Sockapalooza 4 - My socks are here

And I am never going to take them off.
I have spent ages drooling over them and their progress on Roobeedoo's blog.
Now they are mine and I can hardly believe it (insert a manic shriek of laughter here). I love them and they fit perfectly. THANK YOU so so so much.
Ruth also sent me the left overs to practice the fair isle technique and so left over Duet sock yarn as she knows Bryony and I had a little sock yarn swap a couple of weeks ago. Such a wonderful package.THANK YOU

Finished Sockapalooza Socks

My Sockapalooza Socks are finished

FISHTAIL SOCKS
The pattern is my own - I have made a vague attempt at writing it up below if you are interested.
Started: 26th(ish) June 2007
Finished:12th July2007
Yarn: Yarn Yard Sock Yarn - June Club colourway
Needles: Addi Turbo 2.5mm 30cm circular (it is what I knit all my socks on, I switch to 5dpns for the toe)
Pattern

Materials -
100g of sock-weight yarn
2.5mm Needles (you choose whether you are a 5 dpns, two circulars or a magic loop kind of person )
Cable Needle (unless you can cable without a cable needle)
Size - The socks I made are approx 18-19cm (7") from top of leg to bottom of heel and 22-23cm (9") from heel to toe. However these can both be lengthened or shortened by adding/removing pattern repeats. Approx 22-23cm (9") around the foot - but there is quite a lot of stretch.
Gauge - 32st over 4 inches in stocking stitch
Abbreviations -
LC4 - slip next stitch onto cable needle and hold at the front of the work, knit the next 3 stitches from the left hand needle, then knit the stitch from the cable needle.
RC4 - slip the next 3 stitches onto the cable needle and hold at the back of the work, knit the next stitch from left-hand needle, then knit sitches from the cable needle.
Leg
Cast on 60 stitches. Place marker at the start of the round
Begin ribbing - K2P2 rib for 10 rounds
Fishtail pattern:
Row 1: p2,k9,p2,K17 PM, p2,k9,p2,k17
Row 2-5: Repeat Row 1
Row 6: p2,LC4, K1,RC4,knit to marker, p2,LC4, K1,RC4, knit to marker
Rows 1-6 make up the pattern
Work the pattern until the leg is the desired length. End on row 6. I make 9 repeats and it is approx 15cm long.
Heel:
I worked a short row heel over 30 stitches using the instructions from "Beyond the Basics" in Interweave Knits Summer 2007. I kept in pattern (with the purl stitches as far as possible) but the instructions are for a plain heel:
Row 1 - Remove the marker from the start of the round. K6 PM, K29. These 29 stitches are the ones you will work the heel over.
Row 2 (WS) YO backwards (wrapping the yarn from back to front). Purl to the last stitch leaving 1 unworked
Row 3 (RS) YO. Knit to the paired stitched made by the YO in the previous row
Row 4 (WS) YO Backwards and purl to the paired stitches made by the YO in the previous row.
Repeat rows 3 and 4 until 12 stitches remain between the YO's. End with a RS row but do not turn
Row 5 (RS) K1 (the first stitch of the pair), correct the mount of the YO, K2tog (the YO with the first st of the next pair) this leaves a YO as the first st on the left needle
Row 6 (WS) YO backwards, purl to the paired st. Purl the first st. SSP
Row 7 (RS) YO, knit to the paired st (the following 2 loops are YOs) Correct the mount of the Yos , K3 tog.
Row 8: YO Backwards, purl to the next YO, SSSP (slip 3 st knitwise one at a time and purl together through the back of the loops)
Repeat this until all of the heel stitches have been worked. End on a RS row and do not turn
Foot
When the heel is finished continue working across all of the stitches in the fishtail pattern from above (starting from row 1) Place the markers before the first of the purl stitches - 30 stitches apart
Work as many pattern repeats as required (I worked 9 pattern repeats)
Toe
Row 1: Remove the marker from the start of the round k3, K2tog, k1 PM, k1 SSK, knit to next marker and remove it, k4, k2tog, K1 PM, k1, SSK.
Row 2: Knit
Row 3: (Knit to 3 stitches before the marker K2tog, K1, Slip marker, K1 , SSK) twice
Repeat Rows 2 and 3 until 24 stitches remain.
Divide the stitches onto 2 needles (12 stitches on each) and kitchener stitch together.

I've rushed through this a bit, I use lots of markers as I knit on 1 small circular needle, but you will probably eliminate the need for markers if you use any other method. Once you have started the pattern, it is fairly obvious where the heel and toe should be worked! Let me know if you have any questions or decide to make them

Finished Fishtail

I've finished the first of my Fishtail socks for my Sockpalooza pal. What do you think?
I may have accidentally ordered some more Noro for my blanket too. Oops. Right, I have a busy night of knitting ahead of me so I'd better be off to make potato wedges for tea....

Sockpalooza-by-the-Sea

I ventured out at lunchtime today to my normal knitting spot, in the sunshine by the BBC screen in Birmingham City centre. Look what I found - a beach in Birmingham

I got to sit in a deckchair and knit my sockpalooza socks for 30 mins in the sunshine (yes it really was sunny for about 30 mins today). How cool is that? Yes, I know, lots of people have a real beach to go and sit on - but I live just about as far away from the coast as is physically possible in this country so it is a real novelty!
Here are the said socks. In The Yarn Yard June sock club June colourway.
The pattern is my first go at sock designing. I wanted a sock with a cable pattern down each side of the leg and foot. I liked this design I found on Ravelry but thought it would look much better in a solid colour. I was also keen on slip stitch designs, as I think they look good in variegated yarns. My Harmony Stitch dictionary turned up this 9 stitch fishtail cable design, I've added two reverse stst stitches to either side. I'm really liking it so far. It is very fast to knit and the pattern keeps a bit of interest. I still can't get the hang of cabling without a cable needle though!
I'm going to do a short row heel (as with the Jaywalkers below) and then continue the pattern down the foot. Fingers crossed it works!
Here are the finished stripy Jaywalkers - toe up - I love them. And they nearly match! Yipeeee.


If that was not enough excitement for one day I got home to find my prize from Wendy had arrived!Some more yummy Yarn Yard sock yarn. Wendy also sent me some beautiful little green earrings and some delicious chocolate as a belated birthday present. Thank You so much!
Talking of Wendy, I started relaying a story to Tony the other day about one of my friends. I realised half way through my story it wasn't someone I had actually met or knew, it was someone whose blog I read. Is it strange it is that I really feel like some of my fellow bloggers are friends even though we have never met and mostly only communicate through our blogs? I find it a little disconcerting when I think about it, because no one puts their whole life on their blog, so can you really "know" someone this way. I'd like to think that people like Wendy and Bryony and I would all get on fabulously... but you never know do you? We might fight over wool and stick knitting needles in each other :0)

Sock Preferences

My Sockpalooooza pal has asked for some info on my sock preferences...
I love stripes. Any kind of stripes. Seeing something stripy makes me very happy.
As for yarn preferences, I have loved knitting with lornas laces, STR and koigu... but these have all been knit for others. My current handknit socks are all opal. Tony has some LL and STR and I think the lorna's laces holds up best when washed. Everything in my house seems to get thrown in the washing machine (but only at 30 degrees on a delicates wash - so even the STR has been machine washed and has faded a little) However LL does have a tendancy to pool, which can be annoying depending on what pattern you choose!
Talking of patterns, I will leave the decision up to you! Please let me know if you need any more measurements.