Meri Suica Masu (スイカ ケーキ の 夢) v2 (aka Tabi Monogatari v21)

Time for yet another pair of matching socks for my hubby.  Using the remainder of my Wisdom Yarn Pix yarn and my 4" & 3" Chiaogoo interchangeables US 0 needles, I casted on 50 sts (based on sock v19). No more trying it on his feet - it was time to trust in the pattern!🙏😉

Here's what I did:
1. I started with a Provisional cast on with a total of 50 sts.
2. K 1 straight row on each side, then connected in the round.
3. K 15 rows in the round as part of the foot portion.
4. Started the toes: with 25 sts on each side, splitting it up for 8 sts for big toe, 17 

    sts for remaining toes.

5. Big toe:

• Row 1:
• Front: k to the 2nd to the last st, pick up 1 st below, for a total of 9 sts
• Back: k, pick up a st below, k to the end for a total of 9 sts
• Row 2: 
• Front: k, pick up a st, k to the end, for a total of 10 sts
• Back: k to the last 2 sts, pick up a st below, k for a total of 10 sts
• Row 3: k
• Row 4-5 (2 rows): Follow Row 2 until there are 12 sts
• Row 6-11 (6 rows): k
• Row 12:
• Front: k to last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 11 sts
• Back: SSK, k to the end for a total of 11 sts
• Row 13:
• Front: SSK, k to the end for a total of 10 sts
• Back: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 10 sts
• Row 14:
• Front: k to last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 9 sts
• Back: SSK, k to the end for a total of 9 sts
• Row 15: k
• Row 16:
• Front: SSK, k to the end for a total of 8 sts
• Back: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 8 sts
• Row 17: k
• Row 18:
• Front: k to last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 7 sts
• Back: SSK, k to the end for a total of 7 sts
• Row 19:
• Front: SSK, k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 5 sts
• Back: SSK, k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 5 sts
• Row 20: same as row 19 continuing to decrease 2 sts, total of 3 sts on each side
• Bound off using the Kitchener stitch.

    The big toe came out to 5.5 cm (2 in).

6. The rest of the toes:

• Row 1: k, picking up 4 sts on each side, for a total of 21 sts
• Row 2: k
• Row 3:
• Front: SSK, k to the end for a total of 20 sts
• Back: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 20 sts
• Row 4: k
• Row 5:
• Front: SSK, k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 18 sts
• Back: SSK, k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 18 sts
• Row 6: 
• Front: SSK, k to the end for a total of 17 sts
• Back: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 17 sts
• Row 7:
• Front: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 16 sts
• Back: SSK, k to the end for a total of 16 sts
• Row 8: 
• Front: SSK, k to the end for a total of 15 sts
• Back: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 15 sts
• Row 9: 
• Front: SSK, k to the end, for a total of 14 sts
• Back: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 14 sts
• Row 10: 
• Front: SSK, k to the end for a total of 13 sts
• Back: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 13 sts
• Row 11: k
• Row 12-17: same as Row 10 for 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 & 7 sts
• Row 18:
• Front: SSK, k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 5 sts
• Back: ssk, k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 5 sts
• Row 19: k
• Row 20: same as Row 18 for 3 sts
• Bound off using the Kitchener stitch.

    The rest of the toe came out to 4.8 cm (1⅝ in)

7. Then I went back to the bottom of the provisional cast on and picked up the 

    stitches to start the foot.

• Row 16: pick up a st from the “front” side and put it on the “back” side; pick up a st from the “back” side, bringing it behind the st picked up from the “front” and put it on the “front” side. K these 2 sts together. Then k in the round. There should be 25 start on each side.
• Row 17-50 (49 rows): k, maintaining 25 sts on each side
• Row 51-59 (9 rows): pick up a sts below on each side, maintaining 26 sts on each side
• Row 60: pick up the first st, 9th st, 18th at & last st on each side for a total of 30 sts
  
• Row 61-65 (5 rows): k, maintaining 30 sts on each side
• Including the initial 15 rows, this came out for a total of 17 cm (6 3/4 in)

8. With the foot done, I started on the heel portion using the Fish Lips Kiss Heel

method. 

