It Summertime

Hello everyone, just wanted to stop in an check out whats going on. Everyones socks look great and I will agree this months pattern is fun and easy, this coming from a beginner knitter. Thanks Annie for a great pattern that I am enjoying doing,but between kids activities and all the extra to do in the summer and the fact it doesn't get dark till 9:45 at night, I now realize why I never get any crafting projects done in the summer, I have been reduced to knitting once a week for a 1/2 during my daughters piano lesson, so needless to say I am not making any outstanding progress, but a least I am relishing that precious 30 min. I hope the summer finds all of you well and having a good time. Take care

Yep, finished mine

The River Valley socks were a nice pattern to knit with a timeless look. Mine were knit toe-up, with short row toes and gusset/heel-flaps. I used the decrease bind-off recommended in the tutorial list and it worked out very well!


Only one small change... I mirrored the zig-zags on each sock by starting the pattern on the second sock at the halfway point (Row 8). A couple more pictures and details can be found in this post. I'm curious to see what Anni will bring us next. : )

June Socks Finished!

River Valley Socks just finished!





Yarn: Tofutsies, color 793
Needles: Crystal Palace size 2 dpn




Thanks for a great pattern, Anni. I'll definitely be making more!

Julie

Finished them with one day to spare!

I finally finished my June socks. I know we had until July 7 to finish, but I wanted to finish up in June and I did. I finished the second sock at 11:14 last evening. When hubby and I went to town to eat I told him that I was not going to bed until the socks were done.

My Aunt wears a size 10 1/2 shoe but these socks look humongous!! I hope they fit.

Judy

June socks finished

I finished these yesterday and have really enjoyed knitting them. The pattern was easy to memorise and quick to knit up.

Unfortunately (for me!), I think these are the second pair of Sockamania socks I've knitted which will be given as a gift - DS has asked if he can give them to his teacher when he leaves her class at the end of July.

Oh well, maybe I'll get to keep next month's! ;0)

New members

If you've e-mailed me about joining then I'll be sorting out the invites tomorrow. I'm tomorrow. I was going to do it tonight but have run out of time now and my daughter is coming home from Brownies in a minute and I've got to gether to bed. So invites will be sorted tomorrow. I'm hoping ot get the July pattenr out on Sunday (although it's not ready yet). But we've got friends coming for lunch so if I'm too tired in the evening to do it will you all forgive me if I do it on Monday? I was going to try a new system suggested by Kathryn but I haven't had time to look into it yet.

And remember if you've not finished your sock yet you've got till 7th July to get them done and post a pic. I'm doing the draw a week late because we started this month's sock a week late. But from July we're back on track again.

Good luck everyone, and have a lovely weekend.

Little River Valley

I wanted to use the leftovers of my Sweetheart socks to make a pair of socks for DD - so some careful calculations were in order ....

To make the most of the yarn (custom dyed by the wonderful Chrissy at Brightdyes) I decided toe up was the way to go and DD struggles to get short row heels over her chubby little feet so we needed a gusset & heel flap.

I cast on 22 stitches - turned the toe and did 2 pattern repeats before increasing for the gusset. After I'd finished the heel (oo the maths - my brain hurt!!) I did another 3 pattern repeats and cast off with a purl 2 together cast off.

They fit DD & she seems happy with them!

At last!!

I've actually managed to cast on a sock this month, and here's my progress so far. I'm using lorna laces 4ply yarn.

Just a quickie.

Just a quick note as I've got so much to do today. Yarn to re-skein, parcels to wrap, ironing etc.

The draw for the June sock will take place on 7th July (not August - thank you Barb for pointing it out). So you've still got lots of time to get them finished. I'm sending out the July pattern on 1st July as planned though. I'm looking into a new way of doing this thanks to Kathryn.

I'm opening up for some new members too. If you've emailed me you'll get an invite by the end of the week.

Everyone's socks are looking gorgeous and its so nice to see that some people have tried toe up for the first time. The July socks are nearly ready. Not saying anything more about them now. You'll all have to wait and see.

Keep up all the good work everyone and keep knitting.

