SockTart

SockTart Episode Twelve: Shut up and Pass the Wasabi

Wrath of the Lich King started.  You have to ask?

(forgot to mention that my plurkswap pal has an etsy store…she sent me some gorgeous stitch markers that I’ll talk about next time.  Go!  Now!)

On/Off the needles:

- Aaron’s Scarf: We made it to Ball 2 during a rah-rah industry update at werk
- Goldfinch/Nevermore: Just need to settle down & put some time in finishing this off..
- Swan Song Socks: Have to decide who these are going to be for, as I’m not sure exactly how much yardage I have to play with.
- Noro Scarves!  Cast on 1st scarf well over 6 months ago & now have the urge to not only finish it off, but also start another one.  Found out recently the Harlot’s been on a Striped Scarf kick as well.  Must be something in the air…
- Noro Striped Socks - I cast ‘em on, but I’m not married to ‘em.  May need a do-over

 Talkin’ bout: Holiday Knitting

Who should you knit for?
What kind of things I knit for holiday gifts
When should I get started & plan on finishing?
Where should I knit my goodies?  Will people catch on?
Why should I knit for the Holidays?
How should I present my finished gifts?

New Socks on the Block

We find & comment on a small handful of recently released/published sock patterns on Ravelry.
Please look ‘em up on Ravelry for links!

Fair Isle Socks by Dana Berman: two-colour contrast geometric pattern.  Very pretty!
Christmas Socks by Anne Abrahamsen: Plain white socks with fair-isle christmas ornaments hanging from a branch.  Cute!
Bouton D’or Socks by Nicole Masson: Very pretty cable pattern that really does look like rows of golden buttons.
Noro Stripey Socks by Faith AD: Folks have been doing variations on the Noro Striped Sock for awhile.  Someone finally wrote down the pattern.  The fates are trying to tell us something here…

Credits:
- Intro clip from “8 BIT Junkie” by George Wood
- Outro clip: No Outro this week.

SockTart Episode Eleven(ish): Knitting for Victory

Babbling about RockBand, WoW, and why there has been no podcast (we’ve been trying!!!)

On/Off the needles:

- Nevermore are still on the needles, halfway through Sock #2.
- Swan Song socks by  Wendy Johnson.  Pretty toe-up design with lace!

 Knitting for Victory

We talk about Remembrance Day (Poppy Day, Armistice Day, Veteran’s Day), and talk about wartime knitting.  Excerpts are read from Wikipedia and HistoryLink.  An old (very old) 1940’s-era knitting magazine from Lux (like SOAK) is dragged forth & read from, particularly regarding knitting “for our boys”.  The name & publication date are unavailable due to the fact that pages 1 through 6 are (inconveniently) missing.  It does appear to be a British magazine, however.

New Socks on the Block

We find & comment on a small handful of recently released/published sock patterns on Ravelry.
Please look ‘em up on Ravelry for links!
Flower Patch Socks by Terry Morris: a flowery mock-faire-isle look using a solid & a handpaint or variegated yarn to make a mosaic-style pattern.  Perfect for Sockaholics Anonymous November challenge!
Lakeside Kneehighs by Julia Vaconsin: kneehigh lace socks that are somewhat reminiscent of Cookie A’s “Baudelaire”…only on CRACK!  For very advanced knitters, I would suspect!
Zig-to-the-Zag Socks by Mandi Coughlin: Very easy beginner pattern with zigzags and lacy flowerettes
Credits:
- Intro clip from “8 BIT Junkie” by George Wood
- Outro clip: No Outro this week.
- Recitation: In Flanders Fields by Lt. Col John McRae

SockTart Episode Ten: May Contain Traces of Peanuts

What?! Blathering on for a half hour about knitting isn’t enough?

Okay, okay…

This week we come to the realization that 2x monthly can be a good thing, and get caught up on what’s been happening in the big old world of “life”…Knitting, Warcrack, fitness, and lots and lots of socks!

On/Off the needles:

- The Nevermore Socks (nicknamed “Goldfinch” by Sherri) are about to have Sock 1 come off the needles.

 Knitty!

We talk about what’s happening with the latest Knitty, and look into all the wonderful sock and “warm your extremity” items that are available this month

New Socks on the Block

We find & comment on a small handful of recently released/published sock patterns on Ravelry.
Please look ‘em up on Ravelry for links!