• Row 108-119 (12 rows): Follow the Fish Lips Kiss Heel method until you have 10 twin stitches (sts) knits and purls sts on each side and 10 regular sts
• This came out to 4.5 cm (1 3/4 in).
• Row 120: as you "boomerang" back to the regular sts, k2tog, k2, k2tog, k2, ktog then continue using the Fish Lips Kiss Heel method for a total of 27 sts
  
• Row 121-135 (15 rows): Continue using the Fish Lips Kiss Heel method to turn the heel until you have a total of 27 sts again. 
• Row 136: 
• Left side: Since the left side ends on a purl side, k to bring you back to the correct side.
• Right side: k
• This came out perfect! :) *yay* :)

9. With the heel done, I finished off the leg:

• Row 137: k2tog, k in the round for a total of 29 sts for top side & 28 sts for the back side
• Row 138-141 (4 rows): k in the round, maintaining a total of 28 &29 sts on each side
• Row 142: decrease 1 st on the top side for a total of 28 sts on each side
• Row 143-146 (4 rows): k, maintaining a total of 28 sts on each side

10. I was running out of yarn at this point so, instead of regular stockinette stitch, I started the cuff early:

• Row 147: decrease 1 st on each side (for a total of 27 sts on each side) using a 1x1 ribbing
• Row 148-181 (39 rows): continue 1x1 ribbing, maintaining a total of 27 sts on each side

At the 28th row (above), I actually did run out of yarn!  Hubby convinced me (and completely shoved me out of my comfort zone 😱) to use some leftover (completely non-matching) yarn to finish off the remainder of his socks as he decided that he didn't want short socks after all. 🤦  So for the remainder of this sock, I used the remainder of my Blue Moon Yarn Squishy Sock for the left side and Schachenmayr Regia Design Line by Arne & Carlos 4-fädig for the right side.

• Row 182: add 1 st to each side for a total of 28 sts and continue 1x1 ribbing

• Row 183-217 (39 rows): complete cuff using 1x1 ribbing (28 sts on each side) for a total of 10 cm (4 in) of ribbing
• Bound off using a variation of the Estonian bind off, in which I picked up a stitch from the row below then used the Estonian bind off technique. :) 

The total length of the leg and cuff was 21 cm (8 1/4 in).

Yay! Another finished pair! :) And while it is not what I expected, it's not so bad if I do say so myself! 😜

Stacking Stars

I saw this super cute star tree over the holidays as I was trolling for cute little things I could make for our new little one and ran across this pattern: Stacking Stars.  It was so cute and inventive that I simply had to try it out.  And it seemed like the perfect little toy for a little one to learn how to grab, stack, learn about colours, and how to count.

I started off with my Caron Orchid yarn and my Denise US 8 (5mm) needles and followed the pattern starting with its smallest star (4 sts).  I found the pattern easy to read and overall it was a quick knit.  Even seaming two (2) stars together so that it was nice and puffy wasn't too bad either.  Here's what it looks like:

Then I wondered what the bigger stars would look like.  So, with my Caron Orchid, I proceeded to make the 5 sts, 6 sts & 7 sts stars.  Then it struck me ... wait a minute 🤔 ... what was the tree supposed to look like?  It was a V8 moment.  I realized that I couldn't merrily make all the sizes using the the same yarn if I wanted a multi-coloured tree! 🤦  Thankfully, I had ran out of the Caron Orchid by the time I was halfway done with the 7 sts star.

So, to salvage what I did make and to actually make the coloured star tree, here's what I did:
Since I already made a 4 sts star and a 6 sts star, I was going to incorporate those stars into Emmett's tree.  Emmett's tree consisted of fifteen (15) stars using the following yarn: Caron Orchid 4 sts, Mystery Yarn Cream 5 sts, Mystery Yarn Off White 6 sts, Caron Orchid 6 sts, Mystery Yarn White 6 sts, Red Heart Multi Zebra 7 sts, Red Heart Grey 7 sts, Mainstays Green 8 sts, Red Heart Turquoise 8 sts, Red Heart Mint 9 sts, Red Heart Sunshine Yellow 9 sts, Mystery Yarn Purple 10 sts, Red Heart Pink 10 sts, & Mystery Yarn Brown 11 sts.  I used US8 (5mm) needles for all the stars in the tree itself.  For the topper, I used Mystery Yarn Red & White 5 sts using US9 (5.5mm) needles.  I had some leftover plastic that I used for a "base" and had found some clear plastic straws that would be perfect as the tree's spine.

As Emmett's birthday was the first to come up, I had promptly sent his tree out to him for his first birthday gift.  I'm happy to report that he is happily chewing away at it and is having a good time stacking and throwing his stars around.  Hopefully, it will also do its job and teach him about colours, sizes and counting! 😉🤔🎉

And, since I couldn't incorporate the 5 sts star I already made into Yi Ying's tree, I thought it would be fun to make Maya and Ashtyn a small ornament for their Christmas trees that my cousin always lets them put up in their rooms.  All I had to do was to just make another 5 sts star with the remanent of my Caron Orchid yarn.  Also, since I had some extra straws, I thought the girls would love it if they also had wands to play with so, I made two (2) 6 sts stars in Mystery Yarn Purple, Red Heart Pink and Red Heart Mint using US9 (5.5mm) needles.

