The ball is wound… now I just need to clean off a pair of needles and get started :)

I’ve been participating off and on in a couple of sock knitting groups on Ravelry for a few years, but recently have dusted off my competitive spirit and I’m trying to jump back in with both feet :)

For the Month of April… I’m planning a double dip for prizes by doing the SolidSocks Mystery sock, which also counts towards the Sock Knitter’s Anonymous April knit because the pattern is named after a literary character (a perequisite for that group’s April Sock)

The pattern is:  Cheery Littlebottom by Allison Isaac 

The name Cheery Littlebottom comes from the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchet… which I haven’t read yet, but have been thinking about trying.  So – this may be the inspiration I needed to kick things into high gear!

Clue number one is up… and it looks like there will be cables in them :)  toes up, and cables!  My plan is to use the skein of “Cocoa Kiss” Dream in Color Starry that has been waiting patiently in the stash.  I wound the skein into a ball this morning while Romy napped, and hopefully will cast on tonight or tomorrow.  With these mystery Knit alongs there is a clue released each week, so I hope that I can keep up and do the required portion each week and finish when the rest of the KAL group does.  It’s kind of weird choosing yarn while not knowing what the socks will be like, but I hope I chose ok :) 

The socks can be cast on any time after April 1… and must be completed before the last day of April :)  Wish me Luck!

The Yarn – Dream in Color Starry – in Cocoa Kiss