3 Socks by Nicole Masson (Stefanina):
Sea Waves Socks: honeycomb-inspired pattern over the top and cuff
Marina Labyrinth Socks: More twisted cable stitches!  This time they wander all over the foot.
Pomme de Pin: Toe up sock with a pattern on the cuff that reminds me of the 3-D cubes in Q-bert

 Others…

Little Roses by Linda Fisher: Delicate little flowers move in rows down the cuff and foot of this sock.  Very pretty!
Knitty Twist Socks by Cylan Gul: a single-stitch cable runs all over the foot in a diamond grid
Boxcar Willie Socks by Anne Podlesak: Very easy beginner patter with knits & purls
O Socks! by Shana Kreikmeier: Inspired by the designer’s home of Omaha, Nebraska, the socks mix ribs with small cables
Boo! Toe-up Socks by Emily B. Miller: The 3rd sock in the Super Sock Scarefest, this sock features little ghosty-faces all over a nice long leg design

.

Credits:
- Intro clip from “8 BIT Junkie” by George Wood
- Outro clip: “Duet with a Klingon” By Carla Ulbrich

SockTart Episode Nine: More Generic Goodness!

Maire gets together with Lhiabelle (Sherri) and Sukuti (Morgan) for a few drinks, some turkey, and banishment of the husbeasts to the basement.  Join us for a real Canadian Kitchen-party, Socktart-style!
**Warning: We talk briefly, yet frankly, about hormones at one point, particularly regarding birth control**

On/Off the needles:

Morgan:

• Monkeymen for her husband Wargh, yarn from Dyelots in Eugene OR.
• Had problems with the Susanna pattern, couldn’t get it working with the BMFA Chapman Springs yarn
• Is also doing a pair of Monkeys
• Has cast on Luminiere with the Chapman Springs.

Maire:

• Done both Mummy socks from Super Sock Scarefest (Gets Sherri to model as the Mummy Socks attack her feet!)
• Not sure what the Sunstone is going to be.  Possibly Nevermore by Yarnyenta.  Needs to read the errata.  Had been thinking of the SKA Mystery Sock for September, but not sure.

Sherri:

• Gusset done on Sweetpea socks
• Muscari sock (by Suzi Anvin) casted on and ripped back.  Pride colourway didn’t work out well with it.
• Now going to be Pembrokeshire Pathways.

Random Chatter:

• We discover that none of us are continental knitters, and discuss the Yarn Harlot’s production-style knitting.  All of us are multi-generational knitters.
• We talk about how WoW interferes with our knitting progress
• How needle size throws off your gauge
• Having to think more than usual about knitting.
• The Yarn Harlot’s Production-style knitting
• Guilty pleasure movies & Christopher Walken. We’ve been told to check out the Chicken & Pears video on Youtube
• Warcrack and Evercrack are discussed
• We fondle yarn, particularly Noro Silk Garden Sock
• We discuss Noro in general.  Kureyon and Silk Garden sock in particular.
• We discuss spinning wheels & the proper pronounciation of ‘Louet’ (Canuckistani Grammar Lessons — Zed, Not Zee!)
• We go over how survival skills have changed into leisure activities.
• Sherri gushes over Eric at Cables & Lace.com’s dyeing work.
• Morgan will be sending Maire her alterations of the Monkeymen pattern that includes the purls.  Makes a more stretchy fabric for those with wider ankles & feet.
• We debate colour names and how sometimes Orange is really Deep Yellow.  What really IS Seafoam?

New Socks on the Block

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

We are operating without a computer at the moment!  And the Professor’s phone alarm goes off.

