June 2024 Sock Club

Hey there! While I have been staying on track with my 2024 Solo Sock Club, I have not been the greatest at writing my posts about it. We are only a brief 3 weeks into June, and I am finally revealing the socks and pattern for my June bag. The yarn for June did not have a label when I rescued it from its deep stash prison. Generally, I feel rather confident that I can sleuth it out, as I tend to know where I shopped and then can poke around on Ravelry and explore which yarns have how many plies and match up fiber content with what I have in hand. Unfortuantely, this one will remain a mystery yarn, because I simply couldn't sort it out. It's quite lovely, though...

Once again, I dove right in to knitting the socks before taking a photo of the yarn in the hank. I believe this is a wool blend, and I think it also contains silk. It is smooth with a bit of shine. It is somewhat dense, and not bouncy or stretchy at all. The colors are shades of a dusky purple and gray. It looks amazing. I just knew a yarn this fancy needed a pattern to match.

The pattern I chose is one that has been in my Ravelry queue since December 26, 2012. That's over 11 years! Finally, Cecilia has been paroled from the pattern purgatory that is my Ravelry queue. Chalk it up to another perk of the self-curated sock club.

I am happily underway on the Celcilia socks, even though I am posting quite late in the month. Be sure to come back to see what they look like once they're finished.

May Solo Sock Club Reveal

Ah, I finally got to knit my Hedwig socks. This one was a vanilla sock pattern, as I didn't want it to look too busy with the speckles. Let's be honest, shall we? These gray and golden brown speckles deserve all the glory.

The Lilt sock yarn base from Black Trillium Fibre Studio was an absolute delight to knit. The 85% superwash merino and 15% mulberry silk not only was pleasant to handle, but it also resulted in gorgeous stitches.

For a yarn dyed with neutral colors in a speckle pattern, I have to say that I think this dye job is impressive. There's a depth to the finished yarn that I find enchanting. If you're also smitten with it, you're in luck - both the base and the colorway are available from Black Trillium Fibre Studio. You can find it here.

Behold my finished socks!

Leave a comment if you would like me to share my vanilla sock pattern!

May Sock Club

I was super excited to see what was inside the May 2024 Solo Sock Club bag. I loved this yarn when I first received it, and it may have been the first skein I reached for when curating my 2024 Solo Sock Club. Extra special bonus for this month - this company is still in business, and you can get your hands on this very same skein of yarn today. The yarn for May is from Black Trillium Fibers Lilt Sock yarn in the Hedwig colorway.

Yet again, I have paired this with a vanilla sock pattern so that the speckles would show well. I'm not entirely sure that this was necessary, but I do enjoy a good knit that I can work on without referring to a pattern, and this one fits the bill. Leave a comment if you would like me to write up a pattern for my vanilla socks. There were 6 bags out of 12 assigned to be vanilla sock patterns, so there are only 2 more remaining for 2024; there are 5 remaining patterns for which I will work from a pattern and will share a link for each respective one.

I am thoroughly enjoying the Lilt sock yarn base. It makes a delightful fabric. The fiber content is 85% superwash merino wool and 15% mulberry silk. This would also make a great yarn for any next-to-skin projects, such as scarves or shawls. Stay tuned to see my finished socks!

April Solo Sock Reveal

Another month in the books! I did complete my April socks. As a reminder, the yarn was Fiber Addiction's Delusional base in the Runner #5 colorway. Here is the finished product:

These were knit using my vanilla socks pattern. Leave a comment below if you would like me to write up and share the pattern. Stick with me on the sock club. Half of the sock patterns are vanilla socks. I have my husband choose the bags at random, and I know we have been rather vanilla-sock-pattern heavy so far this year, but that just means that things will get more exciting as we continue. I will have some great patterns to share and amazing socks to show off.

As you may notice from the photo for the April socks, it appears that the skein of Delusional was a bit bright-green-heavy at the beginning of the skein. The legs of the two socks look considerably different. Given that they are "Zombie socks," I think it works well. I'm not sure you could expect zombies to putrefy at the same rate as one another. I'm going to chalk this up to creative license and label it as charming. I have cracked into the May yarn and started those socks...stay tuned, and I will have an update in a few days showing you the amazing yarn and what socks I have planned. Cheers!

April Solo Sock Club Yarn and Pattern

I can't believe it's April already! We had quite a mild winter here in Maine. Would you believe that we have received more snow in the first 3 weeks of spring than we did the entire 13 weeks of winter? It's true. Also, if you recall from the maple sap post, I stated that come springtime, there is always one last snowstorm (or two) that can't read the room and wait until next year. This season sure has my back on that statement.

