My Socks Rock

I've finished up with the Mediumweight Socks That Rock in the Farmhouse colorway. And my socks do rock. I could post a million pictures of them, but I'll just give you a link to the ravelry project page instead. I just improvised the design, but I'm toying with the idea of releasing a pattern anyways. The big question is should it be a pay-for, freebee, or should I not worry about writing up an official pattern.

I also finished up my sock yarn. As much as I wanted the barber pole effect, I had that nagging feeling that the yarn really would have been too light weight. So I went with a navajo ply instead. I'm much happier with the weight. Originally when I was going to do a 2-ply, I had planned to do another pair of ribbed socks. Now I'm not too sure. This yarn will have definite stripes, so it could hold up to a pattern. Does anyone have any good suggestions for a sock pattern that would work with striped yarn? Or should I go ahead and just do another pair of ribbed socks? I would like this to be an easy pattern since this was going to be my relaxing knit. And I'm not tired of ribbing. But I want to match the best pattern I can to this skein. (If anyone is curious, the braid this skein came from can be seen in my Stitches West 2011 post. It's the braid with the really bright yellow by Tanglebella. There was white hiding out in the braid, so the skein isn't as vibrant.)

And after many hiccups and trips to the frog pond, design #8 is almost done. I just have to weave ends and block. (And do the computery bit of the pattern, but I'm not going to count that towards the pattern being nearly done.) That means I only have two more patterns to go! They are both going to be large projects and I have another large secret project that is about to start. So it will still be awhile yet. But still. Two more patterns!

Goal #4: Make Handspun Socks

For the last few years I've made a goal list at the beginning of the year. Usually after I make it, I ignore it until I do my year in review post. I just like to see if my beginning-of-the-year goals match what I actually ended up doing. This year is going to be a little different. I peeked at this year's goals a little early and have decided to actually try to complete #4: Knit a pair of sock with my own hand spun yarn.

I've heard of spinners not liking the barber pole effect that handspun yarn often has. I personally love it. There are very few yarns that I have spun where I didn't want that to happen. Here's the problem. I may have spun the singles a little thin for it to be a two ply. I could chain ply it, but not only would I not get the color effect I want, I'm not really sure how much yardage I would have. (It'll probably become a two ply and I'll just have tiny yarn.) Although any encouragement/ thoughts on the yarn would be appreciated. And for those who might like to know, it's a BFL from Tanglebella. And yes, I did realize (halfway through of course) that it isn't superwash, so it isn't terribly practical for socks. Oh well.