Fibers on Friday: A Challenge!!!

Friends, I'm so excited for this! Are you ready to take on a challenge for the New Year? Are you ready to get out those teeny, tiny little double pointed knitting needles and very fine yarn? Are you ready to join together as a knitting community and tackle a daunting project together....with support? Well, then join me for a New Year's Challenge for Fibers on Friday:

Turning Heels in the New Year!

It's SOCK time!! So here's my history with socks; I had barely graduated from washcloths and scarves and I dove right into socks. I completed the entire first pair and they were definitely wearable, but not for me. They were too big and bulky, think Wig Wams in 1990. So, I gave them to my sister in law who works outdoors.



Then I attempted the second pair with sock weight yarn. I wasn't happy with the tension, though. They seemed too loose and just not fitting, so I frogged them.

I thought I needed way smaller needles (size 0), so I bought those on line and attempted socks for the third time. Still not loving the whole process, so I gave up entirely.

But I'm still very determined to knit socks that I love and want to wear. So, I challenge you all to knit along right along with me. Whether or not you've ever knit socks! Whether or not you've even ever followed a pattern! We can do it! And if there are sock pros amongst us, good! Please join us and encourage us and teach us!

Here's my plan: to knit a pair of socks by the end of January:

• By Dec. 31st everyone needs to have gathered their supplies and checked their gauge.
• January 7th we'll show off our cuffs and leg of the sock.
• January 14th we'll show off our heels. Yes, Turning Heels in the New Year!
• January 21st we should be done our gussetts and foot and be ready to close the toe.
• January 28th we'll be well into our second sock and we'll display our works in progress.
• By Feb 4th we should be able to take a picture of our feet adorned in TWO fabulous socks!!

What do you say? Sound doable? Are you game? Here are the supplies you'll need:

• sock yarn- 2 balls
• double pointed needles-size US 2 or size to obtain proper gauge
• this pattern-Silky Soft Socks by Premier Yarns as found on Ravelry and here is the PDF
• The one and only sock knitting book I own is called Getting Started Knitting Socks. Maybe look for it at your library this week if you're so inclined. I found it very helpful.
  

It's a party guys! It's a challenge! I even created a button to grab for the event (Image courtesy of Forward Tumble who is way excited for this challenge!!) So post it on your blog, tell your buddies and let's turn some heels!!

Fibers on Friday

In light of all this excitement, let us not forget about this week's Fibers on Friday! I've been diligently knitting away on the a4A sweater. I completed one whole sleeve yesterday and started the second sleeve this afternoon. I was running really short on the teal yarn, so I switched to black for the cuff. Here is my enthusiastic model (click on image to enlarge for full hilarity):