quelle erqsome...

socktoswap

I've been sitting on this for a whole week, I'm afraid, because I am a selfish, selfish being. The Socktopus Secret Santa is in its second year and I missed last year, for various reasons, mostly involving my own hibernating hermitage. This year, however, I pounced at the chance to participate, and I'm so glad I did!

So why have I waited to share the spoils rather than shout from the rooftops my good fortune and delight? Because then you would know where to find the most delicious skein of Sundara in the land. And it's mine; mine; I tell you! I've only ever covetously fondled the Sundara of Alice and pined for it on Ravelry. Little did I know Tricia had a skein up her sleeves just for me, hurrah!

The rest of the parcel is just as awesome: a brand new copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, to replace mine which met a tragic end from overuse (and from being dropped in a mop bucket); a hanging lavender sachet, which is currently defending my closet with sweet-smelling gusto; some frankly superb gourmet popcorn, including BLUE CORN, which I have only ever had in tortilla chip form and has been my favourite since I was about eight; and a fanfreakingtastic pattern from Emily Johnson of the Family Trunk Project.

If you followed the Loumms Year of Socks at all, you'll know how I love a good story when it comes to patterns and designs and I've been eagerly following Emily Johnson's Family Trunk Project since it's inception. The Julia Socks, a bit of a deviation from the Project, inspired by Sarah Water's The Night Watch, is a beautiful textured pattern and I cannot wait to cast on!

06/30 sewn

Matthew is a bum. Even if he did stop his upload that will save his single, just so I can post before midnight.

'Sewn' refers to my original post, which was all about the lovely, lovely bags Lou and I have been stitching together. I've been sewing in all my spare time for the last week, and with lovely results. Unfortunately, pictures will have to come later. It's time for my bed.

so much glittery newness

So many new things! And they're all terribly exciting and of such newness, some of them aren't even here yet.

The first is that the August LYOS offering, Sherbert Toe Socks, is finally up for the taking, hurrah! When Lou and I do a pattern together, we each take a foot and knit up a practice sock, and then work the other foot as our 'good' sock -- and of course my good sock belonged to the ankle I twisted, and as you can see in the picture swapping feet was not an option. So not only had we already pushed back the release date, but I held us up even further because I had to wait three days for the swelling to go down enough in order to get the damn thing on.

With this pattern we got eversoslightly obsessed with toe variations and decided to include them all. Check out Lou's sexy shoes pic on the Loumms pattern page! She has the best shoe collection ever, doesn't she?

This wasn't the pattern we had originally envisioned (initially we had wanted to ring in Stonewall with a Big Gay Sock, but in the end had to bow to the Will of Time that that design will have to wait until next year), but I can't tell you how happy we are with the sock we're releasing. The yarn was custom-dyed for us by the amazing Easyknitter himself, as one of his Sushi Sock Rolls. We both worked straight off the roll and spent the entire time delighting over the colourway, the soft halo of the BFL, the colourway, the texture of the fabric it produced, the colourway. Final score: 110%.

The second thing is that Made by Loumms, our spandy new shop, is going to open in two days. Two days! I got in a quick and rewarding photoshoot this afternoon just before the skies darkened completely, and came out of it with decent snaps of our Moth Banishment sachets (and refills) and all but one of our project rolls.

If you haven't already, add us as a favourite seller of yours on Etsy! It would make us feel so loved.

The third new thing is the soon-to-be latest issue of Twist Collective, yay! I was a little underwhelmed by their last issue, though that had more to do with the disappointing photography than anything else, but given the AMAZING latest issues of Interweave Knits and KnitScene, I have high hopes that all this design awesomeness is spreading like a finely tailored, carefully cabled rash.

The fourth thing is that I, as erqsome, Lou, as loutheperson, and Loumms, as itself, can now all be found on Twitter -- finally! While I cannot stand F@cebook, this I can become friends with. I keep wondering why I was such a fool to resist for so long. For months and months I've felt out of the loop because I'm either too skint or too deadlined to make it out to knitting events, but now I feel like I'm back. It might not be face-to-face, but man does it make me feel like less of a leprous old hermit.

In any case, while you're favouriting us on Etsy, follow us on Twitter, too, so we can follow you and we'll all be following each other and it'll be a giant followfest of following and love. Sigh.

a new loummsy sock for july

Pattern: Edwardian Boating Socks, by me! [Rav link]

Yarn: Oceanwind Knits and BMFA Socks that Rock

Needles: 2.5 mm

Comments: I know I always say how much I enjoyed coming up with the patterns for the Loumms Year of Socks, but this time I really mean it. I liked it so much I knit the pattern twice just to see how it would look between a semi-solid and a wildly variegated yarn. I rather like the results.

There are already a handful of people who have cast on (one of which my very own Nora!), which I find astonishing!! I really hope they like knitting it. They were very much inspired by the summer, and the lazy days that seem to suddenly stand still, and rowing in the Serpentine, and sipping tall, cool drinks. I'm rather hoping that when the winter comes I'll be able to look at my feet and remember (as I slip on my third sweater of the afternoon) than the summer will be here again soon.

area 51 -- lyos june 2009

Pattern: Area 51 by loutheperson and erqsome knits

Yarn: Solemate by Violet Green (75% superwash merino, 25% nylon, 437 yds/100 g)

Needles: 2.5 mm DPNs

Comments: I'm evoking a brief intermission on the InsPyNoMo front as yesterday Lou and I released our June Loumms Year of Socks pattern -- 'Area 51'. If you've been following the Loumms Year of Socks at all, there are probably clear signs of Lou and I having chortled and giggled our entire way through this pattern.

