Kaylee Socks!
October 21st, 2007 by 
mel
It’s Socktoberfest! How about some socks?
My Kaylee’s are finished, and thus also my very first handspun, handknitted project (and it’s been a long time coming)! I know that this is just a tiny knit, and that there are amazingly talented people spinning and knitting positively gorgeous things with their handspun all the time*, but to me, this very first one feels a little like a graduation (not like grad school or anything - maybe more like kindergarten?) I spun a quantity of yarn that could be used to knit something other than a coaster! And I knitted socks with it! Damn!
My apologies if I seem a smidgen carried away - I’m just thrilled! I love spinning - I loved the whole concept before I ever tried it; and when I sat down with a drop spindle nearly a year ago and somehow actually made a tiny skein of yarn, I was completely overwhelmed and amazed. It wasn’t pretty, it certainly wasn’t even (to call it rustic would be kind), but there it was…. YARN! Fiber turns to string, loops of string become cloth, fabric that takes shape as a wearable article… It’s all a bit of magic worked by human hands. It’s so exciting to have these little socks on my feet and think that I made them! And not only that - I made the yarn that made them! I’m still grinning from ear to ear (and clapping my feet)! The yarn, it is not perfect. Neither is the knitting. But damn if these aren’t wearable - very cute - handspun socks!
The next step is to go from start to finish!! It’s time to tackle those alpaca and shetland fleeces that have been hiding in the attic until I gathered the courage to do something with them!
Oh yes, I’m getting carried away. This is an FO post isn’t it? I almost forgot!
The stats:
Pattern: Kaylee by monkeytoes
Note: Kaylee is really more of a roadmap built around a lovely stitch than an actual pattern (information only, not a complaint). The .pdf is a one pager, really more of a guideline. No gauge is given, and no specific instructions on the toe, heel or ribbing. This made it a bit fun actually, a little choose your-own-adventure. I’m supposed to start with the toe - how do I do that? I think there was a reference in the Summer IK…. Hmm, found a couple articles on Knitty as well - what about the heel, how does that work, exactly? I had fun researching and figuring out what to do here. I think patterns like this build on all the great information out there, and make us industrious knitters. If I wanted to knit something very specific (Chuck’s for instance?) more details and specific instructions would be necessary.
Gauge: 24sts/4inches in stockinette
Needles: US2 DPNs (the pattern is written for 2 circs, but can easily be done on DPN’s)
Yarn: My own! Blogged here and here, Calendula by Bonkers! - 50/50 Merino/Tencel. Navajo plied and divided into two balls of equal amounts by length.
Mods:
- My gauge was larger than the pattern intended - or written for bigger feet, thus I removed the 2 knit stitches from each side of the instep pattern to fit my foot. In hindsight, this was probably not necessary - the socks don’t feel tight, but the stitches do seem a little stretched width-wise.
- I chose to continue the lace pattern across the back of the leg after completing the heel.
New Skills:
- Eastern Cast-On (from Ann Budd’s Article, Working Socks from the Toe Up, Summer IK 2007) - I had trouble finding an online resource for this, please let me know if you know of a good one.
- Short-row heel, from the same article.
- Invisible sewn bind off, I have a couple books and magazines with this technique, but there’s a great tutorial here.
Verdict: Love ‘em - I’ve mentioned before that orange has never been my color, but since I first saw the roving these colors just made me smile. Now I have happy feet!
The evolution of the Kaylee Socks:
*seemingly gratuitous links? Check ‘em out, seriously. If you haven’t seen these yet, you should. You won’t be sorry!
—————-
Now playing: The Shins - Turn A Square
via FoxyTunes
P.S. Amazing show Friday night - I have to admit that I don’t enjoy their latest album as much as the older stuff, but when they played the newer songs live, they sounded great and I felt like they held up well. Love the live music!
