A Slew of Sock Hop

Well, so much for getting caught up with my blogging in two weeks!

Back when I ripped my first try at the Pacific Waves Shawl, I found myself with lots of unused Crown Mountain Farms Sock Hop yarn. Since I had bought several of the skeins as remnants, and all the one I used were now in tiny little balls ...



... I decided I would look for stash-busting patterns to use up the yarn. My first project was the Turn-a-Square Hat by Jared Flood. By holding two strands of Sock Hop together, I was able to achieve heavy worsted weight, and adjusted for gauge accordingly. I ended up knitting this hat three times with different colorways before I finally called it good. The first attempt may have been the most photogenic while knitting ...



but I didn't like how I looked with white yarn right by my face. I tried a three-color combination, and finally settled on one colorway (San Francisco) where I let the striping in the handspun show off the square shape of the hat. It's much more subtle. My three attempts are the top row of this mosaic of Sock Hop projects:



I then knit a set of Maine Morning Mitts in the same Sock Hop colorway (though a different lot) to match (pictures #6 and #8). I love fingerless mitts, and expect this set will be the first of many. I wanted a cowl that would match the mitts, and couldn't find one on Ravelry that was just right, so I created my own easy-peasy pattern - the Two-One Cowl, pattern available for free download right here (as well as on the sidebar). Pictures are the second row of the mosaic.

I also knit a new little sunglasses case with leftovers - picture #9. Let me tell you, it's a joy to pull it out and use my handknitting on a regular basis! And last, but not least, I started a set of mini sweaters (picture #7) which will decorate my holiday tree this winter, and are a great way to use up tiny bits of yarn.