Tubing

I'm naming this post "Tubing", because that's the pace I seem to be making with the June River Valley socks. (For those of you not familiar with the term, tubing is stretching out across an inflatable inner tube and lazily floating down a river - it's incredibly popular in my home state of Louisiana.) I've been busy with work and moving into a new apartment, then unpacking and getting settled in, so not much progress so far. I'm not sure if I'll finish these in time, but I'll certainly try.

Here's where I've knit to so far:


This is my first attempt at toe-up socks and it wasn't too bad. The only thing I'm having trouble with is figuring out the fit - it seems harder to tell this way. I think they may be too big, even though I did go down a needle size thanks to Anni's warnings. But, I'll continue knitting and see how it goes.

Bamboo River Valley Socks for me!

Toe up with short row toe and gusset and heel-flap. This was a new way of doing a toe-up heel flap for me and I like the way it looks very much. Does this type have a name, Anni (or anyone)?
Socks were knitted in Opal Bamboo, using 2mm Hiya Hiya circs, couldn't make the socks longer as I'd already knitted footies from the yarn.
Lovely pattern Anni. Thank you.

My River Valley Socks are done!

After my failure of last month I really wanted to finish this pair, and I did. The yarn might not have been the most appropriate as it pooled in various weird ways but I like them anyways. I finished them yesterday morning and wore them that day.
The pattern was great, easy but interesting. I did mine toe-up and used the purl2together cast off and I loved it.

You can see more pictures in my flickr account by clicking on the picture. The yarn used was Two Waters Fiberworks in a merino and silk blend in an unknown colorway (possibly Geranium).

Valerie

Thanks, Julie and Anni

I did the sewn cast off and it worked just great, except for the fact that I did it really loosely and I ran out of yarn about 3 stitches shy of the end. Had to graft yarn so that I could finish, but it does not even show. The first sock is now complete and I am on the second one. Hooray!

Judy

The LONG sock

Here is my first sock. It is just as long as it looks and it took a long time to finish.

The yarn is Opal and I used #1 ebony Sox Stix. I liked the needles ok, but I don't think that they are really worth the cost. I already have mine bent a bit and I don't knit tight.

All I need to do to this sock is bind off. Since this is the first time I have done a sock toe up I don't really know for sure how I am going to bind off. I have been looking for stretchy bind offs. I need to get it done so that I can start my next sock. I really want to have these done by the end of the month. I am running out of time. LOL

Judy

failed again...............

I will be taking your pattern on holiday Anni and trying to get a pair done, but it won't be in time for this month, again..................so sorry, I will try to do better, I promise.

Anklets

My 10yearold requested anklets...

They're done toe-up, a method I used for the first time earlier this year knitting Anni's "Falling in love"socks (yes, I know, there should be a link...) Great socks, but the short rows were fiddly, and I had problems with the wraps, they didn't look good. The socks were lovely, though!

Anyway- I decided to give it another try, on these kid-sized anklets. I ended up using a figure8- cast on for the toe, and there is a shortrowheel, but I knitted the two last stitches together on every row,until I had 9 st left, then I picked up one stitch at the end of each row until I was back on the proper stitchcount. It worked like a charm. I used the crochetneedle for castoff- taking 3 stitches together, then 5 st of crochet. She likes them, so do I.

Thanks again for a great pattern, Anni!

River Valley Socklets

I feel a bit cheeky posting my contribution to this month's FOs as I had only enough yarn to make very short ones.

I did enjoy the pattern though, and plan to knit it up again; next time with a longer leg.

The yarn is Knit Picks Bare, that I dyed with Kool-Aid. The socklets were started with a Turkish CO, and the toe was increased using M1L & M1R. They were knitted on 2.25mm Magic Loop, and worked with short-row heels. I managed a couple of inches on the leg before running out of yarn. The longer version of this story is on my blog. :) They're a wee bit baggy (I'll go down to 2mm for the next pair), but I still love them.

Thanks for the pattern, Anni.

Put a Sock in it

number 2 is started!

