Monkey See, Monkey Two!

I finished my Monkey socks a couple of days below.  These were very satisfying to knit.

I have such a hard time photographing handknits this time of year.  It doesn’t seem to matter if I do it indoors or outdoors…getting the light right is very difficult.  Plus, it was COLD standing on a stone patio in stocking feet with my pants pulled up!  I wondered if the construction workers across the street could see what I was doing… I really liked working with this yarn: Araucania Ranco solid (which is really a kettle-dyed semi-solid) in color 101, which is a deep purple.  Do you think it looks purple here?  A coworker referred to this as a “non-color” a few weeks ago, which irked me… purple isn’t neutral, even if it’s a dark eggplant-y purple!

The yarn is 75% wool and 25% polyamid, so I’m hoping it holds up well.  I used the eye of partridge stitch on the heel for extra strength in a high-wear area.

And the skein is very generous: 376 yards in 100 grams.  I had 17 grams remaining.

I’m very pleased!

30 + 1 monkey

It’s laundry day here – which means 30 socks hanging to dry.  It’s really not onerous at all.  I run some lukewarm water in the kitchen sink, add a teaspoon of no-rinse wool wash (currently finishing a bottle of Eucalan), toss the socks in, swish lightly, and walk away for 20 minutes.  Then I come back, squeeze the socks out gently, put them on a big bath towel on the floor, and wrap them up like a burrito to press out more water.  Hang to dry.  The extra humidity they add to our indoor air is quite welcome in the winter. 

Some of my handknit socks do just fine in the washer – most notably, the ones knit from that sturdy German sock yarn (Opal, Regia, etc.).  I still wash them on cool delicate and hang to dry.  But the ones made from softer yarn really do benefit from hand washing.  The lack of agitation in the wash cycle means that the soft fibers don’t pill and fuzz as quickly.  It also helps to wash them inside out, but I often don’t bother…

In other knitting news, Monkey Number One is done.  Pretty! Number Two is nearly ready for its heel.

I’ve also felted the crazy colorwork bag, but I don’t have photos - yet. 

Monkeying around

I may be the last knitter on the planet to make Cookie A’s Monkey socks.

These weren’t even in my queue, but I realized I had some good office knitting time coming up and nothing to knit during it.  Quick, to Ravelry! Quick, to the sock yarn cabinet!

I see why these knit up so quickly.  The 11-round pattern is addictive.  3 rounds are straight knitting, 4 are simple knit/purl rounds, and the remaining four contain decreases and yarnovers.

Okay, maybe not the LAST knitter on the planet.  Just the 12,939th project entry in Ravelry.  Geesh, talk about being behind trend…

[PS – Santa, please bring me Cookie A’s new book – the cover makes me swoon!]