Sockupied - Totem Socks

(I'm just going to sneak back in and pretend I haven't neglected the blog lately)

The new issue of Sockupied came out recently, I had a pattern published in it which I'll tell you about later in the week, today I want to tell you about another pattern in this issue: Totem by Jennifer Crowley. These are lovely unisex socks with an interesting slipped stitch pattern.

The yarn used in the sample is Three Irish Girls Adorn, I love this yarn, it's soft and bouncy but strong - perfect for socks and the colours are lovely.

Jennifer answered some questions about her design and inspiration:
How did you come up with the stitch pattern?

I like playing around with a skill once I learn it. After I learned about slipped stitches and the lateral braid, I was playing around with swatches and worked until I had an idea that worked. Totem was the result - a pattern that looks good in both a highly variegated yarn and a semi-solid yarn.

Where there difficulties you encountered as you worked on the pattern?

I had a tight deadline for this pattern that left me making a sock a week. It's been some of the most speed knitting I'd done at this point, as I also was holding down a much busier work schedule than I am now. I was literally knitting every time my butt was in a chair, and it was very close to the wire. I wanted things to be perfect, which meant I had to rip out a few times to make sure things were right. As a result, this pair of socks really drove home the fact that I need to do my knitting with good posture and stretch before and after. I'd been knitting so much that my hands and back were a mess.

 As for the actual pattern, it was a joy to work. Enough of a pattern to memorize without being boring. 

How do you come up for names for your pattern?

Croudsourcing. By the time I'm done with a pattern I'm so close to it that I have no ability to come up with a good name. Luckily, I have a lot of creative people in my life that help me out. While I was working on the pattern I constantly thought of it as the butterfly socks - but I didn't think it was a good name because it's fairly gendered, and these socks were meant for men and women. My fiance mentioned my butterflies looked like eagles to him, like on a totem pole. Hence, Totem.

What is inspiring you right now? Do you have pictures, patterns or motifs?

I've got cats and vegetables on the brain lately, as I'm working on a bunch of patterns that have to do with both. If you want to see what's on my mind at the very moment check out my pinterest board, my knitting, crochet, brainstorming for submissions, or nature patterns. I use pinterest a lot, because I'm a very visual organizer. I'm always looking at nature patterns and naturally occurring sequences. Squids are also on my brain, for a possible mitten pattern.

Quick, you're some yarn! What are you? Why?

3 ply DK wool, nylon and mohair blend. I'm in the mood for some warm and durable and thick socks - it was cold this morning on my bikeride!

You can find Jennifer's blog here.

Darkus

The mystery socks I designed for Tangled Yarn have been revealed!





The yarn is from Juno Fibre Arts and it's very lovely, I was really inspired by the colour and I wanted to design something dark and mysterious (they were mysterious by definition).


I came up with the name DARKUS. As I was putting the pattern page up I thought I'd better check that with a quick google search, just in case its rude or medication for an unfortunate condition, it turns out it is the name of a Bakugan. A Bakugan, for those lucky people who don't know, is a kind of small monster toy, it folds up in to a ball then explodes out when you put it on a metal surface:





They seem to breed in my house, I find them on door knobs, attached to bathroom cabinets, on the fridge. No wonder their names are flying around my subconscious just waiting to come out as pattern names.





The socks have twisted stitches, lace and cables. The pattern is still available as 4 clues but I've also added a full version, with all the instructions in one document, the pattern page is here or you can. for £3.50





There are lots of lovely versions in the Tangled Yarn group and the Coop Knits group on Ravelry.

Resolved

I'm really good at making resolutions. REALLY good.


I'm not as good at actually doing the things I resolve to do. I'm going to make some for 2013 anyway, they're quite realistic, I hope I achieve them.


1. I want to knit 3 garments. Wanderer Cardigan, Beatnik and Goodale.


I've got yarn for all 3 in my stash:





So two cardigans and one jumper, two items knit in pieces and one knit in the round. A good mix I think.


2. I want to knit one For the Tree mini stocking a month, I'll be adding more variations to the pattern along the way and I'll have 12 by December.


3. To spin a little bit (almost) every day. I started doing this at the end of December and it is going swimmingly. It turns out stuff gets done if you actually DO it, who knew?


4. To continue with my Van Gogh socks - I would really like to finish all 8 pairs this year, so far I've finished 1 pair and 1 and bit of the second pair.





These are my personal goals, there are lots of exciting professional things happening in 2013 - more on that soon!

Echeveria

Happy New Year!


I am working on plans and resolutions post but in the meantime I thought I'd tell you about the mystery sock I designed for the Sock Knitters Anonymous group on Ravelry.

The theme this month is Flora & Fauna, I was inspired by puffy little leaves to design Echeveria.


The sock includes a small amount of stranded colourwork, I chose this lovely soft green for the main colour from The Knitting Goddess and undyed cream for the contrast.





There are lots of socks in progress, with lots of beautiful colour combinations. Come and join in!

Join the CLUB!

This is a bag of socks.





That is all the socks from this years When Granny Weatherwax Knits Socks Club. Lovely hand-dyed yarn knitted in to 12 pairs of squishy socks.


It's been a great year, I think my favourite pair is Conina:





The patterns are now available as an eBook collection - 9 patterns are available now and the remaining three will be added on the first of each month until March.


In 2013 I'll be teaming up with The Knitting Goddess again, this will be our third year and it's going to be great!

You’ve heard of the seven degrees of Kevin Bacon game – where anyone or anything in Hollywood can be linked to Kevin Bacon in seven steps or less.

But what does that have to do with socks? Is Kevin Bacon a knitter?

For 2013 we’re offering you the Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon sock club. But there’s a twist. Instead of linking things to Kevin, we’ll be using Helena Bonham Carter as our starting point. We've come up with 12 gorgeous semi-solid colours and you'll get 12 original patterns by me.

All the details are here, sign-ups for January will be available until the 24th December, there's still time to get a present for yourself!

Talia Socks

I designed a pattern for the Winter issue of Pom Pom magazine, Talia socks:

photo©Juju Vail


I love everything about Pom Pom, I love their ideas, the patterns, the articles, the design, the paper they use, EVERYTHING.





I'm very proud of these socks, they are knee high with a twisted stitch cable on the cuff and stranded colourwork on the leg.





The yarn I used for these was Northbound Knitting Superwash BFL fingering, it's a lovely yarn and the colours are amazing, Lisa has an amazing talent for grey and grey holds a special place in my heart, but the absinthe green in these socks is BEAUTIFUL.

photo©Juju Vail

There are lots of lovely patterns in this (and every other) issue, I love the cover jumper which is Moira by Anna Wilkinson and the Edda hat by Lisa Mutch is amazing, I need one for me and I know some little boys who need one each too.

I need a tree

I love Christmas and I love Christmas trees. I just haven't got one.


I had a Christmas tree once but I lent it someone a few years ago when we were going abroad for Christmas and I'm not sure it came back.


I'm a Christmas nomad, I travel from house to house, all the houses I visit have trees, they are my adoptive trees.


Last year I went to my sisters for Christmas, I took my For the Tree samples for her tree, she wanted to keep them and I love her so I said yes.





This year I made some more for a swap, I rather like the colour scheme I used for these and I picked up some felt decorations to go with them.





Then I made some Minikins. These are too cute and super quick to make.





I gave them to someone who I will be apart from at Christmas as a reminder of how much I will miss them.


Now this ornament is different. I can't give it away. Jen made it for me and I love it so much.





There are so many details, the mittens are different on the front and back, the collar and pockets are adorable. This is the ornament that will make me buy a tree.