Boot Camp

These socks are made with Claudia Hand Painted yarn in the Boot Camp colorway. They were made for the Socks for Soldiers yahoo group to be sent to a soldier serving in the Middle East. I received a donated skein of the yarn in sport weight, but needed more to complete a pair of socks. LindaGM on Ravelry generously swapped two skeins in fingering weight for some other yarn I had. Thank you Linda! The fingering weight was used for the legs and feet, while the sport weight was used for the heels and toes. The sock machine wasn't very happy going between the two weights and required loosening the tension on the heel spring when doing the heels and toes. Loosening the cylinder tension would have worked as well. The end result is great with thick heels and toes - and in such an appropriate colorway name (Boot Camp).

First ever blog entry

I can't believe I have actually created a blog. A couple of years ago the word "blog" would have elicited the question "What is that?". So, here goes.

In March I became the proud owner of an antique circular sock machine (CSM). It is a Legare 400, though I call him Charles Legare or Charlie, for short. Knitting socks by hand used to take me forever, that is, if the socks were ever completed. Now, if things are running smoothly, a pair of socks takes about 1-1/2 hours.

CSM's were used to knit socks for soldiers during WWI. Now, Charlie and I work together to make socks for soldiers through a wonderful group aptly named "Socks for Soldiers". The group welcomes any and all that are interested in knitting socks and beanies for our soldiers. You can join this great group at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SOCKFORSOLDIERS/

Okay, that's enough learning for now. My brain can only handle so many new things in one day. :)