Socks, Shawls, and Smitten

Well I have been knitting up a storm. I finished my Kobenhavn sample, and the pattern is soon to be release on KP.

Socks to be gifted

I also made a pair of Kjærlighetsvotter or Lover's mittens for a wedding present. Aren't they great! So that you and your sweetie can hold hands in the mitten. I think I will write up another version of these that are slightly less traditional.


I tested out this lovely blouse and am starting on another test.

I have also finished testing my 3rd shawl design, but it is being kept secret for the time being. =)

Kupaianaha

I have named my second pair of socks in 2011 Kupaianaha. Huh? You may ask, well the yarn for these socks is Knit Picks Stroll in the Aloha colorway. I thought that it was a fun and exciting colorway so I had to come up with a good name. The are also going to my Aunt Jane who is super fun so they needed something special.


“Kupaianaha” is the Hawaiian word for surprising or wonderful and it may have influenced surfers who had grown up with Howdy Doody. How did I come up with this? Well my first thought was to stick with the Hawaiian theme, and I thought of the surfer phrase cowabunga! Which led me to this. ;)

12 socks in 2011

Socks are one of the most common knitted accessories, and anyone who has a pair of custom made socks will tell you that they just fit better and hug your feet. To that end I decided to set myself a goal of knitting 12 pairs of socks this year. January's pair of socks goes to my most devoted enabler my mom :)

Knit using 300 yards of Knit Picks Stroll Heather sock yarn. These were a lovely cuff-down pattern to be found here. My only complaint is that when working cuff-down patterns you must always ensure that you have enough yarn to finish and so I never lengthen the cuff as I would if I were knitting toe-up socks. The toe-up design allows you to make the most of your sock yarn in my opinion.

More socks

If you are unsure if socks will fit you or not it is nice to knit them from the toe up, as you can try them on as you knit them. Like these

which I am knitting at now for Ruben.

Here are the finished Twisted socks that I was knitting on my last post.

which I think have an elven look to them, but I am disappointed with the ribbing on the cuff. The ribbing isn't very stretchy so the cuff does not hug the leg, though it does stay in place.

Knitting 2 socks at once

I might be a fast knitter, but whenever I knit my left and right socks seperately they never seem to match up. You may say this is a good thing, because your feet are usually a little different in size as well. I however, like things to match up. My solution? Knit both the right and left sock at the same time of course! This way they will both have the same tension and number of rows throughout the process.

Take for example this pair of twisted cuff down socks. I am knitting both the right and left sock at the same time! Madness you might say, and perhaps you would be correct. How do I do it? It is all in the CO. First CO one sock as you would normally do to use the magic loop method. Second CO your second sock in the same manner. This way you will have sock #1 in correct position to start knitting, and sock #2 stitches will be on the one needle. Then you need to remove the second sock from the circular needles, I used DPNs, to split them and reposition onto both needles. Then you knit side A of sock #2 (which I have marked with a stitch marker), side A & B of sock #1 and finish the round by knitting side B of sock #2.