Housekeeping!

Just wanted to remind you to finish up your socks before the end of December this year. All non Queen Bee's will have their badges the first week of January. All Queen Bees will have their set the last week of November.

The blog will continue to remain open for members to post their socks and gain badges until the 31 December 2009 after which it will be archived.

Prize draw winner for the Tear My Sole was Mel Howes. Woot!

Look! Another one!

The penultimate pair (for me) of the old club socks - Tear My Soul. Sadly I don't think I'll be making the Karenina socks :( I've tried 3 times, and failed miserably each time - not because of the pattern, I hasten to add, but because of my mistakes and getting the fit wrong. I'll have to find an alternative for the yarn and try and get it right after all that frogging!

But these were successful :D

Nearly there!

I finished this pair ages ago but have only just got to posting them on here for some reason... 2 more pairs to go! If I make these again I'll do a ribbed cuff as they are a little big for me, but they are perfect for slobbing around the house on a rainy day :)

Badges?

Quick question - when do we get the final badges etc?
And did anyone win the prize for the last installment of "socks completed"?

Hopscotch on a windy afternoon

Another pair off the needles :D 2 and a half pairs to go... I might actually be able to finish the club packages this year ;) Lovely yarn - very comfy on, and the pattern the first time round, I confess bored me a little, but when I knit the second sock, I couldn't see why I'd left it so long. It was so quick and easy, and fun too, the second time round! Obviously I was in the wrong place when I started the first sock, and being spring now makes it feel like a new pattern :) Also, the photo was taken in screaming winds in my back garden, in a rush :S

Finally, some Kareninas

Complete with lousy timing, now that the weather is starting to warm up.

Nevermind; they look good in the sun.

Finished my Cucumbers finally.........

Actually finished these last Sunday night posted pics on Rav and forgot to put them here on the blog. So here they are, not great pics as they were taken at 11.30pm but none the less finished and all done. I had to show a lot of perseverence with this pair and I love the outcome. They have to be the socks that challenged my knitting ability the most and where I had the steepest learning curve that even involved a few slips and falls along the way.

So here is the proof...........


So I am now looking forward to completing my badge collection and sewing them onto my socktopus bag.

Finished

I've finished my Hopscotch socks at lunch - Just in time to complete the year

Tear my Sole

woohoo...I have finished them!

Not sure I like the colour....I enjoyed the pattern though and will wear these socks with my clogs to show off the pretty stitches up the back of the sock!

One more done - half a sock to go

Well I've finished my Tear My Soles and only have the leg of my last Hopscotch to go.

Tear My Sole Modifications -

• I mirrored the eyelets on the other side of the crossovers and left out the crisscrosses on the back of the leg
• I used the Cat Bordhi Cedar heel architecture
• Through the heel section I decreased the number of stitches between the crossovers on the top of the foot from 14 to 8 so that the eyelets would not be on the bottom of my foot
• When I find the right colour ribbon I will thread ribbon through the eyelets. I am looking for a nice bright blue to contrast with the brown.

I am past the heel on my second Hopscotch. Unfortunately my camera has gone on holiday for the week so I'm hoping I can still get my badge for finishing without the photo.

Finito

May I present my final sock club 2008 socks:



A variation on the Tear my Sole pattern rather than a strict adherence to the pattern! I added 3sts to allow for my big feet and as you can see I have substituted the woven stitches for a series of garter ridges.

I love the socks and I looooooove the colour so these are another definite hit!

Thanks Alice for such a great inaugural year - I'm off to cast on the first socks for this year!

All Done!

Hurrah for broken computers. Loved this pattern more than I thought I would, AND finally learnt how to pick up wraps properly - thanks Alice!

I'm all done now, so off to start the 1st pair of this years.

At Last!

I've finished my last pair. Phew!

Getting There!

Tear my sole are complete, now to crack on with the green lacey ones. Oh yes, I'm a sucker for the promise of a badge!

Hopscotch photos

I love these socks...I have been wearing them and so maybe you can see a bit of wear on the bottoms? Gorgeous colours and design!

Just working on the ginger ones....love the design :^)

Anna T signing off Project Socktopus 2008

Well - I'm extremely pleased with myself.

My theme of Tear My Sole socks are done! And this finishes all the 2008 parcels. Yea! I have really enjoyed myself, and am now going to cast on for the first of this years...

Tear my sole I've finally finished.............

Yep I have finished these in less than a month starting them back in 2008 on New Years Eve.
So here there are....



So what did a I learn this time around?
I will do anything for a badge. I have to complete sets.
I am definately a process knitter, I was going to do them as per instructions regardless, I don't like ginger yarns, I love hazelknits. So a good job a won a skein in cabbage rose for completing my last pair of socks.

Just the cucumber ones to go and I am going to nail them before the end of Feb.

Mosaic socks at last!

Finally finished these - I don't know why I put them down for so long - now I've finished them I adore them! Probably my joint favourite of the year next to the Fiori di Zuccas.

Now to tackle the Tear my Soles socks - they intimidate me a bit! Congratulations to those who have finished them already. I must buckle down and find the stitch that appeared to be missing when I started the first row of the pattern after the lace ribbing!

Almost impossible

To photograph this morning, I certainly couldn't capture the heel detail.

Lovely yarn, glad I bought some more!

Very effective and strangely quick pattern.