• Luminiere: (Maire can’t find this pattern quite yet, so will wait til Morgan finds it & gives her the link)
• Unravelling Ribs by Amy Tyszkiewicz: lovely pattern that travels all over the ankle
• Sherri gets us talking about Kristin Benecken & bavarian knitting
• We have some general discussion about the new Knitty
• Nevermore by YarnYenta (Heatherly Walker): Chart seems confusing, but the socks look beautiful. (Sherri renames Maire’s project as “Goldfinch” instead of “Nevermore”)

Credits:
- Intro clip from “8 BIT Junkie” by George Wood
- Outro clip: “The Table Near The Band” by Power Salad

Just a note to let everyone know that the podcast will be going out a bit late this week.  Just wanted to let folks know that their weekly dose of sockitude will be back shortly!  We’re just getting all our ducks in a row for what looks to be a very interesting episode

SockTart Episode Eight: The Podcast Podcast with Flavour Flavour

We find out that Maire is involved in not just one but two concurrent sock KALs, and we talk about how sometimes you just gotta follow the rules. We’ve gone back to raiding in World Of Warcraft, and a brief explanation of the game is given for those who aren’t dorky enough to already be playing. The Evil Place of Yarn is visited and yarn is fondled.

On/Off the needles:

- Nothing is off the needles, much to our dismay
- Cat Bordhi Master Foxglove socks were cast on somewhere around August 29th.
- Revenge of the Mummy socks for the Super Sock Scarefest are cast on.

New Socks on the Block

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

Revenge of the Mummy by Janine LeCras: The first official scarefest pattern. Had some charting errors which have since been fixed.

Unoriginal Socks by Megan Curtis: Inspired by the “Unoriginal Hat” pattern by the Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (Yarn Harlot), these socks give both wide and slender cables down the leg. Definitely something to consider as “Guy Socks”

Twisted Cables Socks by Anni Design: Not on Ravelry as of yet (I don’t think), but certainly another guy-worthy cable sock. A double-row of cables down each side of the leg, plus ribbing to allow for flexibility in ankle/foot width. You’ll have to join the Anni Design KAL to get access to this pattern until the end of the month.

September SKA Mystery Sock by Jeannie Cartmel: No idea what the finished product looks like, but for now it’s a toe-up sock with a lace design that appears to run diagonally across the top of the foot.

Credits:
- Intro clip from “8 BIT Junkie” by George Wood
- Outro clip: “I’m on Firefly” By Tom Smith

SockTart Episode Seven: 100% Pure Juice (from Concentrate)
Change is in the air with back to school for some, workplace changes for others. We’re gearing up for the holiday season, whatever your seasons might be!
The Triad (Maire, Lhiabelle and Sukuti) all got yarn from Blue Moon this week. We’re making the postal worker earn her pay!
Lhia has some sock challenges when it comes to knitting toes.
Maire goes on a rant about practice making perfect that spans 3 generations and two families. Seriously.
On/Off the needles:

- Nanners are off the needles.
- Sweetpea socks have been abandoned.

News you can use:

Super Sock Scarefest starts Monday. Kudos to those who signed up for Fabulous Gifts and Prizes! The rest of us will just play the home-game with less stress, thanks!

Plurkswap is happening! Come on over to the Ravelry Group board to wing around some ideas to send to plurkswap pals.

Maire apologizes for being a bad secret pal and promises to get that last package sent. Bad Maire!

Monkeymen pattern going to Public Beta. I’m inherently lazy and tracking down email addresses drives me nuts…so…yeah. Just let me know if there’s anything wrong with the pattern & provide me some pictures when you’re done. The final pattern will be a much prettier PDF available for download on Ravelry, but the test-knit will be available here soon.

Lesser Known Sock:

Y’all have another month to get your knit on! You can roll it into one of the many KALs going on this autumn: Super Sock Scarefest, SKA, Socktopia, Sockamania…the mind boggles. Just share the lesser-known-sock love! To win a skein of yummy Cherry Tree Hill Merino sockyarn in Winterberry, you have to post up what you intend to knit, then post up pictures when you’re done. The group as a whole will vote on the winning sock.

New Socks on the Block

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

Bluet Sock & Garden Sock by Nicole Masson: Two ankle socks, one with a delicate lace pattern, the other with a relief-etched garden. Very pretty!

The Wasp Woman by Heatherly Walker (YarnYenta): a pre-knit from the SuperScarefest. Settle down with some old-school suspense & get your knit on.

Osnabruecker Muster by Kristin Benecken: Another lacy design, this time in the style of some of Cookie A’s more elaborate work. Available in both English and German.

Credits:
- Intro clip from “8 BIT Junkie” by George Wood
- Outro clip: “Sheep Marketing Ploy / The Ballad of Fenton” By Worm Quartet

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