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!

Summer of Magical Socks Update

This sock yarn— which stripes very nicely, by the way — is from Darmafey's Cosmic Fibers, an Etsy shop. It is her "Sorted into Ravenclaw" colorway, and although it is not at all metallic, you can tell that the silver color really is supposed to be silver and not just gray. These soft colors transcend the Harry Potter genre, and make great all-purpose socks. Kinda like Harry Potter stealth socks — muggles would never suspect their magical origins. :)

The stitch marker is another of the tile wine glass markers I found on eBay. (The seller is taking time off from eBay to have a baby, but here's the URL.) This time, I filed a groove around the edge of the tile and fitted a wire into the groove. The tile is varnished to render it waterproof.

The socks themselves are my favorite Wendy's generic toe-up sock pattern — with feather & fan leg, short-row heel, and a turned-picot hem. I used a provisional cast-on. There are 64 stitches in the foot and 72 in the feather-and-fan portion. I used size 0 Knit Picks DPNs.

Next up? My "Sorted into Slytherin" socks are blocking tonight, and I'm already working on the second "Sorted into Hufflepuff " sock!

A Tale of Two Socks

I really, really, really like self-striping sock yarn. I've had OK luck with self-stripers from big yarn companies (up 'til now), but my preference is for the smaller, independent dyers. It's a lot of work creating a nice self-striping yarn, and I truly admire those who do it well and take pride in it. My June sock experience only increased this admiration.

I received a beautiful skein of Tofutsies in two of my favorite colors, pink & lavender, as a much-appreciated gift. Taking a time-out from woolen Magical Socks, I decided the lighter-weight Tofutsies would be the perfect travel project to take on my trip to Florida. The first sock was delightful:

The second sock was kind of a surprise:

A very deep pool!! The only reason the pool changed sides is because I had to snip out a 20-inch section of yarn that was missing an entire ply. (Is this a Southwest Trading Company issue? I had the same thing happen with 3 of 5 balls of STC Bamboo — the only other time I have ever run into this problem.)

I liked working with Tofutsies: even with sharp size 0 Knit Picks DPNs, I had very little splitting. I liked the feel of the yarn. I liked the colors of the yarn. So what's up with the pooling in the foot??? I have never had this problem with yarn from independent dyers — have I just been lucky, or does personal pride in a job well done factor in somehow?

At any rate, I don't think there will be any more "self-striping" Tofutsies in my future.

The Summer of Magical Socks

OK, I'll admit it. I have a real fondness for the Harry Potter series. I have all the US-version hardbacks, the British hardbacks, all of JK Rowlings' "Hogwarts textbooks, all the unabridged Jim Dale CDs, and a few of the British cassette series. And the movies on DVD. And the soundtracks on CD. And some action figures. And a mug. And a Harry Potter tablecloth. And maybe some other odds and ends, but, well, never mind. I like the series, and can hardly wait until July when the next movie and Book 7 appear.

So, seeing how often handknit socks are mentioned in the books, it's only natural that, being a sock knitter myself ... well, you can see where this is heading. I decided to have a Summer of Magical Socks.

Actually, it was my Sockret Pal Beth E who gave be a push in the Harry Potter sock direction. She generously made me a gift of Sunshine yarn's Gryffindor, which I have now completed as the first in my Summer of Magical Socks. And here they are:
The marker is a tile wine glass charm that I found on eBay. I glued ribbon around it and waterproof-varnished the whole thing to stand up to washing.

So that leads me to the rest of my Harry Potter yarns for the Summer of Magical Socks.

Since Beth E's Gryffindor yarn got me started, I've managed to find more colorways for the other three houses from DarmaFey, and scored some Chinese Fireball Dragon and some Phoenix from Sunshine. You can see that I've already gotten a good start on the socks from DharmaFey's "Sorted into Ravenclaw" yarn. (And HP fans will note that the Ravenclaw colors in the tablecloth fabric are not canon: "real" Ravenclaw colors are blue and bronze. Obviously this fabric is a result of Muggles in the textile industry.)

Here are the Chinese Fireball Dragon yarn and the Phoenix yarn. I found a dragon charm and a phoenix charm on eBay (where else???) and made stitch markers with them. I painted the phoenix gold.

And, also at the urging of Beth E (do ya think she might have me under an Imperius Curse??? ) ;) I joined the Summer of Socks group. Very few rules -- I like that. And it meshes very well will my own summer knitting plans, except that I have already started! :)