Encouraged by my successful socks using the fade yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills I dove right pack in and cast on another pair!
I’m using the same basic sock pattern so I can get more practice using the magic loop method. I’m also struggling with joining in the round at the moment so it’s taking a few goes to get it right.
The orange yarn feels slightly thinner than the self striping yarn. Both are merino blends but 2 different brands and I think I got them from Maker Maker Store in Melbourne via an online order? I found the details and added them down below
After the last fade sock where the heel was the same yarn the whole way though, I found having a contrast yarn so much easier to see and deal with! Will be remembering that for future pairs.
I liked the contrast heel so much I did the same for the toe, I’m still struggling with the grafting stitch so the toes aren’t as smooth as I would like but they are better than the last ones so I think at this stage continuous improvement is a good sign.
So far I’ve been following the pattern and just using a ruler to measure when it says “make rib to 3cm” it works mostly but having to keep trying on the sock for my foot length which is slightly annoying for some reason?
At one point I was trying on one of each sock to see how my tension and fit was between 2 different yarns.
I also adore the self striping yarn! It makes me look so much fancier than I actually am in my sock knitting journey!
Pattern: The I’m so basic sock with video tutorial from Summer Lee
Yarn: Both from Maker Maker in Melbourne – Self striping yarn Chaska Sky Collection × 1
F995 Pink Sunset and Solid Orange Yarn Edelweiss Classic × 1
408 Warm Orange
Changes: made the foot shorter as per my last pair
When I cast these on it had been about a year and a few days since I had first learnt to knit. That year was lots and lots and lots of practice, I was still struggling with casting on so these are a little wobbly around the top of the first one but still pretty good for my first go.
The knitting series by Summer Lee that takes you through each step of the pattern was an absolute miracle and I’m not sure I would’ve got this far without it, so thank you Summer! Link is down below for anyone who hasn’t seen it.
It knitted up well and I was super happy except for one thing, it kind of looks like dirty washing up water on the second sock. I think because I have small feet the “fade” didn’t show up as well and instead of getting the pretty pastel colours I’m mostly getting the blend in-between which looks kind of dirty?
Apart from not being very happy with the colour I was happy with how they finished up and very excited to have finally achieved an actual real pair of socks.
A trip to Fiji (2023) is a pretty mind blowing thing to prepare for, not only is it not the normal type of holiday for us to go on it was also preceded with a super busy time period. Having now been on the holiday it was amazing, we loved it and would do again!
and yes hats and sunglasses in the water were very necessary for anyone wanting to avoid some sun. The water is very calm so it’s not like you are going to lose everything when a wave hits you or anything like that.
I needed some extra fabric so I popped over to The Selvedge Society who were supremely helpful in matching colours, choosing a Liberty cotton backing and suggesting the most amazing spot to use for the binding. After such an enormous struggle of frustration to get some straight forward good advice was just so wonderful.
With that as a vague plan I basically winged it. Decided on a base size, quilted some bamboo batting to one side, made a pocket and stitched it on the other side. I really just made it entirely up as I went.
