It’s mostly still too hot to knit anything other than socks, which is why, especially after my last pretty sock FO, I made it a goal to get some of my lingering sock WIPs off the needles. So hereby I’m proudly showing off the first two pairs that benefited from my burst of sock motivation.

Pattern: Tulsi socks by Verena Cohrs
Yarn: Sock yarn by Koperdraadje (not sure if the colourway has a name, someone *ahem* misplaced the label)

I started these socks while on a neon-yellow high earlier this year, but then they quickly became buried under all the stress of finishing my PhD and moving countries. I’m so so happy I picked up this WIP again. I had already started the second sock and it pretty much flew off my needles.

The pattern in itself is pretty, the neon yellow toes and cuffs make them fantastically pretty. I made only one tiny modification, which is knitting the fish lips kiss heel instead of the heel in the pattern. I honestly can’t even remember why I chose to do so, but the fit is great so I’m not complaining. In any case I’d highly recommend both the yarn and the pattern!

The second pair I finished is a simple vanilla pair, with some yarn I purchased at La Bien Aimee during one of my very first weeks in Paris! The brand is called Mondim, which is a Portuguese brand if I’m not mistaken. It comes in all kinds of speckled fun colours and is a great value for money kind of sock yarn. If you happen upon this yarn in your LYS, it’s definitely worth stashing up a skein or two, as it’s perfect for cute vanilla socks that are likely to be very durable.

These two finished pairs means I only have two sock WIPS floating around in my life. Given that only yesterday I also cast off a new top (more on that very soon), I reckon I’ll be having a little cast on party first before continuing on my WIP finish-itis 😀

I guess there is no point in complaining about the weather, because it seems to be super hot just about everywhere. Nonetheless, it definitely affects my knitting mojo, and I’m currently mostly sticking to small projects that take up no lap space. That’s why Brandy’s (of Long Dog Yarn) current indie sock along challenge is perfectly timed. And my first FO for this KAL is an old familiar pattern!

Pattern: Prairie Spring by Samantha Myhre
Yarn: Undercover Otter Squirm sock in the Wicked Little Things colourway

If you have been following this blog since way way back, these socks will definitely look familiar. In 2014 I knit this pattern for the first time, and they are still one of my most worn pairs! The old pair is nowhere near being worn out yet, but still I’ve been itching to make a new pair.

You can really knit this pattern out of any yarn and it’ll look brilliantly. You can probably see that these two socks look very different from one another, but it is really from the same skein I promise. With this pattern it really isn’t a problem though, and I even like the uneven feel to them.

What are you knitting this summer? If you want to join in on the Indie Sock Along KAL, go check out the LDY ravelry forum!

Possibly inspired by the freezing winter weather, or possibly just because, but I’ve been bitten by the neon sock knitting bug (yes that’s a thing). In terms of my garment knitting I definitely tend to keep things on the safe side, but I have zero fears of going wild on my hand knit socks. Currently I am feeling all of the highlighter colours, and my feet deserve a little party every now and again.

Yesterday I finished up this neon stripey pair of socks made out of Nicole C Mendez yarn (this is the Avada Kedavra colourway). She makes the absolute loveliest self-striping yarn, which I’ve also used before for a mint green striped pair.

You might notice that, completely out of character for me, I’ve actually matched up the stripes on these socks! Feel free to burst out into applause. I didn’t suddenly get bothered by matching up stripes though, but the black stripe fit so perfectly for the fish lips kiss heel on the first sock that I decided to recreate it on the second.

 

And the next sock of neon-goodness if already cast on..How good does that toe look?? Hmm.. delicious..

Pattern: Vanilla sock pattern
Yarn: The Mermaird yarnery sockblank in the Wildflowers colourway

Last week my second ever pair of socks made out of sockblanks came off the needles (the first pair were these super fun pineapple socks), and I still believe the concept is a lot of fun. Over the years I have definitely developed a knack for imagining what yarns will knit up like, but with sockblanks I am a complete novice. I imagined these particular socks to be a 100 times more busy than they actually are. In hindsight they could have easily been combined with a simple lace pattern.

I don’t regret knitting these into vanilla socks though, especially because it highlights how the two socks have a different colour emphasis. The colour in one sock reminds me of tropical sunrise sort of scenes, whereas the blue sock feels a bit more wintery.

I think last year I’ve been sticking fish lips kiss heels into basically all of my vanilla socks (mostly because I have the pattern memorised), but I decided to go with a good ole heel flap in this pair.

And as a rule, I always have a pair of simple socks on the needles, so a new cast on has already happened.