SockTart

SockTart Episode Six: Keeps on Tickin’

This week we talk about our irresponsible, lazy, neighbourhood postal worker. Also, the sock blockers arrive, and yarn is ordered!

Oh…and the Professor gets hit by a car….

On/Off the needles:

- The Monkeymen are done. Done like dinner. Booyeah. We are looking for a couple of test knitters to volunteer themselves for interpreting my pattern directions.

- Still working on the Nanners and the Sweetpea socks. Sweetpeas are my current focus for end-of-month.

Lesser Known Sock:

Forgot to mention it, but there’s only about a week to go before voting starts. Pictures of finished works would be lovely

New Socks on the Block

We find & comment on a small handful of recently released/published sock patterns on Ravelry. Yum!!

Simply Devine Socks by Melly A. Matthews:
Lesum-Pattern by Kristin Benecken
Ruth’s Harvest Socks by Susan Sharpe
Shur’tagal by Alice Yu.

Pattern Source!:

We take a look at The Inside Loop, an online Fibre Arts magazine based out of the UK. Go take a gander at the patterns and articles available here! Not only do they have consistently lovely sock designs, but designs to cover all the other parts of your body…

Yarn Review:

Discussion about The Professor’s Brimstone Jaywalkers leads to a review (and recap) of Mama E’s C*EYE*BER Fibre.
Announcements:

New Sock Club! Cables & Lace are putting together a sock club that will include skeins and patterns. I’m hoping to make an order of sock yarn soon. If Knitting Dragon ever comes out with a powder pink & black colourway, I am so there…

Race for the Cure: Manda (Hello Lovely) of Knitting Psychos (listen to her podcast!) is participating in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Event in San Francisco. She’s been training hard and is trying to reach a goal of $2200 in donations. Please head over to her site and help her reach (or surpass) the goals she has set. She’s also holding a draw for fabulous gifts & prizes, so donate often for more chances to win! If you have breastesses, you can’t afford to not donate (that includes you boys too…male breast cancer is rarer, but it happens!)

Little Pink Sock Project: Knit a little pink sock. Send it away. Make a donation to the Oregon Humane Society. Get a little pink sock with a gift certificate. Make a puppy’s day.

Credits:
- Intro clip from “8 BIT Junkie” by George Wood
- Outro music: “All You Said” by Everyday Jones

SockTart Episode Five: Blame it on The Man

In which we talk about seeing Spamalot and baseball (the Yuma Scorpions at Calgary Vipers), knit night, and a variety of other things. We also find out that the Monkeymen are being….difficult…to cast off.

We also blatantly and unabashedly promote our Yarn Crack Dealer of Choice, Make1 Yarn Studios in Bridgeland, Calgary. If you want a great place to knit, hang out, be subtly coerced into buying yarn that you were convinced you didn’t need? Go see the Stashionistas at M1. Get lost in the Comfy Couches of Doom. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya (did I mention they now offer online ordering and are gearing up for the 2009 Year of Lace? Go. Now.).

Off the needles:

- Plain old socks in Opal Petticoat Cotton #1
On the Needles:

- Sweet Pea Socks in Cherry Tree Hill, “Lottery” colourway
- Nanners #2
- Monkeymen. This time toe-up, damnit!
(you do realize this means that we may actually have a pattern that allows you a choice for your knitting pleasure. Just sayin’.)

Lesser Known Sock:

- some folks have posted their intended sock patterns on Ravelry, but no actual photos yet. Me want!

New Socks on the Block

We find & comment on a small handful of recently released/published sock patterns on Ravelry. Yum!!

Farfalle by Orinda5
Olympian Socks by Sheryl Giles
Love story socks by Sirkku Siiskonen
Fascine Braid Socks by Tiennie.

On the To Do List:

- Maire will be joining in on all the Sockknitter’s Anonymous (and hopefully Socktopia) madness for 2008/09. Committing to knitting at least one pair of socks per month for the next year.
- Yuletide knitting! Start work NOW if you haven’t already!
- Ordering Yarn. Because one just doesn’t have enough Orange Yarn (actually, aside from the yarn currently being used for the possibly abortive Monkeymen, I have no orange. This is a surprisingly orange-free zone. This can, and should, be rectified. Possibly with a perky tangerine.)

Credits:
- Intro clip from “8 BIT Junkie” by George Wood
- Outro music:”And to Think” by Hop on Pop (download their album at Spade Kitty Records

SockTart Episode Four: Much Better IKEA

Maire gives the lowdown on what everyone’s up to & talks a lot about sock patterns & stuff.

Off the needles:

- Nanner #1
- Monkeymen #1

We are considering throwing up the Monkeymen pattern for testknitting…we provide the pattern, you provide the yarn…it’s a win-win

On the Needles:

- Plain old socks in Opal Petticoat Cotton
- Sweet Pea Socks in Cherry Tree Hill, “Lottery” colourway

Lesser Known Sock:

- as we are not above bribing rewarding our listeners, we will be voting on the best lesser-known, unappreciated sock to be knit over the course of the month. You could walk away with a lovely skein of Cherry Tree Hill fingering weight yarn in the Winterberry colourway. Delicious!
-Enter by posting your intended victim sock pattern & then the finished project on the Ravelry board. Much voting will occur. Oh yes. Much voting indeed.

Recent socks on Ravelry!

We find & comment on a small handful of recently released/published sock patterns on Ravelry. Yum!!

