Matching Striped Knit Mommy Daughter Knee Highs and more!

 

 

Last weekend Matt and I attended a special SFE competition and philatelic gala at the National Postal Museum, a swank cocktail party at the Waldorf Astoria and dinner with fellows of the Collectors Club of NY.  I used it as an excuse to get all dressed up in my finest handmade knits and fancy evening dress.

 

The photos above are of me in my Summer Vibe top with my matching mittens and socks.  I already posted the fancy dress photos on IG.

It was even chilly enough to wear my Lighthouse pullover which is quickly becoming my favorite cold weather sweater!

Matt's cousins watched Xena while we were in DC and she wore my handmade knitwear too.

 

I cast on a sock in Ritual Dyes Grape but was so busy with social events that I barely had time or even energy to knit.

 

The NPM was amazing! I could spend days/weeks/months there.  I definitely want to return with Xena when we have more time to properly enjoy it.

 

Right after we returned to RVA, I attended a super fun loom weaving class at DWW taught by Keyser.  Our morning meet up buddies Kelly and Angela aka The Peanut Gallery were there to help me laugh until I peed in my pants a little.

 

In other news, I inherited a ton of amazing ephemera from a retired local fiber artist and have been enjoying flipping through it for inspiration every evening.  I finished my first Grape sock and just started the second yesterday.

I literally finished our matching striped knee highs the day after Halloween but only just got around to photographing them today.  Unless the shape of our legs drastically changes, I think I should be able to use my sizing template for these knee high socks for quite a while. This is really a dream come true for me.  Being so short, it's impossible for me to find commercially made knee highs that actually fit me and this template that I designed fits perfectly.  In order to keep the striping sequences consistent, I used a Twisted German cast on for the socks.  (If you're using self-striping yarn) you can simply place your slip knot wherever you want your first color to start and then do the same for the second sock. 

For my socks, using size 0 needles, I cast on 74 sts, knit the cuff in twisted rib for 1", knit the calf for 3" and then started decreasing.  

1st decrease round: *K1, SSK, knit to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1 (2 sts dec).  Knit even for 6 rows.*

Repeat *.* until 60 sts are achieved then start the heel and work as a basic sock.

For Xena's socks, using size 1 needles, I cast on 52 sts, knit the cuff in twisted rib for 1", knit the calf for 2.5" (or 3 different color stripes).

1st decrease round: *K1, SSK, knit to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1 (2 sts dec).  Knit even for 7 rows.*

Repeat *.* until 40 sts are achieved then work even for about 2" (finishing off the stripe of the next color), start the heel and work as a basic sock.

Basically if you want to design a knee high template for yourself, you just need to figure out the gauge of total stitches for your calf and then work down to your regular sock gauge by gradually decreasing every 1-2 inches.

I have a lot more that I want to write about but I also have a lot to do today so I'm gonna wrap this up for now.

Rhinebeck 2023 Recap

 

One of the best aspects of moving back to the East Coast is that for the first time since I started attending the NY Sheep and Wool festival, I didn't have to start off the weekend jetlagged, exhausted and stressed out from a red eye flight, followed by having to pick up a rental at the airport at the asscrack of dawn and then try to concentrate on driving through insane traffic.

 

This time I just drove part way to Philly and spent the night at my stamp friend's apartment overlooking Rittenhouse Square.

 

We had a terrific seafood dinner at Devon and breakfast at K'Far, definitely my favorite Israeli cafe in Philly.

 

After retrieving Amber from Astoria, where she now lives, we stopped for the best pizza ever at Aaron Butkus' pizzeria in Craryville.  Some people know Aaron as the lead singer of the CTxHC band, Death Threat.  I just think of him as my ex-BF, Noah's older brother whom I briefly lived with in Canton, CT along with CJ from Hatebreed.  

 

Anyway, we checked into Mirbeau and everything was perfect and exactly as expected.

Already high, the standards were slightly improved with complimentary cookies, champagne, sleep masks, sleep spray and chocolate truffles.

 

The more I reflect upon this trip, the more it feels equally about dining traditions as fiber arts.

 

We hit up Rhinebeck Bagels every single day.  The service always prompt and the quality consistent.

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Despite the rain, Indie Untangled was rad!  I found exactly what I wanted, fancy stitch markers and yarn from 29 Bridges.

The swag bag was overflowing with cute little goodies.

My Ugg transparent rainboots were the smartest thing I packed.

 

As far as the shitshow now universally known as Wool & Folk goes, all I'm gonna say is that although we did have to illegally park, at least Amber and I were totally prepared and our rental wasn't towed.  We had our camper chairs and cooler.  We posted up under the podcast tent as soon as we arrived.  We even bumped into my boss Debbie, co-worker Keyser and friends Angela and Kelly from the weekly DWW morning meet ups.

While the marketplace was a total nightmare, we still thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

I didn't even feel comfortable documenting the Crying Jordan grimaces of all of the vendors so I took photos of these beautiful hydrangeas outside instead.

 

Because the marketplace was so overwhelming, the only thing I purchased was sweater quantity of the Wandering Flock 10th anniversary colorway.

At the actual NY Sheep and Wool festival, the only yarn I purchased was from Periwinkle Sheep.

I also bought some awesome sheep themed letterpressed stationery and ephemera and the Grand Shetland Adventures Knits book by MJ Mucklestone and Gudrun Johnston.

I picked up a book about Bargello a while ago from Cool Chris back in SF and I was very intrigued by this booth at the festival.

 

I've already shared many of my Rhinebeck photos in previous posts and this is all I have left.  The green Drover sweater sample was hanging in the Neighborhood Fibers booth.  I recently purchased a kit for it after winning a $75 CAD gift card to Ancient Arts from the PomPom virtual launch party.

 

Here's Alex and Susan participating in the drop spindle contest.  Amber and I both loved the drape on this Tidal sweater.

 

The final photo is from an incredible sushi and sashimi feast with my penpal, Suzette.  I spent the night at her place in Maplewood, NJ in an effort to break up my drive home.  Her neighborhood has so many impressive Halloween decorations.  We had such a nice time catching up.  Now that I'm back on the East Coast, I really need to visit my friends up north more frequently.

Knit Vervain Socks designed by Sachiko Burgin from Laine Publishing's 52 Weeks of Socks Book

I just realized that although I posted these socks as soon as I finished them back in late September on IG, I forgot to share them here.  

This is the sock pattern that Amber and I agreed to use as our "Rhinebeck socks".  They would've been in the same yarn as would our Rhinebeck sweaters, except for the fact that I still cannot find the box containing all of that yarn that I purchased at Rhinebeck the year before since we moved?! 

 

So, I ended up using one of my favorite sock yarns ever, the now defunct Houndstooth Fibers Painted Ladies from NorCal.

I just love the gentle ombre of this style of dyeing.

The Vervain Socks pattern was designed by Sachiko Burgin.  The pattern is available for purchase individually on Ravelry and also featured as one of many outstanding patterns featured in Laine Publishing's 52 Weeks of Socks book aka one of my favorite sock knitting books ever published.

 

Prior to when I first started knitting socks, it never really crossed my mind that socks could be knit with a pattern design specific to each left and right foot.

This lacey pattern was such a joy to knit and I cannot wait to make another pair...but not until I get started on my Squam 2024 socks for next year. :)