I hope the kids all enjoy their stars! ⭐🌟

I worked on Yi Ying's tree last since her birthday came later.  I wanted it to also consist of fifteen (15) stars using the following yarn: Yuzawaya Super Acryliic Yellow 5 sts (this was the topper) using US9 (5.55mm) needles; Yuzawaya Super Acrylic Pink 4 & 8 sts, Yuzawaya Super Acrylic Lt Blue 4 & 8 sts, Yuzawaya Super Acrylic Purple 5 & 8 sts, Yuzawaya Super Acrylic Dk Blue 5 & 8 sts, Yuzawaya Super Acrylic Red 6 & 9 sts, Yuzawaya Super Acrylic Blue 6 & 9 sts, Red Heart Mint 5 & 9 sts, Red Heart Pink 5 & 9 sts, Red Heart Turquoise 6 & 10 sts, Red Heart Orange 6 & 10 sts, Yuzawaya Super Acrylic Yellow 7 sts, Yuzawaya Super Acrylic Lt Green 7 sts, Mainstays Green 7 sts, Yuzawaya Super Acrylic Dk Green 11 sts, & Yuzawaya Super Acrylic Brown 7 & 11 sts using US8 (5mm) needles for the body of the tree.  Unlike Emmett's tree, I decided to use random bits of yarn from each of the stars to whip stitch the stars together and I made her star topper 3D instead of making it flat.  I did use a clear plastic straw as the tree's spine (just like Emmett's tree) but opted not to give her a base since her stars were so puffy that it was sturdy enough to stand on its own.

I must say, out of all the stars/projects I made, Yi Ying's tree was the hardest.  The actual making of the stars for her tree was the easy part; it was finishing her stars took me nearly three (3!) whole days, where I spent one day actually finishing them, another day "puffing" up the stars and completing her topper, & ten (yes, 10!) hours (straight!) whip stitching the stars together & embroidering a little flower for each of their centers. 😥

I hope Yi Ying enjoys her star tree as much as her cousin has! 🌟🌲🎉

No Name Socks (aka Tabi Monogatari v19)

Time for yet another pair of mid-calf socks for my hubby.  And timing was just right; I was about to head out for another work training. Little did I know (at that time), it would be my last training trip for a while. At the time of creating this sock, COVID-19 was running rampant in China and Italy. Spain wasn't hit hard yet and the Washington State was just showing signs of the pandemic to come. As I used my Lang Yarns Jawoll Color Superwash yarn and my 4" & 3" Chiaogoo interchangeables US 0 needles, I watched as the world got sicker and sicker, day by day; near the end of my trip, I wondered if I would even be able to go home. Fortunately, I made it home just in time; COVID-19 was just starting to rear it's frightening head (at a frightening speed) in the US.

On a happier note, I think I have finally found my groove on a "vanilla" pattern for Hubby's socks 😉; here's what I did:
1. I started with a Provisional cast on with casted on 50 sts (I literally copied what I did for sock v17).
2. K 1 straight row on each side, then connected in the round.
3. K 15 rows in the round as part of the foot portion.
4. Started the toes: with 25 sts on each side, splitting it up for 8 sts for big toe, 17 

    sts for remaining toes.

5. Big toe:

• Row 1:
• Front: k to the 2nd to the last st, pick up 1 st below, for a total of 9 sts
• Back: k, pick up a st below, k to the end for a total of 9 sts
• Row 2: 
• Front: k, pick up a st, k to the end, for a total of 10 sts
• Back: k to the last 2 sts, pick up a st below, k for a total of 10 sts
• Row 3: k
• Row 4-5 (2 rows): Follow Row 2 until there are 12 sts
• Row 6-11 (6 rows): k
• Row 12:
• Front: k to last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 11 sts
• Back: SSK, k to the end for a total of 11 sts
• Row 13:
• Front: SSK, k to the end for a total of 10 sts
• Back: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 10 sts
• Row 14:
• Front: k to last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 9 sts
• Back: SSK, k to the end for a total of 9 sts
• Row 15: k
• Row 16:
• Front: SSK, k to the end for a total of 8 sts
• Back: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 8 sts
• Row 17: k
• Row 18:
• Front: k to last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 7 sts
• Back: SSK, k to the end for a total of 7 sts
• Row 19:
• Front: SSK, k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 5 sts
• Back: SSK, k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 5 sts
• Row 20: same as row 19 continuing to decrease 2 sts, total of 3 sts on each side
• Bound off using the Kitchener stitch.