In any case, a new month equals a new sock knitting project. As per usual, I asked my husband to choose a bag at random for me. The yarn is Fiber Addiction's Delusional base in the Runner #5 colorway. This is a blend of 80% superwash merino, 15% nylon and 5% Stellina. The colorway, Runner #5, is a nod to the content of the Zombies, Run app, which is similar to a Couch-to-5k program. There is audio content that tells a story. The listener is assigned the positon of Runner #5 in a post-apocalyptic world, where runners are sent out to deliver messages, collect supplies, etc, in support of the compound where they shelter. Some of the episodes have zombies chasing you...it's a pretty fun twist on a training program.

So there it is - this is a zombie yarn. I did pair this yarn with a vanilla sock pattern, as I didn't want it to look too busy. To be frank, I could use a nice easy sock pattern that I can sail through quickly, and this pairing is sure to deliver. I have tried to look up the vendor to see if the yarn is still available, but that does not seem to be the case. Remember, this is some deeeeeeeep stash yarn I have selected for this monthly club. I am thrilled that it is finally getting its time to shine after having been held captive in a tote in the basement for nigh on a decade; however, one drawback is that I may be tempting you with fun and fabulous yarn that you may not be able to obtain. My apologies on that end.

Of course, I am still me, so I finished the March socks and cast on the April socks within about 15 minutes of binding off. I did not first get a photo of the yarn in its beautiful hank before I caked it up. Someday. Just not today. I am a work in progress, much like these socks. Check back to see what they look like when finished.

March Sock Club

Well, March has come to an end, and I took my sock of the month right to the bitter end. I finished them up on Saturday night, March 30th.

This project was a two-at-a-time toe-up version. I wanted to get to use every last bit of that lovely gradient dye job. I am horribly slow at knitting two-at-a-time socks. Adding insult to injury, because I wanted to use all the color, these are darn-near knee-high socks. I typically knit about 6 inches of height onto my socks and then have oodles leftover from a skein. Knitting every last bit of this yarn meant a sock project that felt to me like it was taking forever.

The pattern that I used for these was Laxo Socks, by designer Laura Nelkin. It uses a clever stitch that doesn't require use of a cable needle. One less thing to lose track of, I say! Although it felt as though I would never complete these, one benefit of knitting two-at-a-time socks is when one is done, both are done - no second sock syndrome! I do have to admit that it was very gratifying to finish these up at the same time. 

I do love the color gradient on these, and it wouldn't have seemed as balanced without the darker shades at each end of the socks. I also found the cable pattern to be very lovely. 

Despite my impatience and my slow knitting skills, I would classify this as an enjoyable combination of pattern and yarn. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that this brand of yarn is still available. This was a deep dive in the stash from about a decade ago, and it was produced by an indie dyer who it appears is no longer in business. My apologies for not having a link to share to find the yarn, but I am sure there are similar offerings out there, and perhaps you could find your next favorite indie dyer. Please comment if you have a favorite or a recommendation for a gradient sock yarn.

It took me all of 3 minutes after completing these to open up the next bag in my Solo Sock Club series, skein it up and cast on. I even forgot (AGAIN) to take pictures of the yarn in the hank before I wound it up. One day I will exhibit some temperance and self control and remember to snap some pics before impulsively casting on a new pair of socks. 

I have a post coming soon showing off the April Solo Sock Club yarn and pattern, so stay tuned!!

Harvesting Maple Sap

Winters in Maine can be hard. Some years, it can feel as though they will never end. Collecting sap from maple trees and turning it into maple syrup is a bridge for me that helps pass the end of winter into the beginning of spring and the warmer, sunnier days ahead. Sap runs through the trees when the nighttime temps are below freezing, but the daytime temps start to get a bit melty and warm. The end of winter often seems nearer than it really is...a bright sunny day or two can lead you to believe that you've left those arctic days behind. But there's nearly always one or more last lingering surprise snow squall in store, and it can be hard on your psyche when you are looking forward to packing away winter for another year. I find sap season to be grounding....despite those cold, bitter, windy and snowy days, there is a steady march of daytime temps above freezing as the nights gradually work their way warmer also. When the overnight temps are no longer below 32 F, the sap stops. One can't help but forgive lingering cold temps at night when it means more of that delicious maple syrup to enjoy throughout the rest of the year. It's the sweetest consolation prize.

Once sap is collected, it must be boiled down. It takes approximately 40 parts of sap to produce 1 part of maple syrup. I use sap taps with a hook, and then hang a bucket with a lid from each one. I only have two maple trees, though. Many people now use tubing to direct to a bag or bucket on the ground, or for those with many trees, they might set up a network of tubing from each tree that converges and combines in one central location at the lowest elevation.

So, for the next few weeks, I will be watching the sap fill my buckets, then collecting them each evening and boiling them down. It will keep me distracted until the weather is mild and it's time to put those seedlings in the garden.