Manly Gift Along

Thuja Socks

Hey everyone!  I've completed another pair of socks for my hubby:

These are the Thuja Socks from Knitty.com.  If you'd like more info or see more pictures, you can check out my blog.  Thanks!  Tiennie

yet more socks from me

Hi everyone!  I've finished another pair of socks for my hubby:

I don't think they're all that pretty.  Eeek!  If you'd like to see more pictures, you can find it here.  Thanks!  Tiennie

Nearly Done with the Front

This may not seem as if it is a week's worth of work, but it is:

I'm nearly done with the right front--there's just one more repeat of the Celtic Braid and straight knitting (no increases) up to the shoulder. The construction details are in the recent entries in my blog.

To be on the safe side, I plan to chart the left front, although I've done all the thinking I need about the design to get this far. Only the buttonholes will make the left front a little harder than the right front. But the placement is simple because the buttons will fit in the middle of the S-cable (row 10) and there is none of the trial and error that usually goes along with buttonhole placement.

The real challenge for me will be the collar because that requires short rows--but the cogs in my brain are spinning and I have some ideas about how to get the needed flare to make the collar stand up and roll nicely.

Plain ol' Socks

My hubby Matt requested some plain ol' socks - no pattern, dark color:

I think I've succeeded.  I love knitting socks and am glad that Matt likes to wear hand-knitted socks.  More info and pics can be found here if you're so inclined.  Thanks!  Tiennie

# One Husband Socks & Pattern

Don't ya'll love knitting for the man/men in your lives?! I sure do! Lonnie is showing off his socks everywhere! During intermission at our daughter's dance recital I was knitting a sock (it happened to also be WWKIP Day), some people began asking questions and the next thing I saw was my husband with his pants leg up showing off his socks to a lobby full of people! I was one proud knitter!!! He went on to tell people (thankfully part of these people were family!) that they would never wear another sock if they had ever had a sock knit especially for your foot! I could hardly leave, my head was so big! Just had to share that with ya'll! Okay, the socks that I've designed and knit for him this time have reason for the name, especially after his display of his socks last week, LOL! The pattern for # One Husband Socks is found right here. Don't you so understand the remotes all around he socks?! LOL To truly represent my husband I included guitar accessories, too! These are a fun knit. I used 3 skeins of Regia Cotton on size 1 needles. And, he loves the socks, so I consider my job well done! I have to say, I've never enjoyed knitting for someone as much as I enjoy knitting for my #1 husband! Happy Knitting! Becka

Must Knit Faster

I finally finished both the front and back of Leo. I have even do the three-needle bind off for the shoulders. I’ll be starting on the sleeves soon. I have less than two weeks before FH (Future Hubby) comes back!! Yikes!!! I really hope that I have enough time to knit both the sleeves and seam everything up!!

Do you think I should knit one sleeve at a time or do I knit both the sleeves at the same time?? Does anyone have good tips in seaming up a sweater??

Making Progress

Even though I put DH's sweater aside temporarily, it has not been out of my thoughts. I had four hurdles and I've solved a few of those. The first was the design of the front openings. I needed to create something that would fill the space of the middle Saxon Braid that is on the sweater back. After much trial and error, I came up with this S-cable:

This swatch is intended to show how the front will look around the buttonbands, and I just used 5 stitches of K1, P1 ribbing to represent this. The color of the swatch is closer to the color of the yarn. It was cloudy today, and most of my photos looked gray.

I had hoped that this cable would mirror the shape of the Saxon Braids on the front, and it does:

I will position the pockets so that they fall at the point where the first S-cable indents to the button band.

I'm not quite sure where the V for the shawl collar will start. It has to be either at the orange marker or at the aqua marker, and I'm thinking that the higher V will be warmer. I also haven't yet worked out the exact number of decreases for the shawl collar, but it will be knit with the front and not attached afterward.

But tonight I can cast on for one front, and I can get up to the armhole before I have to solve another big problem. So the two hurdles that remain are where exactly to place the V and the shaping for the collar.

I'm not sure if the buttonholes should be vertical or horizontal. Any thoughts?

Music Man Socks pattern

My newest men's sock design, Music Man Socks are my 2nd socks for May and were knit with TOFUtsies! A quick, fun knit for the man in your life! I LOVE this sock yarn! I think it's going to be a perfect yarn for hot summers, it's so soft and actually felt cool to the touch while knitting them up. I know that Lonnie (hubby) is going to be asking for more socks knit with this cool (in more ways than one!) yarn and they have come out with new colors, so I'm hoping I can find another 'manly' colorway! I'm looking forward to knitting socks for me with this yarn!

Happy Knitting and God Bless! Becka

Rockin' Strat Men's Socks and pattern

Hey Everybody! I am LOVING what ya'll are knitting for the men in your lives!! I'm afraid I've had frogpond problems, but finally finished my husband's latest socks. He happened to get a vintage Stratocaster the same week that I finished these socks, thus the name, Rockin' Strat Men's Socks. Since he doesn't wear opened toed shoes of any kind I decided to play around with the toes a bit....I decided I'm not striping anymore sock toes, lol! These are a fun knit, with just enough of a st. pattern to keep your attention but not so much as to drive you crazy, lol! I've cast on for another pair of socks for him, this one will be a short sock and a quick knit so I should be posting that pair soon (I hope I didn't just jinx myself, LOL!).

Happy Knitting!

Beginning of Leo

I've just cast on for one of my major projects, a sweater for my other half. He has chosen Leo and the yarn that I'm using is Bendigo Classic 5 Ply in Blueberry colour. He choose that colour himself too.

The reason I made him choose all the patterns and yarns is so that I can avoid the sweater curse.

Anyway, I've knitted about 30 rows now and I desperately need some advise. If you look at the pictures below, the yellow t-shirt is his and I've put it at the back to make some comparisons. That t-shirt is the tight fitting type and I purposely choose that to compare with Leo because the Leo pattern isn't really the loose fitting type of sweater. Hope I'm not being too long winded here.
Now back to the pictures, the first picture is taken exactly as how i just put the knitted bit whereas the second pictures, I've pulled knitted bits apart. You can see the stitch definitions in the last two photos.

Now, my main concern is, does this seem too small? I'm using 3.5 mm needles to knit the body as stated in the pattern.
Should I frog it and use 3.75 mm instead which is the recommended needle size for this yarn? Please advise!!!