it's been a good sock weekend

At the Chez Phosphorelated, it's been a good weekend for socks. I took pictures of Rick:Finished Angee,

and took her for a spin.And I've finished one Kai-Mei,
and the other is speeding right along!
Sometimes life sucks. Socks don't have to!
~Phosphorelated

altering the zig-zag

This quilt is based on a great tutorial from Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts for making a zig-zag quilt without piecing triangles. Please visit her tutorial for complete instructions; it's her pattern, so I'm just going to show you the small change I made to use 18 prints instead of 9 prints and a solid fabric.

I cut two strips each of 18 purple prints, according to Amandajean's instructions. I arranged them in an order I like, alternating light and dark prints.Then I took one strip of the first fabric (I'll call it A), and sewed it to one strip of the second fabric (B).
Then I sewed a strip of B to a strip of C, like so:I cut the strips into squares as instructed, and laid out the A/B squares according to the tutorial:
Then I lined up the B/C squares so fabric B makes the first zig-zag. In the picture below, the B/C square on the left is in place and the one on the right is displaced a little to illustrate how they are put together:

When you've laid out all the A/B and B/C squares, you get a long line of zig-zags like this:Here are the rest of my strips ready to be pieced into the complete quilt top.
More pictures as I go! Thanks, Amandajean!

Cheers,
~Phosphorelated

a purple zig-zag quilt

Ever since I saw Amandajean's tutorial for making a zig-zag quilt without piecing triangles, I've wanted to make one. I love Amandajean's blog (crazy mom quilts), which is one of the first quilt blogs I discovered and is one I still the one I read most often; I visit at least once a week to see what she's up to. Even though I find that my taste often differs from Amandajean's, especially in terms of color selection, I love seeing what she's up to and am always inspired by her blog. Her quilts always make me want to try something new, or something outside of my comfort zone!

Today I cut fabric to make my own zig-zag quilt. I'm following Amandajean's tutorial, with one small change; instead of using 9 prints and a solid fabric, I'm using 18 different purple prints. That's one example of how Amandajean inspires me even though I want to do things differently than she does -- when I first saw the tutorial, I absolutely wanted to use it, but definitely didn't want a solid in between each of the prints. Fortunately, her pattern lends itself to a little alteration! I'll show what I'm going to do as I start sewing.
~Phosphorelated

Kai-mei

This afternoon I'm feeling a little under the weather, and the current ornate socks I'm working on are a bit much just now. The chart for Angee is just a bit too involved, so I've started another pair of socks that I've been admiring but that begin with 6.5" of ribbing down the leg, which would normally be too boring for words, but is just right at the moment. I've cast on Kai-mei, another Cookie A. design from Sock Innovation, in Wine Kettle Dyed Essential. Yummy!~Phosphorelated

Angee

I've finished my Yonder Blue Rick socks, and am still in the mood for some more ornate Cookie A. socks, so I cast on for Angee. I'm using another skein of Stroll Tonal, in the Kindling colorway. I'm really enjoying the pattern because it has the look of cables but the pattern is actually made with increases and decreases, so it has the stretchiness of lace and I don't have to use a cable needle!
I think the pattern and the yarn go nicely together; Angee is an understated, cable-look pattern that I think would be fine for man-socks, and the Kindling is a lovely, rich brown. They're both interesting but not flashy.
~Phosphorelated

and two makes a pair!

I'm now done knitting my lovely blue socks. They're soft, I love that the two socks mirror each other, and they're super-comfy. What's not to love?
~Phosphorelated

sock one accomplished!

I found the chart for the leg of the Rick pattern pretty easy to memorize after a couple of repeats, and it made great knitting on the bus. Between that and TV watching in the evenings, this sock has just flown off the needles! I took pictures while trying it on to make sure the toe fit the way I like (I stopped after decreasing to 10 sts, instead the 8 like the pattern suggested), but I have finished grafting and weaving in the ends.
One sock down, one to go!
~Phosphorelated

let it rain!

I think there is nothing nicer than spending a summer rainstorm on a porch swing wrapped in a quilt one has made oneself.
~Phosphorelated

Yonder Blue Rick

Today I'm in the mood for some really ornate socks, and when I want a beautifully engineered and complex sock pattern, the go-to gal has got to be Cookie A. Her designs are always interesting and always thought out to the last detail. I'm knitting them in Knit Pick's hand-painted merino-nylon blend sock yarn Stroll Tonal, the the Blue Yonder colorway. The pattern I'm using is Rick from Cookie A.'s book Sock Innovation, hence the name "Yonder Blue Rick." Not original, but descriptive.

Here's the lovely yarn and the beginning of the first sock by my flourishing mint plant.I'm loving how soft the Stroll is, and the colors are just delicious. I wish I could capture the richness and variegation better. It's that lovely sort of blue that makes me happy just looking at it! Knitting it is even better.
~Phosphorelated