Signing off for 2007/8.

SY

Any ideas

I'm lining up the final club instalment as the next pair of socks on the needles but my feet are distinctly not in the small-medium category - I take a UK8 and I have industrial ankles - does anyone have any tips for an easy way to upsize the Tear my Sole socks as I'd rather add extra stitches than go up a couple of needle sizes, but without totally distorting the pattern.

It looks like I could either add more to the front panels or to the thinner panels that border the heel pattern but I'm not sure how stretchy the heel pattern is.

All thoughts happily considered :)

Hopscotch Finished!

It's amazing what the lure of badges and a broken computer can get you to do!! Loved this pattern, now to get the last 2 done

Happy New Year!

Wanted to wish everyone a fab start to 2009. Looking forward to seeing all your finished socks! This blog will be open until 31 Dec 2009 for you to blog all your finished socks and get your completion badges. For knitters aiming for Queen Bee, 28 Feb 2009 is the deadline to get all your socks up on this blog!

Thank you to everyone who joined the club and shared this crazy socky adventure with me. I had a wonderful time getting to know you all. For those who are continuing the journey - see you on the 2009 blog (I'll be migrating that shortly to wordpress but will notify you when the time comes). For those who aren't, a huge hug from me and the hope that I will see you again soon! Happy happy 2009!

Alice x

...and a happy new year

Loads of travelling this Christmas hols has meant that I appear to have got the final Socktopus sock finished before the new year was out!
I hope everyone had a relaxing holiday. My top pressie this year was a yarn swift, so I can have some lovely yarn cakes to knit from in the new year!

Theme on Karenina

I've ended up not doing the true Karenina, but a similar theme. The slipped stitch pattern kept coming up way too small for my clod hoppers. So I went with a bit of Karenina.

Do these earn me a badge Alice?

The purple and gold colours were much admired as I knitted these over Christmas. Beautiful colours and pattern!

Neighbourhood Tunnel

Just realised that I've never posted my finished Neighbourhod Tunnel here, so here goes!

Completion Badges

All completion badges for Kareninas, Neighbourhood Tunnels, Mosaics & Fioris posted on this blog to date were sent out in the last parcels. If you have not received completion badges for socks you've posted, please can you let me know?

If you have completed socks, but not posted on this blog and want some badges, you know what to do! ;)

PRIZE DRAW

Of our 10 completers - Yogicknitter gets a little goody in the post!  

Aaaaaaaaaaand they're off!

Parcels are out, cut off for completion prize is now!

Happy knitting!!!!

On your marks... get set.....

Alrightee my wee socktopods - last club kit will be shipping in a few days' time. Last chance to get your Hopscotch Socks finished photo'd and posted here on the blog!

I'll be counting out the badges for the first 4 socks and popping them in your parcels. Last 2 badges and the Queen Bee badge will be along shortly.

Given the Christmas rush and all the end of the year madness, Queen Bee award contenders have until the end of Feb 09 to complete all 6 socks. So long as you can post your sockies up on this blog before the end of Feb 09, you can claim your Queen Bee status (and badge!).

I also have extra skeins of Toadstool which I'll post up in the shop on Monday if you would like to snag another skein.

Hope you are all looking forward to the holiday season - I for one am looking forward to Xmas, family and some roast goose!

Flora de Zucca

Well - photographic evidence of another pair finished.

If I sent my mind to it, I can finish a pair of socks in a couple of weeks. It took me just less than a week to knit a sock. So why have I let these languish for so long?

Another pair down, another to go before Christmas. But my eye is a wandering'. I hear the siren call of something (just about anything) else.

Hopscotch and Kareninas

I actually finished both these socks at least two washes ago, but here they are:

Hopscotch


I loved everything about these - the pattern, the yarn... such bouncy, sproingy stuff, lovely.

And I finished the Kareninas by the lovely Probably Jane...

Great pattern and, once again, beautiful yarn - thanks so much!



Just the Mosaics to go and then I'm all caught up!

I finally got there.........

Yep it's late on Sunday night but I wasn't going to bed until they were finished and blogged. The photos are not so good being taken so late so I will add some better ones at a later date. Just really pleased to have finished so all I need to do now is finish the affectionately renamed Cucumber socks - you all know the ones I mean!
Anyway here they are.....





So the evidence there really are two, although I have to say I was really tempted to borrow the one at Socktopus HQ and photograph it alongside the one I had already finished! Naughty thoughts. Anyway all done and already excited about the next package. I am trying to work out what new skill there is left for me to learn on this one as every other pair has brought me a new challenge.

Crossing the Finish Line

I'm feeling pretty proud of myself (for a change). I've finished Hopscotch!

Before the next parcel has come out - yee hah. Which means that I'm hoping I count in the next draw Alice?

And now I'm doing the Zucchini Flower socks - only a few months behind. And after that - Karenina. I must say that I'm loving all this deadline knitting (not). All self imposed because I want my badges...

Last Parcel!

Okay the last parcel is coming up. I'm so sorry but it is delayed. I am hoping to get it all printed and ready for posting next week so that you'll get it before Christmas!

As for new addresses - if you have a new address, please can you email me at alice AT socktopus.co.uk with LAST PARCEL ADDRESS as the subject header so the new parcel knows where to go?

And that gives you a little more knitting time for the hopscotch socks - looking forward to the photos! :)

Alicex