Malabrigo | Page 4

FO Friday: Arwen Slipper Socks

I finished these last week, but I’m just now getting around to blogging them:

Pattern: Arwen Slipper Socks (Ravelry link) by Tabitha’s Heart

Yarn: Malabrigo Rios in Indecita

Notes: I LOVE these. They are fabulously colorful and comfy, and they fit my size 9.5 narrow feet like a dream. I got them both out of one skein of Rios with 10g to spare.

My only modification to the pattern was to eliminate the plain round between decrease rounds for the last 4 toe decreases, since it was turning out a little too pointy for my taste as written. This made a lovely rounded toe:

I’m not generally a sock person (too much work for something that wears out too quickly, in my experience), but slipper socks in worsted weight are right up my alley. In fact, I had so much fun knitting these that I immediately started in on a design idea I had a while back. There may be bobbles involved. Stay tuned for an update on those!

Numma numma panna (fun to say, try it!)

I won a contest in one of my Ravelry groups and received my prize a few days ago: a gorgeous skein of yarn!

This is panna worsted weight by numma numma (which is really fun to say, try it!). It is SO SQUISHY. I can’t properly express in words how wonderfully squishy it is. It’s like Malabrigo Worsted, but MORE SO. And I don’t say that lightly, people.

So obviously this needs to be a mega-special design, one that’s worn right next to the skin. I’m thinking mittens, maybe? Not sure I can get two mittens out of 200 yds of worsted, though. Fingerless mittens? A cute beanie?

Any ideas?

Socks! Well, sort of.

I finished a huge and tedious design project in laceweight a few days ago (yippee!) and was itching to get my hands on some worsted-weight yarn.

This lovely has been marinating in the stash for a while:

Malabrigo Rios in Indecita

And since my new place is rather drafty on the feet (even in the 100 degree + weather we’ve been having), I decided to whip myself up a pair of slippers!

I’ve only ever knit two pairs of actual socks (meaning, ones that can go in shoes, made with actual sock-weight yarn). Those were enough to show me that while I like the idea of hand-knitted socks, the amount of time they take and the rapidity with which I wear through them don’t work for me.

I really enjoy top-down sock construction, though. So when I found this pattern (Arwen Slipper Socks, Rav link) on Ravelry, I decided to (uncharacteristically) forgo designing my own chunky socks and just settle down for some relaxing direction-following.

It’s great so far:

Look at the yummy heel flap–somehow they always look cooler to me in a chunkier yarn:

The pattern says the socks require about 200 yards and I’ve got 210… but I’ve also got size 9.5 feet! Here’s hoping I don’t run out….

More SEX… I’m trying to quit, I swear!

Another Stash Enrichment eXpedition! I was up in Monterey for a writer’s workshop this weekend and had some time to kill before it started… so I stopped into one of my favorite yarn shops, A Twisted Stitch. I wasn’t going to buy anything… but somehow these migrated into my hand:

That’s Alice Starmore’s phenomenal Aran Knitting (new and expanded edition) and two skeins of Arroyo, Malabrigo’s new sport-weight yarn, in Plomo.

A more accurate picture of the color.

I’m loving the book–the first section is a comprehensive history of the Aran islands and the sweaters that made them famous. I had many misconceptions about this style of knitting, but Ms. Starmore has set me straight! The next section is cable motifs, many of which are new to me. I got three design ideas just flipping through the book in the store, so I figured I’d better buy it, heh. The last section is gorgeous patterns, which I can admire even if I’ll never knit any of them.

At the earliest opportunity, I tried out one of the cable motifs in the Arroyo–isn’t it beautiful?