October 21st, 2007 at 10:54 am
First, the socks are great, and I love your photo montage at the end — fascinating to see the whole process in one go! Second, I am so jealous that you saw the Shins! I saw them maybe 6 months ago in Boston and thought they put on an amazing live show… and they’re coming to NY in a few days, but I’m going out of town. So sad. Seeing “A Comet Appears” live was just incredible.
October 21st, 2007 at 11:51 am
those are absolutely beautiful! hurrah for you! i also love love love the process pictures. sigh. can’t wait to get my spinning wheels working again.
cheers,
cosy
October 21st, 2007 at 12:43 pm
I love the photoset at the end! What a great idea to show the evolution from fiber to socks. Nice job choosing the pattern to complement the yarn — those are lovely.
October 21st, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Yeah, happy feet! They are really, really lovely.
October 21st, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Very impressive! I love the fiber to sock pictures, and the socks themselves are just so bright and beautiful.
October 21st, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Your documentation of the PROCESS is breathtaking
and INSPIRING!
The finished product is (are) LOVELY,
enjoy!
October 21st, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Congratuations! An amazing accomplishment! The yarn and socks are gorgeous.
October 21st, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Beautiful socks, beautiful yarn, fantastic project!
October 22nd, 2007 at 4:32 am
gorgeous! they turned out great, and i absolutely *adore* your mosaic of the “making process”. wonderful to see this from fiber to yarn to finished socks.
and… oh, i just CAN’T tell you often enough how yummy that color is!
October 22nd, 2007 at 6:19 am
I love the colors. The socks are gorgeous! Great work.
October 22nd, 2007 at 9:55 am
Fantastic! Be proud - be VERY proud! You could come hang out in my dining room - you’d match perfectly in your lovely handspun socks!
Two fleeces in the attic? You don’t do anything halfway, do you??
And just to further my belief that knitters are operating on some unknown frequency together, my next feat of spinning will be my 50/50 merino tencel!
October 22nd, 2007 at 12:27 pm
I love the colors for these — and lace socks are on my list of things to try next.
Also, you should try some colorwork socks (I’m making the HoHI, about which you have said such nice things). Judging from these pictures, you *totally* knit well enough to do a fine job. The two-handed, two-colors thing is nowhere near as hard as it looks.
October 22nd, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Oh wow Mel - those turned out perfect! What a fantastic first project so to speak.
October 22nd, 2007 at 4:23 pm
So pretty! I can’t wait to see them in person!
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:52 pm
ORANGE, handspun, and lace.
I’m in love.
I make all my socks toe up, FYI, and the best cast-on in my humble opinion is demonstrated with pictures at http://www.knitty.com (Judy’s Magic Cast-on).
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:53 pm
P.S. AND you’re listening to The Shins. I’m definitely in love!
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Woo hoo!!! I am so psyched for you and your new hand-spun socks!! They look freaking awesome!! Congratulations, that is huge!! Onto the alpaca farm…. hehehe…
Love ya,
Jenn
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:22 pm
Gorgeous!!! I can’t wait to spin some sock yarn for myself after seeing these.
October 24th, 2007 at 10:41 am
Pretty!
October 25th, 2007 at 8:20 am
beautiful! Kate Gilbert also made a very cute raglan sweater for her daughter out of her handspun. I’m envious of your collective abilities. How special to not only knit the item, but to spin the yarn yourself! Now the only steps that remain are dyeing the yarn yourself and raising the animal.
October 27th, 2007 at 11:07 am
It IS amazing and totally worthy of being carried away. Exquisite yarn, gorgeous socks. Yeah!
November 14th, 2007 at 12:20 am
Oooh, I love your roving-to-socks montage! The end result is wonderful - they’re the perfect color to combat the dreary fall!
April 11th, 2008 at 8:07 am
You mentioned you have the pattern. Since Gigi passed away in February her patterns are not currently available, but I feel compelled to honor her by knitting Kaylee. Would you send me the pattern?
I also love the montage of pictures at the end - you’re a great photographer as well as knitter as well as …..