Embellishing Hilda Socks by Heli Heikkila
Window Pane Socks by Lisa Stichweh
Summer Pick ‘n’ Mix by Jane Lithgow
Flippant by Sivia Harding.

Reviews:
Twist Collective!
We explore & discuss the new patterns presented in Twist Collective.
- Livia by Stephanie Van der Linden
- Lissajous and Maelstrom by Cookie A.
- Empoissonee by Yarnissima
- Houdini socks by Cat Bordhi
- Oolong Socks by Mona Schmidt

Credits:
- Intro clip from “8 BIT Junkie” by George Wood
- Outro music: 24 by Etherdust

Sometime in November/December, I designed a sock for my dearest darling. I also mentioned at the time that I might put the pattern up for grabs when I got around to it. Well, I finally got around to it. Hence, the pattern for “Medivh”. I guess you have to be a World of Warcraft addict to understand the name.

Hopefully I can get better pictures at some other time. If anyone else decides to give the pattern a try, why not photograph it for me so I can link it?

I managed to get some more appropriate yarn for the Monekymen variation. It’s knitting up amazingly quickly so far, mainly due to the lovely texture of the yarn. Yowr

Here we have a preview of the sock-in-progress. Yay, Monkeymen!

SockTart Episode Three: Neither Live nor Memorex

Maire says hi to friends south of the border, talks about Head Trauma Boy, the knitalong, Dark Knight, Watchmen, Little Box of Socks, and Noro Kureyon Sock.

Off the needles:

- Hedgerow Socks
- Monkey Socks

On the Needles:

- Nanners in Lime & Violet Sasquatch, Colourway: Spriggan
- Plain old socks in Opal Petticoat Cotton
- Monkeymen in Louet Gems, Charcoal

Lesser Known Sock:

- lots of suggestions, but no agreement as to what folks would like to knit. Since I’m not the only person that needs to be impressed here…do whatever pattern pleases you as long as the amount of projects on Ravelry is less than 100.
- Please POST your socks on the Ravelry board when you’re done!

Reviews:
- Little Box of Socks by Sharlene Schurch & Beth Parott
- Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn

Credits:
- Intro clip from “8 BIT Junkie” by George Wood
- Outro music: YMCA by The Donman Band

Yay! More complete sockage!

Finished these off yesterday afternoon after work. These are so pretty, I could lick ‘em. That is, if they wouldn’t leave some sorta fuzz on my tongue

Yarn: Scout’s Swag, “Secret”
Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A.

This means that 2 skeins of yarn have left the collective, and as nature abhors a vacuum…I went to the yarn store this afternoon. And that, my friends, is mild fodder for the podcast

One pair of finished pseudo-hedgerows. Yay for perseverence!

Pattern: Hedgerow Socks by Jane Cochran
Needles: Size 1 US Addi Turbo, Circular
Yarn: ShiBui Knits, Wasabi.

I really admire those with the patience to do fancy ribbing. Ugh..

SockTart Episode Two: Stays crunchy in milk

Pre-introduction: Mashup of the Twilight Zone intro with the theme from Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.

- in which we find out that Maire has a lot of socks on the go at this time…and has also been knitting dishcloths when the weather throws up unexpected heatwaves. We also wax poetic about sock design, and we show off our inner geeks when referring to World of Warcraft and the Forums.

On the Needles:

-Monkeys made of Scout’s Swag, Colourway: Secret
- Hedgerow Socks in ShiBui Knits, Colourway: Wasabi
- Nanners in Lime & Violet Sasquatch, Colourway: Spriggan
- Plain old socks in Opal Petticoat Cotton
- Monkeymen in Zen Yarn Garden, Colourway: Licorice Lime

Lesser Known Sock:

Candidates at this time:
- Hidden Hearts By Jeannie Cartmel
- Scroll Lace Socks by Rebekkah Kerner
- Crooked Cable Socks by Sockbug
- Smoking Hot Socks by Monkika Steinbauer

Nominations and Voting are still open. You can come by the group on Ravelry, or use the forums here. It would probably be best to stick all this stuff in one place, however, so please bear in mind where the most traffic may be!

Credits:
- Intro clip from “8 BIT Junkie” by George Wood
- Outro music: A Moment in Time by Tonyy Doggett

It’s something that’s been lurking in the back of my mind for awhile, and while the Other Half was at work last night…I recorded a podcast. I’ve always had a knack with fiddly things like audio & video programs (go figure…was part of my schooling) so I thought I’d see where it takes me.

It’s a knitting podcast, focusing mainly on socks…so those friends of mine who aren’t into such things might just want to look away & hum a few bars of some convenient brain candy while I put together a few show notes.

SockTart Episode One: Damn you, CRTC!

- In which our heroine decides to podcast and lays down her miniscule qualifications to do so.

- Breakdown of “features” that we hope to discuss over the course of a podcast:
- Yarn Reviews
- Store Reviews
- Equipment Reviews

- Sock patterns, particularly lesser-known, less popular sock patterns
- Possible Knitalong
- Technique

Yarn Review: Sweatermaker Yarns from Vancouver, BC, Canada.

- Definitely recommended for those who love a range of colour, soft fabric and a quick knit that doesn’t rely on a funky pattern to make the socks stand out.
- Not recommended for those who want to do lacework, cablework, or any design that doesn’t suit busy semi-striping.

Credits:

- Intro clip from “8 BIT Junkie” by George Wood

- Outro music: “You Say You Love Me” by Outside
Music from Podsafe Audio: Music for the Revolution