One down one to go. Like everyone else i'm really enjoying this knit. The pattern is easy to memorize but still keeps your attention.
I did 4 repeats of the pattern before starting the heel cause I like me a long leg. Although these aren't for me, they are going to be a birthday gift for my mother in law.
I'm using Paton's Kroy in Flax, I really like how the pattern stands out on a plain yarn.
Off to continue with sock 2!!

June is done!

Here are my June socks which I finished Saturday. I loved the pattern. As others have said, it was easy to memorize without becoming boring. These were knit in KnitPicks Gloss. The color is burgundy and they look much prettier in person.

1st June Sock Done

I finished the first sock in 6 days! I can't believe how quickly it knit up have almost finished the short rows for the toe of the second one!

Lace holds no fear now!

I finished these earlier on today, and I'm really pleased with the way they've turned out.

Until last month, I'd never knit from a chart before, and until now I never thought that I'd be confident enough to knit lace. Thanks Anni for your wonderful patterns. :)

These were knit top down in Sunbeam St Ives 4 ply. The blue yarn has a subtle red thread plied through it which adds a bit of variation to the colour.

Loving this pattern!

I started my socks last week, but wasn't able to work much on them until yesterday. I'm loving this pattern; it's easy to remember, but not so easy as to be boring. Here's my progress as of yesterday afternoon:

I'm using Tofutsies, color #793.

Crystal Palace dpn's, size 2 (2.75mm)

I've finished another pattern repeat since taking this picture. I do think that the next time I make these (and there will be a next time!) I'll use a smaller needle for the leg. It's a bit loose on my leg, but not so loose that I can't wear it.

I'm really enjoying seeing all the different yarns being used and all the beautiful finished socks. Hopefully, I'll be posting a finished pair soon :-)

Thanks for such a great pattern, Anni!

Done!

Here are my River Valley socks, knit toe up with short row heels (both a first for me). The first sock took six days and the second, only two! I got some good knitting time in this weekend!
I used size 2 dpns and Mama E's C*EYE*BER Fiber in Sarah.

You're all doing so well

I've loved looking at all the progress pics and finished socks this week. It's been a busy week and i've not had time to pop on every day. But I'm glad you all seem to be enjoying this months socks. Good to see so many knitting toe up too. I've not finished my pair yet. I only did one sock of each version to test knit the pattern before sending it out and I found my 2nd toe up sock today - I've only got the toe done, but instead of carrying on with that I cast on for a pair of plain toe up sock in Garnstudio Fabel for Simon and I've got the July pair on the needles.

Good news - I've decided to allow a few more members in for July. So if you've e-mailed me about joining over the last few weeks you'll get an invite within the next couple of weeks.

Tonight I'm doing lace knitting. I've got a new scarf design otn in Handmaiden Silk Lace (which I got at GetKnitted last week) and I've swatched for a new shawl design in a new single ply merino lace which I'm thinking about getting for my Etsy shop. It's so gorgeous to knit with and the colour I dyed it in looks gorgeous. Pics on my blog soon.

Happy knitting everyone. Can't believe some have finished already. I'll get around to starting a finshed list for this month soon. I was thinking I'd give everyone to July 7th to finish the June sock as the pattern went out late but I'll send out the july pattern on time so that we get back on track.

River Socks Completed

The last end is woven in and the River Socks are completed. I chose Fyberspates yarn in a blend of greens and using #2dpns. If I were to knit this pattern again I would use #1 dpns for the foot and then switch up to the 2's for the heel and ankle. The pattern was so easy to follow and if asked to describe it in one word, I would say "relaxing".

Thank's Anni for another great pattern.

Barb W.

OOPS

That should have read OPAL yarn. I am in the breakfast nook and it is dark and I did not notice the typo in time.

Judy

A big foot

My aunt kept hinting for me to make a pair of socks for her, so I am making these for her. I am using Opan yarn and I don't really like the feel of it after working with Tofutsies and Bamboo, so I am sure that I would never be happy with the yarn so it is a Christmas present for her. She has big feet - 10 1/2 so they are taking longer than my last pair. Oh, well. Maybe I will get a pic in progress taken tomorrow.
Love the pattern, Anni. It is so easy to memorize but not so easy that it is boring.

