Very Simple

When I take a good look at it, my stash contains a very high proportion of oddballs. Not goofy yarns (though there are some of those), but one or two balls of this and one or two balls/skeins of that.

Now one skein of laceweight is not an oddball, it's a potential shawl. And one or two balls of sock yarn are a potential pair of socks. But what about 2 1/2 balls of Reynolds "Lopi" in three different colors?

I used one of them for a pair of extremely basic mittens.



Sometimes simplicity is satisfying, and I'm satisfied with these.

Short Attention Span

Along about the ankle of the first sock, I started to get a little, well, bored. So I switched pattern stitches.




Up close, you can see that the transition is not particularly graceful.

With all the color busyness, this really won't matter from three feet away. And heck, that part is going to be covered by my jeans 90% of the time. But if I do something like these again (and I may), I'll want to work on a smoother merge.

Some projects are attempts at perfection; some are more in the nature of extended swatches. These fall on the swatch side of the equation.

Beware

I mentioned that the little stitch pattern in the last post is fairly dense. I probably should have been explicit that it pulls in significantly. So if you use it for socks you may want to 1) go up a needle size from your regular sock needles or 2) cast on more stitches than you normally would.

The one's I'm working on will go over my heel with my regular needles and standard stitch count (I tried them on), but it's a pretty tight stretch.

Somewhat More Subtle

I've started another pair of socks with yarn from the depths of the stash, this with a somewhat more subdued color scheme. I picked this up several years ago at a little yarn store in Red Wing, MN. The owner had dyed it herself, and if I recall correctly the base yarn is Louet Merino Gems. The store was a cute, tiny place and the young proprietor was charming. Alas, I can't remember the name. I tried to Google for a yarn store in Red Wing, but came up with nothing, so perhaps she is no longer in business, or has moved.

The yarn was forming pretty definite stripes in the top ribbing, so I decided to break it up with a stitch pattern that combines slipped stitches and twists (really little tiny cables).

This is something I came up with myself, though it's entirely possible it exists in one stitch dictionary, or several. It would be a bit of a pain to work flat, because you would end up having to work twists on the wrong side some of the time, but it's quite simple in the round. It's a fairly dense stitch and eats up the yarn, so I'll probably make the legs a bit shorter than I usually do.

For what it's worth, here's how it goes with chart above and written directions below:

(Worked on a multiple of six stitches}

Rnds 1 & 2: k2, *sl 1, k5; rep from *, end sl1, k3.

Rnd 3: *1/2 RC, k3; rep from *.

Rnds 4 & 5: k3, *sl1, k5; rep from *, end sl1, k2.

Rnd 6: *k3, 1/2 LC; rep from *.

sl 1 = slip 1 st purlwise

1/2 RC = 1 over 2 Right Cross: Slip 2 sts from the left needle onto the right needle. Drop the next st toward the front of the work. Slip 2 sts from the right needle back onto the left needle. With the tip of the right needle, pick up the dropped st and place in on the left needle. Knit all 3 sts.

1/2 LC = 1 over 2 Left Cross: Drop the first st on the left needle toward the front of the work. Slip the next 2 sts onto the right needle. With the tip of the left needle, pick up the dropped st. Slip 2 sts from the right needle back onto the left needle. Knit all 3 sts.

These crossings take longer to describe than to actually work. The dropped stitches really don't run down, at least with a yarn that isn't downright slippery; I think because they have been stretched upward in the process of slipping them on the previous rounds.

Still, one could employ a cable needle if preferred.

Shield Your Eyes

Hide the pets and children. The Very Bright Socks are now stalking the earth.



And I absolutely love them. (Hey, you want good taste? Go see Martha Stewart.)

Whimsical

I finished the very simple handwarmers, and decided that they were, well, too simple. So in a fit of whimsy I added a tassel to the back of each hand.



The yarn "bloomed" nicely when washed, and feels very soft indeed.

Speaking of embellishments:

One of the very fun things about Ravelry is seeing other people's finished projects. The flowers on Elizbo's Mother's Day Felted Posy Bag are absolutely adorable. The Patons pattern she used is very nice on it's own, but her touches of embroidery really set this version off. She blogs about the project here.