Quality

Or longevity. I know that the socks I knit will someday have holes worn through them. I'm okay with that. At the rate that I knit socks, it's probably good. My mom likes to wear one pair constantly (wear, wash, repeat as soon as it's out of the wash) until it gets a hole in it and then moves onto another pair. My kids will wear holes in any yarn that doesn't have nylon in it and then even some that do.

But when it comes to knitting needles, I do not expect them to wear out. The ones that I've used lately seem to have some sort of expiration date. I know that the company will replace them, but I've already had several replaced. I just don't like the waste of the needles that came apart. Their average life is about a year. One year for me is around 40-50 pairs of socks. Not all of those are knit on the same sized needle. I don't think needles should wear out that quickly or ever.

Right now, I'm on the look out for new needles. I've even started and finished a sock on dpns! Can you believe that? I can't show those socks since they're for a sock club. It was fun knitting with dpns again. That's how I learned to knit socks. I'm also using my 9 inch needle again. Those take a while for my hands to get used to them.

These socks are tentatively named Tessellating sock #2. Wonderful name, right? These were a lot of fun and quick to knit. I like the little linked bubbles. This one would be a great way to use up a lot of little bits of leftover yarn. I think it would look great in more than 3 colors too. I don't like repeating patterns, but I want to see what this one looks like with a lot of leftovers. This sock was like the previous pair and used about 20gms of yarn of each color.

Details:
Pattern: Tessellating sock #2
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Kettle Dyed in Timber, Bordeaux, and Spruce
Needle: size 0 (2mm)
Method: magic loop, 1 at a time, toe-up, Turkish cast-on, short row heel
Start: December 28, 2009
Finish: January 13, 2010

This shows that cute socks don't have to be made out of expensive yarn. I picked up this Red Heart sock yarn and it was only $7 for 2 skeins(50 gms each). I used about 60gms for this pair. I think I'll make my daughter some cute ankle socks with the rest. The yarn has aloe in it and it did feel nice while knitting. I would compare this to Regia or even Opal, but it did seem a bit hairier than those brands.

Yarn: Red Heart -heart and sole in Spring Stripe
Needle: size 0 (2mm)
Method: magic loop, 2 at once, toe-up, Turkish cast-on, short row heel, twisted rib cuff
Start: Thanksgiving 2009
Finish: January 18, 2010

I'll close with a mention about patterns. Many designers are donating a portion or all of their proceeds to many charities that will help the people in Haiti. Here's a link that will take you to the patterns that are participating. If that doesn't work, just go to the patterns area and click on the "Help for Haiti" link at the top of that page. Every little bit counts. We've made our donations, but I've also bought a few patterns too.