Judy

I'm Getting There

I'm almost to the heel on both socks (doing the socks from the toe-up). This time, I'm finding that the Dancing yarn from Knit Picks in the ballet color (that I started to use for May Day socks) is working so much better for this pattern.

I can't believe how easy the pattern is to memorize yet the design looks so intricate. Nice job, Anni!

My daughter keeps eyeing this pair-in-the-works - what to do? what to do?

Will post pics as soon as they are done - next week, maybe?

Summer Socks in Progress

Here are my socks in progress. I worked 2 pattern repeats for the leg as the yarn is 100% cotton and I did not see any reason for a longer summer sock. I am to the point of grafting one and turning the heel on the second. This pattern is a lot of fun!

June River Socks Complete

I can't even begin to express how much fun these socks were to knit. The pattern is easy to learn but not totally mindless that it gets boring. I cast off last night and they are blocking now. Yarn used is the Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton but I am not sure of the colour. I used Knit Picks circular needles in size 2mm or US 0. They fit even better than the May socks. When I make them again I am going to do the cuff with one more pattern repeat than I did this time and I will still add the 10 rounds of k1p1 ribbing for the border. Great job Anni. Thank you once again for a very fun knit.

RiverValley done!

Wove in the ends not more than 10 minutes ago! These are done top down, only change is the toe, I've used a 3needle bindoff instead of grafting.
Yarn: Silja strømpegarn, superwash, 80%wool,20%nylon, 50gr=150m,26st=10cm, colour 310. It is actually more blue than the photo.
Very nice pattern-thank you, Anni!
I'll be using the pattern for a pair of toe-up anklets for my 10yearold, figuring 4 patternrepeats will be enough.
Looking forward to July:-)
Have a nice day!

One down in just under a week!

I have to say I love this pattern. This was the first time I knitted a sock toe up and my first short row heel. I had a great time knitting this one and it was fast! I started Friday the 8th and finished today, Thursday the 14th. Here is the first sock, knitted from Mama E's C*EYE*BER Fiber:

I hope to finish the second one quickly as well. This will be the quickest pair of socks I've ever knitted! Onto sock #2!!!

One down

I finished the first sock last night and I cast on for the second. This is a great pattern and I will definitely use it again. I used a solid color and I think next time I will try a varigated.

First Toe Started

I'm doing the toe up version. I started the toe and the color was pooling strangely, only on top of the foot. The sole looked great! So, I ripped and started over. I'm much happier with the results, this time.

River Valley Socks

When I received the pattern for this month's sock I was really excited, it looked like I would be able to redeem my May's failure! : ) The pattern looked like it would be fairly simple and wouldn't take too long.

The next day I cast on using Two Waters Silk/Merino in what I believe is the Geranium colorway. I am using 2.5mm needles and the stitch count is working very well for my foot.

I have just finished knitting the heel (you can see the cute little stripes I got on the second picture). I hope to be finished with sock number one by the end of the week. I think I just might make it this time!

Africian River Bend

(Sorry if this is a duplicate, the first one never showed up!)


As it turns out, I didn't have the water shades of blue with me. And I was not going to wait till I got home to start these socks. Tiger (in merino/tencil) became the colorway of choice. I love the dye pattern. There really is neither striping nor pooling.

Adding a bit of ribbing on the top since slouchy socks are not me, I grafted the second toe this morning, then had to settle for the van floor as photo location.
knit on 2,5 mm rosewood.

I adored this pattern. The repeat was easy (and almost, but not quite became mindless knitting).

Now back to Sockapoolza

Holly
Proseknitic

"Africian" River Bend

As it turns out, I didn't have the water shades of blue with me. And I was not going to wait till I got home to start these socks. Tiger (in merino/tencil) became the colorway of choice. I love the dye pattern. There really is neither striping nor pooling.

Adding a bit of ribbing on the top since slouchy socks are not me, I grafted the second toe this morning, then had to settle for the van floor as photo location.
knit on 2,5 mm rosewood.