    The big toe came out to 5.5 cm (2 in).

6. The rest of the toes:

• Row 1: k, picking up 4 sts on each side, for a total of 21 sts
• Row 2: k
• Row 3:
• Front: SSK, k to the end for a total of 20 sts
• Back: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 20 sts
• Row 4: k
• Row 5:
• Front: SSK, k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 18 sts
• Back: SSK, k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 18 sts
• Row 6: 
• Front: SSK, k to the end for a total of 17 sts
• Back: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 17 sts
• Row 7:
• Front: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 16 sts
• Back: SSK, k to the end for a total of 16 sts
• Row 8: 
• Front: SSK, k to the end for a total of 15 sts
• Back: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 15 sts
• Row 9: 
• Front: SSK, k to the end, for a total of 14 sts
• Back: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 14 sts
• Row 10: 
• Front: SSK, k to the end for a total of 13 sts
• Back: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 13 sts
• Row 11: k
• Row 12-17: same as Row 10 for 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 & 7 sts
• Row 18:
• Front: SSK, k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 5 sts
• Back: ssk, k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 5 sts
• Row 19: k
• Row 20: same as Row 18 for 3 sts
• Bound off using the Kitchener stitch.

    The rest of the toe came out to 4.8 cm (1⅝ in)

7. Then I went back to the bottom of the provisional cast on and picked up the 

    stitches to start the foot.

• Row 16: pick up a st from the “front” side and put it on the “back” side; pick up a st from the “back” side, bringing it behind the st picked up from the “front” and put it on the “front” side. K these 2 sts together. Then k in the round. There should be 25 start on each side.
• Row 17-50 (49 rows): k, maintaining 25 sts on each side
• Row 51-59 (9 rows): pick up a sts below on each side, maintaining 26 sts on each side
• Row 60: pick up the first st, 9th st, 18th at & last st on each side for a total of 30 sts
  
• Row 61-65 (5 rows): k, maintaining 30 sts on each side
• Including the initial 15 rows, this came out for a total of 17 cm (6 3/4 in)

8. With the foot done, I started on the heel portion using the Fish Lips Kiss Heel

method. 

• Row 108-119 (12 rows): Follow the Fish Lips Kiss Heel method until you have 10 twin stitches (sts) knits and purls sts on each side and 10 regular sts
• This came out to 4.5 cm (1 3/4 in).
• Row 120: as you "boomerang" back to the regular sts, k2tog, k2, k2tog, k2, ktog then continue using the Fish Lips Kiss Heel method for a total of 27 sts
  
• Row 121-135 (15 rows): Continue using the Fish Lips Kiss Heel method to turn the heel until you have a total of 27 sts again. 
• Row 136: 
• Left side: Since the left side ends on a purl side, k to bring you back to the correct side.
• Right side: k
• This came out perfect! :) *yay* :)

9. With the heel done, I finished off the leg:

• Row 137: k2tog on the first & last st, k in the round for a total of 28 sts for top side & 27 sts for the back side
• Row 138-141 (4 rows): k in the round, maintaining a total of 28 & 27 sts on each side
• Row 142: decrease 1 st on the top side for a total of 27 sts on each side
• Row 143-171 (34 rows): k, maintaining a total of 27 sts on each side
• Total length of the leg was 10 cm (4 in)

10. With the leg done, it was time to cuff; Hubby said he wanted shorter ribbing this 

      time (*yay* homestretch!):

• Row 172-196 (25 rows): complete cuff using 1x1 ribbing (27 sts on each side)
• Row 197: add 1 sts to each side for a total of 28 sts and continue 1x1 ribbing
• Row 198-217 (15 rows): complete cuff using 1x1 ribbing (28 sts on each side) for a total of 10 cm (4 in) of ribbing
• Bound off using a variation of the Estonian bind off, in which I picked up a stitch from the row below then used the Estonian bind off technique. :) 

The total length of the leg and cuff was 21 cm (8 1/4 in).

Yay! Another finished pair! 😊 And, just in time for my return flight! ✈️ (I was able to start working on a pair of socks for myself on the way home.)

Now, he's (slowly) getting a respectable collection of socks! 😉

Now, I'm sure you must be wondering: "Why are these socks called No Name?" Well, it's called No Name because I couldn't think of a name for it and neither could Hubby or my family (I actually polled my family to see if anyone had thoughts for a name for these socks)! Because no one could come up with a name (and I was dying to post this!), I just gave up and called these No Name socks. At least it has a name now and I can finally post this! 😉