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Say hello to my new little friends:
Aster:
Nasturtium: (thanks belleepoque for the inspiration!!)
Spagnum:
Spruce:
and a little Ocean:
These new little babes are all fingering weight and kettle dyed and of course they have found their way into the shop!
But not for long.
xo,
Madelinetosh
Birds and flowers seem to be popping out of the dye pot lately. Like Robin's Nest above,
or
Bearded Iris:
a dash of Hollyhock:
or a smidge of scented Hyacinith:
Anyone have any other flowery colorway ideas? Lemme have em, inspiration is always welcome!
Here are multiple, gratuitous photos of my first finished sock. The only minor problem is the foot in the pic is not mine. My afterthought sock decided it would better fit my mom's foot so there you go. A perfect little size 7 and half foot sock. So maybe the next pair will be mine.
My amendments for my next sock will be as follows:
I promise to pick up extra stitches along the corner of the heel to delete any future occurrences of gusset gaposis - otherwise known as that big hole on the side of the heel!
I will figure out how to reduce the ladders that trail up my sock from the loose stitches found between my double points.
As for the Kitchener stitch. I really loved it. I was deathly afraid of it, given it's seedy reputation, but honestly it wasn't bad at all. I actually got to perform it twice, being as the afterthough heel is stitched exactly like the toe with the same number of decreases and kitchenered (i think i just made up a word?) closed.
Knitting this sock was honestly really fun and extremely addictive. I have already begun its mate and I can tell this sock knitting thing is going to become a problem.
So much so, I made a project tote last night just to hold my socky patterning/knitting progress.
This is the sock progress this morning. The wee strip of white on the bottom right is the waste yarn, holding the live stitches for the afterthought heel. A great tutorial on afterthough heels can be found here. This simple sock is basically a knitted tube until you get to a 1/2 inch or inch before the toe and begin your decreases.
I am still unsure if I will go for it and actually close the toe with the kitchener stitch or another grafting method. Any advice one way or the other would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!
The cup of tea is twinings with my honey and milk and the fabric is a fabulous little gem I picked up at Hancock's store closing sale with a dainty cherry blossom print. So precious. It has become a tablecloth for the time being.
OK, off to knit a toe!
Much of my family is from Virginia, Richmond and around. A majority of them still live there.
My heart goes out to you Virginia.
So, I am knitting my first little pair of socks. The hand dyed yarn is some I am working on for the new Madtosh "tuff sock" yarns for the shop. This yarn is fabulous, with a nice and tightly twisted ply for some seriously long wearing and durable little socks. I am also really smitten with the stitch definition in these suckers. Each little stitch just pops out at ya!
And since I love this sock yarn sooo much. Look for it with a couple new faces in the shop soon.
Meet the newbies:
silk lace - all the madtosh color ways you love in some yummy 100% hand dyed lace yarn.
soft sock - the good old madtosh sock yarn, squishy soft and 462 freakin yards long.
luxury sock - (new!) 50% Superwash Merino 50% Tencel - 400 yards of pure divinity and silky luster.
tuff sock - (new!) Superwash Merino with a round firm twist to the yarn which makes for a very hard wearing and durable sock yarn with great stitch definition to show off those fabulously hand dyed stitches mind you.
As for the fiber fest:
We really had a blast, tornadoes and all. Yes, a tornado touched down not to far from us on Friday night. Such fun and no surprise with the way Texas weather can change at the drop of a cowboy hat.
We met so many new people and I was introduced to the concept of afterthought heels. Yes, I know most of you have already heard of them. But hey, it's new to me and exactly the heel that I will be adding to my first little sock.
I also got to look inside Mary Kay's book, (hello Mary Kay) Sensational Knitted Socks. Inside are some great patterns for newbies and get this, the patterns are written for 4 or 5 dpn's and circs. You get to choose. Fabulous darlings, fabulous.
I finished the back on the tank top pattern and have cast on for the front, which given the size 13 needles I am using should not take too long. But those socks. I just can't put those little suckers down, I am telling you. I am starting to see why they are so addicting. They're small, easy to carry around, fast, instant gratification type knitting. Perfect for a Gemini.
Headed to the fiber fest this weekend with a carload of this:
More when I return.
Goodness!
Thanks to all of you who volunteered to be a test knitter. The response was overwhelming and I am soooo appreciative to everyone. I am always surprised by the generosity of you all.
As for this weekend. I am headed for the DFW Fiber Fest taking place Friday-Sunday. So if you are local or in town, stop by my booth and say hello!! I always love meeting fellow fibery peeps.
In prep for the event I have been dying up skeins like a madwoman (or man). I have even come up with a few new colorways, which will arrive in the shop shortly. Attempting to get the perfect shade of Robin's egg blue has been a challenge but I finally managed it and matched it up with a twig brown for a gorgeous colorway, which is properly named, Robin's Nest. I'm keepin a few of those for myself. I think they would make a perfect pair of knee socks.
An idea for a knitting pattern has been floating around in my head for awhile, so I finally put it down on paper.
The yarn is organic cotton from Blue Sky Alpacas and is smooth and soft. The swatch worked up nicely on larger needles and it is making a quick but fun knit. I worked on it a great deal last night while watching Doctor Zhivago.
.
Goodness, I love that movie, but it always makes me feel soooo cold! And Jule Christie's up-swept hair and nude lipstick is so mod and chic in a 1965 kinda way. And that soundtrack. Well I have that too of course. My mom was BIG on theater and musicals when I was a wee one. I honestly know all the words to Oklahoma, My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, Funny Girl, West Side Story.... the list goes on.
I said all of that to say this. The pattern above will be available soon and I can't wait to share it. I added seamstress elements to it with a gathered hemline and some fabric incorporated. Yummy. It is always fun to combine the best of both worlds (sewing and knitting in this case).
OK, now back to dying and a little Martha Wainwright.
Calling all TEST KNITTERS!!!!
I am working on a new sock pattern that I would like to post on the site. I would like to round up a few test knitters to work out any possible kinks in the pattern before I post it.
If you would like to volunteer, drop me a line at madeline@madelinetosh.com and I will send you a copy of the pattern. The pattern is titled "Simple Socks" and is perfect for beginners as well as old hats.
It is snowing here. Yes, it is snowing in Texas. Highly unusual would be the understatement of the century on that one. So I just received a yummy package of fabrics from denverfabrics, a bit of silk chiffon, cotton lawn and handkerchief linen. More tomorrow.
Happy Easter, Happy Spring from the Ugly Duckling to you and yours...
