Goodbye to a friend

This is in memory of my friend, Brad Neuman. Brad died way too young in early August. He raised beautiful Suri alpacas in the little town of Troy, Idaho. Everyone who knew Brad loved him. He was the kindest and gentlest of men, and and generous with his money, attention and skills. Brad was one of the earliest people who carried our DVD, The Zen of Socks, on his website, and was generous in promoting our business and supplying us with alpaca yarn to try out our various projects. Brad moved to Troy in 2001 and immediately became an active member of this little community. He was a strong financial supporter of the public schools, and often had schoolchildren visiting on his farm. His sister, Judy LaLonde, will continue to manage the alpaca ranch, but no one can replace Brad's smiling face and big heart. Please check out their website at bigmeadowcreekalpacas.com

Naomi's socks

This is Naomi's first pair of socks from our hand dyed yarn. I love the way the yarn naturally made rainbow stripes on the toes and heels (try enlarging the image). Naomi said the yarn was great to knit with. Very soft, didn't split, just the right amount of stretchiness. The yarn is 75% Superwash wool, 25% nylon. She used the DVD "The Zen of Socks"to learn to knit socks. Way to go, Naomi!

Karen's new socks

These are Karen's new socks. She has MS and Reynaud's syndrome, so frequently has cold feet, but can't stand anything tight on her feet. Soft socks from our hand dyed yarn turned out to be the best thing. These socks were knit on #1 bamboo needles on 78 stitches on our 75% superwash wool/25% nylon hand dyed yarn. They have a K5P1 flat rib repeat that is very formal looking and very attractive. Karen says they remind her of socks being knitted when she was a child in Europe.

New socks from Susan in California

Susan knit these socks from a skein of our hand dyed yarn. She says, "The colors are beautiful, and the yarn was easy to work with. There was more than enough yarn on one skein to make these socks following your basic pattern, using size 1 bamboo needles. I also referred to your DVD a number of times to refresh myself."
Something I did differently this time was to use nylon sock reinforcing yarn in the heel and toe. It wasn't too difficult to work with the two strands. Those sections are only very slightly bulkier than the rest of the sock.
I had two sets of needles and so worked on both socks alternately so they would finish about the same time. One sock was knit from the yarn coming from inside the ball, and one sock was knit from the end of the yarn on the outside. It was a little tricky with the reinforcing yarn involved too, but I managed to get through it without any major tangles. We've been cat-sitting for my son, and Daisy soon learned that the sock project was "paws off!" I think this is the best pair of socks I've made."

Wavy cable socks

This interesting stitch pattern was done on a hand painted fingering yarn on #1 bamboo needles and 64 stitches. The wavy cables were made by knitting 4 st, 2x2 cable over 4 st, repeat around sock, for the first row, K 3 rows in stockinette, then 2x2 cable over 4 st, K4, repeat around sock, K3 rows in stockinette. Repeat these 8 rows for the pattern. I carried the cable pattern down the top of the foot until the start of the toe decreases. They are very pretty socks of a nice soft washable yarn. They are made for a woman's small foot. They are for sale on the website, www.societysocks.com.

Amanda's first sock

This just in - Amanda from Wisconsin purchased our DVD, The Zen of Socks, and finished her first sock in less than a week! This from a graduate student and a mother of three! Very impressive. I see a long series of great socks from this person. Thanks for sharing your success.

This is not exactly related to socks or yarn, but I wanted to share with you a photo of my wonderful family. The photo was taken in Sisters, Oregon at a mushroom foray about a week ago. I was lucky to catch all three of my men in full beard plumage. Aren't they handsome? Daughter-in-law Sarah and girlfriend Veronica are very good sports. They have already learned how to knit socks, they are rapidly becoming mycophiles and mycophagophists, and they participate with good humor in family Mah Jongg games. What more could I ask for?