I adored this pattern. The repeat was easy (and almost, but not quite became mindless knitting).

Now back to Sockapoolza

Holly
Proseknitic

June Socks-in-Progress

I've just turned the heel on my first sock and am really enjoying this pattern. It knits up quickly and is easy to memorise too.

I'm knitting these toe up with Fyberspates 90% Alpaca/10% nylon sock yarn on 2.5mm Addi Turbo circs.

World Wide Knit In Public Day Knitting

Yesterday was World Wide Knit In Public day. Here in Toronto, we had our TTC Knit A Long which meant lots of knitting time. I finished most of the first sock on the crawl and the first sock is now done. I worked it from the toe up working the sock the same way I did the May socks. Other than that the only thing I did was add a k1p1 ribbing at the top because I was worried without it the socks wouldn't stay up. The yarn is Lana Grossa Meilinweit but I am not sure of the colour because I lost the label when I split the yarn into two 50 gram balls.

June River Socks in Progress

Love this pattern, so simple and easy to memorize. I am doing the toe up version and have already turned the heel and now heading up the cuff. Kind of like a salmon swimming upstream only easier. I chose Fyberspates yarn in a blend of greens and using #2dpns. Might be a little big, but I am afraid if I go down to a #1 the socks will be too tight.

Barb W.

It is a Miracle

I wanted to do this post Thursday night, but couldn't get to the computer, but a miracle as occurred for me. I finally finished after countless attempts ONE of the May Day socks!! I am so excited!! I have never knitted a sock pattern before, I was running around here Thursday nite with the one sock on, gloating about how great I am. My son looked at me and said " All this for ONE sock!", he just doesn't understand. I wanted to thank Anni and others here at the site for helping me when I didn't understand what I was doing and encouraging me. I also want to thank everyone that posted different pictures of their completed socks. It really helped me to compare my progress and know I was doing it right. I would show you a picture of my ONE sock, but I am still learning how to do such things on the computer, and right now my brain can only handle completing the ONE sock. LOL

Kelly

When i sent out the patterns yesterday I got a 'Delivery Status Notificaiton' saing your e-mail had failed. Did you get it? If not let me have another e-mail addy and I'll try again.

May Prize Winner

I finally remembered to do the May Prize Draw this morning. Emily drew the winners for me.

The prizes were donated by Chrissy at Bright Dyes.

And the winners are............................

................................................................... KATHRYN and JACKIE KNITS.

I'll e-mail you girls. Well done.

The June Prize will be a skein of your choice from my new collection of merino sock yarns.

Here's the batch I dyed yesterday.

Love this pattern!

I've just finished the first repeat and I love this pattern. Not too hard, but not boring. It works great using 2 circular needles. I'm using KnitPicks Gloss in a burgundy color. I don't know how the pictures will turn out when I'm finished, but it looks lovely in person.

Thanks Anni for a great pattern.
Paula

Off and running!

Great pattern Anni! Thank you!!!

I decided to attempt toe up for the very first time and it was way easier than I thought. I didn't even need the tutorials, I just followed the directions! Brilliant huh?

I chose Mama E's C*EYE*BER Fiber in a pretty mix of light greens and blue. This is the yarn I finished my toes with on the May sock.

I'm well on my way, one toe down and onto the chart!

Found My Error

It took fresh eyes but this morning I tried the pattern again and everything is working just as it should. Easy pattern, knits quickly, but it does feel a bit loose. I am going to give it a full set then decide if I should rip back and start again using a #1 dpn.

Barb W.

River Valley -- HELP!

I received the pattern, chose the yarn, wound the yarn and then began the toe up version. I finished the toe and started the first row of the pattern. I have 33 sts on my needle, but no matter how many times I try to work the first row of the pattern I still come up with 3 additional sts at the end. I keep going back to the pattern and counting the sts and there are only 30 sts. Am I missing something/doing something wrong? HELP!

Barb W.

Patterns e-mailed

I've e-mailed all hte patterns out. I hope i havent missed any this time. I've been a lot more careful this time to make sure I don't leave anyone out. e-mail me if you don't get the pattern though.

