Obsidian

Remember these? My Once in a Blue Moon Cast On socks started on the second full moon of December 2009?



They are now these:



Whew! I can't believe it took me so long to finish these! They were at the bottom of my knitting bag, only brought out between other projects - not the way to get your socks done!



But yesterday was my birthday, and my boyfriend had given me such a wonderful day I was determined to finish these up and give him a present too! He loves them, and happily posed for pictures.

The stats:
yarn: 1 skein Socks That Rock mediumweight fingering (had a few yards left over)
size: men's 9
needles: started toes with size 0 DPNs and finished the remainder on size 3 DPNs
pattern: my own. These are toe-up, with Lucy Neetby's toe cast on and an adapted increase/decrease heel. The stitch pattern is an easy one - and may be my favorite rib pattern:
Row 1: K2, P2
Row 2: K all
This rib doesn't scrunch up but is nicely snug and looks good. The bf said that to him, it looked "Celtic".

The bad news - the heel!



Even though I measured and re-measured, the foot turned out too long on both feet, so the heel is sloppy. You can see the extra fabric bunched on the sides. The good news is that the bf says they aren't too big and are very comfortable (he's wearing them with shoes today and the report is positive). He pulls them up so the heels are tight:



It's not too bad, and I think (hope) that when they're washed they'll tightened up a little bit. Next time I'll make them tighter. Can you believe that these are the first socks I've made for him? I think there will definitely be more!

A Month of Boyfriend Knitting

After watching me knit every minute of every day for the Holidays, my boyfriend asked me to make some things for him. Backstory - I haven't made him anything for a long time, because the first things I made him, he promptly lost, giving the impression that he didn't like them all that much. He also often makes comments about only liking the most complicated types of knits: lots of cables, fair isle, traditional British type knits and the like. I relented, though, and I promised him that January would be the "Month of Boyfriend Knitting" and I'm trying to get 3 things finished for him during that time:

Dog walking mitts

Socks

Vest

I did finish the dog-walking mitts (my own pattern). They are made with a yarn he chose himself from a not-so-local alpaca farm:



They didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, being a bit big, but I think they're useful anyway.




They're not working as dog-walking gloves because the alpaca is so soft that the dog treats stick to it and he ends up either dropping them or having the dogs bite the glove to get them off. Dog walking mitts should be made with a sturdy strong fiber, like sock yarn. I'm also bemused with the way yarn patterned. I could have frogged and started over to try to get a better match, but they are kind of cute as is, so I left them.



I plan to make him a hat from the leftover yarn but probably not until after I finish the 3 things I've promised.

I'm currently on the second item - socks. I do love knitting socks and am doing this, like the mitts, without a pattern - my own design. I'm up to the heel now, but this is what the beginning (toe) looked like:



The yarn is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock in mediumweight; colour - Obsidian. I started the toe on size 1 needles to make it extra durable, and am knitting the rest of the sock on size 2 needles.

I'm trying a couple of things to personalize these socks: my boyfriend has sensitive feet but is very hard on socks. I'm doing the bottom of the heel (the sole side) in reverse stockinette in an attempt to make it more durable and to be very smooth and comfortable on the inside, and I'm doing the back of the heel in a sturdier textured knit where it will rub against his shoes.

He tried the foot on last night and said they felt very good. I'm really hoping these will be more successful than the gloves. I did get a bit worried when I was telling him how to wash them (machine wash, no dryer) and he said "they're just socks". A discussion ensued about how hand-knitted socks are never 'just socks' and he appeared to take this conversation seriously. ;)

The last item, the vest, is going to be knit from a Rowan pattern out of a tweedy yarn from a different alapaca farm:



Keeping my fingers crossed that I reach my goals because the month of february will be devoted to the Ravelympics on Team Blue Moon!