Every tweak that hatched in progress was met with shrieks of delight and the feeling we were conspiring the greatest coup in sock-making history. (Aliens! On socks! Hahahahhahahahahah! They're out of this world! Hahahahahahahahaha!) Then we'd wipe our eyes from the manic excitement and look at the sock and sigh because not only is the theme hilarious, but the sock itself is really pretty! The toe almost felt like a personal victory once I'd ironed it out, and Lou's heel is genius! And actually, it knit up really quick even after the proper charts kick in. It's all quite logical; once we got through the first couple of rounds of the heel, it started to pick up the pace again and we pretty well flew to the finish. (Flew! Flying saucers! Hahahahahahahaha!)

 

As for the yarn, it is a little coarse as it contains a fairly high ratio of superstrength nylon, but the merino really shows itself once it's been blocked and there's enough in a single skein for nearly two pairs of socks. (Definitely two if you just went straight from the temple on the heel to the flying saucers.)

In any case, this was great fun to make. It might be a bit theme-y for some (maybe most) people, but the finished pair is awesome.

decidedly different favourite things

FML. After a somewhat fraught April, this might be my new favourite thing ever. I wish the petty miseries of others didn't have such a positive effect (does it make me mean? cruel? inhuman?), but there's something rather cathartic about it.

On the non-FML front, I haven't mentioned any Loumms news here since February, which is a crying shame because I'm still quite chuffed with Springtime in Chianti (March) and Bo Peep (April)! My May pattern is just about ready for releasing tomorrow:

So exciting!

court line -- lyos january 2009

Pattern: Court Line, by me!

Yarn: St Elias, by Pagewood Farms

Needles: 2.25 and 2.5 mm KnitPicks Options

Comments: The fifth pattern to be release as part of the Loumms Year of Socks, hurrah! This pair is especially special because they're for my dear papa, who inspired them.

The pattern itself came very quickly, but choosing the yarn seemed to take ages. I dithered between the St Elias by Pagewood Farms and a beautiful skein of BFL by Natural Dye Studio in a deep crimsony wine colour, but in the end decided the rich pebbly greys and soft steely sheen of Forest Camo would work better with the design. I believe this is the yarn that I'm drooling over in episode 5 of Miss Flip Knits and I'm very glad I chose it as it was wonderful to work with. It's super soft and pleasantly sheepy -- not in scent, but every now and then a long thin prong of fibre would release itself from the ply and remind me of where it came from. I think it split maybe twice the whole time I was knitting, even when I switched over to the very skinny 2.25 mm needles.

These socks were also a part of my dad's birthday present. He turned 60 on 6 January and I felt he needed something that had been designed just for him to mark the occasion. Happy birthday, Dad!

mulled wine -- lyos month 2!

Pattern: Mulled Wine, by lou and emmms

Yarn: indieknits yarn, Lustre Merino Superwash

Needles: 2.75 mm DPNs

Comments: This is the the third sock for Loumms Year of Socks, hurrah! Lou and I designed it together, and from the cranberry strings that dress the sides of the foot to the berry clusters on the cuff to finding the perfect holly leaf pattern, it was so much fun! It all came together very organically. As experiments go, I'm very pleased with the results!

The yarn is from Laura the Awesome's* indieknits yarn, her Lustre merino superwash. (It is deliciously squishy.) She dyed it just for us and as soon as we saw it in person there was a ping! and the sock was done.

Notes on how it came together are at the Loumms blog.

*Laura's name change should be made official in the next few weeks. Watch this space or hers for further details.

behind the scenes

I just found these pictures from the first official LYoS photoshoot at Telegraph Hill. That was such a fun day. We arrived so full of excitement and managed to get through everything in less than an hour. If I had been clever, I would have taken a snap of the group of uniformed school boys from the local grammar school, staring at us as Lou hopped about on one foot, trying to protect the sock and I sprawled as close to the ground as I could to get the right angle.

Model Lou getting changed after the last shoot

Me enjoying a quick break

fo: a year of socks begins

  Pattern: Aethenoth, by me!

  Yarn: Indigo Moon Superwash Merino (370 yds/100 g)

  Needles: 2 mm KnitPicks Options DPNs

  Comments: I love these socks! It was actually while watching the Yarn Harlot at iKnit Day that I cast them on and started working out where they would go. 

As of today they are officially the first socks to come out of the Loumms Year of Socks, a venture into madness that no-longer-blogless Lou and I challenged ourselves to. 

As part of the challenge, we must have a new pattern designed, written and ready for release on the 6th of each month for the next year, and because they've got to be public-ready anyway, we're making each pattern downloadable for free at Loumms, as well as on Ravelry. 

Although I'm pretty pleased with how my socks turned out, Lou's are freaking AWESOME!

Look at them! You'd never guess they're Lou's first attempt at designing. They're currently is up on the Loumms site, but we're still waiting for her Designer page to come in on Ravelry, but it'll be up there soon, too. Regardless, they're called 'Singing in the Rain' and I love them. We couldn't seem to get a decent picture of the cuff, which sucks because it's totally the best part. But we are going to do another photo-shoot soon -- they cannot remain unseen. Mind you, if we wait for the skies to clear, that might not be until next May...

So that's it! The first month of the Loumms Year of Socks has come and gone! We're going to be holding a contest to celebrate, the details for which we'll be posting in the next few days, and I can't wait. Next month's sock is a joint project, and given our peculiar love of thematic motif (and Lou's eye for detail), I'll leave you to guess how it's shaping up.

In the meantime, please let us know what you think, we'd love to hear any feedback that you might have. We've been planning it all for ages and ages, I just can't believe it's finally here!