Also I forgot to convert the MS word file to pdf before i sent it out. If you need a pdf please e-mail me and I'll send you a pdf version.

Any problems with the pattern please let me know. I feel with the trip to Norway and everything things got a bit rushed and I'm worried I haven't checked the patterns for typos as carefully as I'd like so I'm just keeping my fingers crossed this month. Let me know if you spot any problems.

Hope you all get lots of time for knitting this weekend. I'm off to bed now, as I'm exhausted.

Nite all!

I must apologise for the photos. I really struggled to get any decent photos of these socks. They're so much nice in 'real life'. They're zig zag lace separated by purl stitches giving them a nice 'rib stretch'.

I've not forgotten...

.... that I promised to get the pattern out this morning. Its just i haven't had much time to sit down and get it done today. Hardly slept last night and know I should have gotten the June pattern sorted then instead of setting up an Etsy shop. LOL. I've been absolutely shattered today and have been trying to get the unpacking done. Also came home to a dining room table full of ironed clothes (courtesy of my lovely cleaner and inlaws) and it's taken me ages to put all that away too. And with all the kids stuff etc I've not had a minute to spare. Off to add the photos to the pattern now adn then I'll start e-mailing them out. If I don't fall asleep first. If you don't get yours tonight please give me until tomorrow lunch time. I'll do the May Draw and notification tomorrow lunch time (ish) too.

Finally finished

I used Merino wool from Fleece Artist to knit May's pattern. I thought that I had them done on the 29th, but I made the foot too short on the second one by one pattern repeat. I didn't realize it until I had blocked it! This past weekend I ripped the toe and reknit, adding the repeat.
These were knit on US size 1 needles with the larger pattern size. They fit a foot that is 8.25 inches in diameter and length. The pattern was fun to work with and I enjoyed knitting these socks!

I'm looking forward to the next one, now!!

Yes, this is only a half-a-sock. Yes, this is as far as it's getting. Dispite futzing with needle size, yarn size, and gauge...I still can't get this sucker over my heel without pullllllling like crazy, although the top is about as loose as I'm comefortable with. I'm afraid I've given up. This hit the frog pond about two minutes after the shot was taken.

Admitting defeat

I've made a decision. I got Simonto take some photos of me modelling the June socks yesterday and the ydidn't turn out all that brilliant. Then I had problems trying to edit them and I'm still not hapy with the result. In addition, I've been totally exhausted and very busy for the last few days as we've been trying to have a bit of a holiday.

I double checked all the e-mail addresses yesterday ready to start e-mailing out the patterns. I typed up the patterns at home and e-mailed them from one of my e-mail addresses to another so that I could open them here in Norway and save them on my parents' computer and now I've lost the attachment and I just can't face retyping the patterns again when I've got them saved on my pc at home.

So the June pattern will be delayed. I'm returning home on Wednesday afternoon and first thing Thursday I will get new photos done, patterns finalised and patterns e-mailed to everyone during Thursday. I hope that's okay with everyone. This unexpected trip to Norway has messed up my plans a bit and we've been so busy while we've been here. We've seen my Gran every day (as I fear that this holiday may be the last time I'll see her), done family stuff and tried to do some holiday stuff too. And it's left me feeling totally exhausted by the end of the day.

I'll update the list of those who've finished the May Day pattern and I'll do the draw on Thursday too and announce the winners on the blog. I'll also e-mail out the June pattern on Thursday and post pics of the yarn prizes for June. The July pattern will be sent out on time (as long as anything unforeseen doesn't happen) but I'll give you all an extra week to finish you June socks before Ido the June draw. But that's a whole month off yet so I'll decide on the details for that later.

I hope the delay of the june pattern is okay with everyone. Look out for your e-mail on Thursday. I'll post a message on here when the e-mails have gone out.

And again, a huge thank you to all my online knitting friends who've sent me so many kind messages of support since the death of my Grandfather. I really appreciate all your support.

And I love seeing all the finisshed May Day socks. If you've not finished yet please post pics when you've completed your pair.