Fawkes Sawkes

Thank goodness Fawkes is here to protect my feet from all of those slithery socks of late! :) This is Phoenix yarn from Sunshine Yarns. I wanted to use a stitch that reminded me of Phoenix feathers, so I decided to use a slightly modified Flying Chevron from Walker #2. I like the way it turned out. :)

It's a bit hard to see with all those flaming phoenix colors, but I know what it is. I found the sterling silver phoenix charm on eBay, painted it 24K gold, and waterproof-finished it. It dangles down the back of the heel.

I was a bit disappointed that Fawkes did not make a return appearance during the Battle of Hogwarts, but I guess when a phoenix leaves for good, that's what it really means.

I'll keep these socks around for a while, though. :)

Dedicated Harry Potter Weekend

Knitting activities have been suspended this weekend while I read Harry Potter and he Deathly Hallows. Regularly scheduled knitting will resume shortly.

Tally Ho!

I have two more finished pairs of socks! They have been blocking and drying and out of sight, and therefore, out of mind. ;)

The first pair is knitted from "Sorted into Slytherin" from Dharmafey's Cosmic Fibers. Once again, these are the softer side of the house colors, and will blend perfectly into Muggle society. I don't know how Carrie manages to dye those beautiful silver tones into a yarn, but she does a great job of it!

The next pair is the "Sorted into Hufflepuff," also from Dharmafey Cosmic Fibers. I love the rich gold and greyish black of this yarn. It makes a striking pair of socks. (That little ball of yarn at the top is my leftover yarn. Whew!) Both pair of these are toe-ups on size 0 DPNs; 64 stitches on the foot, 72 for the feather-and-fan leg.

So, now for the tallies to date:

Here are the three pair that qualify for Summer of Socks.

And here here are my completed socks for the Summer of Magical Socks. There is one pair from each Hogwarts house plus the Heir of Slytherin. Hmmm. Maybe it's a good thing that I have a pair of phoenix socks on my needles right now. . .

Heir of Slytherin Socks

My Sockret Pal Beth E has extended her craft repertoire to include yarn dying. For her very first project, she created some excellent self-striping Slytherin-themed yarn, and knitted up some very slithery socks. Then, because she is a Slytherin who actually paid attention to the Sorting Hat's message about inter-house cooperation and friendship, she generously sent me enough to make my own slythery socks, even though I was sorted into Gryffindor. (I am positive this is exactly the kind of thing the Hat was referring to.) :)

So here they are — the Heir of Slytherin socks! I used the basic Broadripple pattern, as Beth did for hers, and I used size 2 DPNs. I also made them toe-up, which reversed the pattern. And I used a short-row heel. I like the effect! I think it looks very reptilian and shows off Beth's beautiful stripes. The knit-in marker is black onyx with a green Swarovski crystal. I washed them, blocked them, and folded them neatly in my sock drawer.

These are my 3rd pair of Summer of Socks socks, and the 5th in my Summer of Magical Socks series.

Later, as I was passing by, I heard a hissy-kind of voice issuing from the room where the socks are stored. I couldn't understand what the voice was saying — but it could have been speaking Parseltongue.

When I entered the room, I saw this . . .

Oh, Yeah — May

I was looking back over my Socks-of-the-Month project and noticed I had neglected to publish a photo of my socks for May. So here they are. These are Cascade Yarns Sassy Stripes in colorway 713, and they took two skeins.

In my defense, May was a crazy month for me personally. And as I (finally) recalled these socks, I remember why I was so ready to get them over and done with. For one thing, I could hardly wait to get my needles going on my Harry Potter yarn collection. :) And I had some gift knitting to complete. :) But the main reason I wanted to get these socks over with is because there was a knot in the first skein, and, missing between the knotted ends, an entire wide green stripe. :( And you know how my stripes just gotta match. Fortunately, there was (just) enough extra yarn to wind down to the next sequence and create a match, but the whole rest of the time I knit these socks I worried about finding another knot, and wondering what effect it might have on the striping, and if I would have enough leftover yarn to fix it.

As it turned out, there were no more knots, and I finished the socks, breathed a sigh of relief — and promptly dismissed them from my mind. I didn't even recall them when I said that I had had pretty good luck —up to now— with commercial self-striping yarn. Ah, well. Sometimes a poor memory is not a bad thing.

I knit to relax and clear my mind. I find self-striping yarns very soothing as the pretty colors slip through my fingers and form beautiful, orderly patterns flowing from my needles. It's a very meditative and calming experience for me, and the simple knitting requires very little technical attention. I guess that is why I'm a bit resentful when the yarn patterns break unexpectedly and create chaotic results. Its as if someone scuffed up the neatly raked sand patterns in a Japanese garden, or inserted a raucous heavy metal sequence in a Mozart symphony.

Well, enough of this. Anyway, the May socks are done — and I am really enjoying my Summer of Magical Socks!