Round 4 Specs

Round 4 will start on Thursday, April 30, between 7 – 11 pm our time.

The pattern calls for 225 yards of a main(variegated) color and 130 yards of a contrasting (solid) color.  You will also need US #1 needles and US #2 needles of your choice, a stitch marker, and 2 cable needles.  The pattern was designed with Malabrigo Sock Yarn and Louet Gems Sock Yarn and test knit with Chewy Spaghetti Sock Yarn and Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solid Sock Yarn.  Please note, when the pattern is released, that it is the test knit sock which is used in the photos.

The magic number for this round is 8.

Round 2 Specs

Round One will end tomorrow at 6 pm and Round Two will start on Saturday.  With that in mind, here are your Round Two specs.

The pattern requires 2 skeins of contrasting solids or a solid and 1 semi-solid.  The skeins should be 185 yards each with a gauge of 9 sts/inch on size 1.5 US needles.  The pattern was knit with Louet Gems and the test knit was also done with Louet Gems.  ‘Kay?

And while you’re thinking about that, here’s our final teaser.

Specs For the Final Round

We didn’t forget about you all and we were not intentionally keeping you in suspense. The truth is that the awarding of prizes and polling for favorites has fallen woefully behind and we were trying to come up with a catch up plan.

Based upon our need to catch up and other small issues we’ve arrived at a release date for the next pattern of Thursday May 22 – probably in the afternoon. It is a little bit of a delay but we know that there are many of you still working on socks from earlier rounds and this will give you a little extra time to free up some needles.

The specs for this round are:

Needles – US 1.5 (2.5mm) I used dpns for parts of the sock and a circ for another, you may choose dpns and straights. It’s hard to say except that you should have a bunch of needles in the right size on hand.

Yarn - 225 meters of solid fingering weight and odds and ends with none of them being less than 4 yards long. This is also open to interpretation based upon the yarn you have on hand. I couldn’t find my odds and ends so I used a highly variegated in place of the odds and ends and a darker, less variegated yarn for the rest. Play with the combinations and have fun.

Gauge – 9 st/inch

As many have surmised, there will be 4 knitters competing in this round to be the ultimate winner. It seemed easier and more representative this way.

While you’re waiting for this round to start, please remember to vote for your favorite from round 4. The voting is still open but it closes in just a few hours.

I’m also looking for nominations for Round 5. Lets see those Hipy Ripply Retro Socks! I’ll get that poll up on Friday and it ought to be open until Monday evening.

By the way, if you receive a prize please show it off to us. You know how we all love Yarn P*rn!

Round 4 Specs

Round 3 sure did go fast, didn’t it? We’re still working out what to do about the opening in Tennessee but we’ll let you know as soon as we’ve decided. In the meantime, we know you’re all anxious to end the suspense about Round 4. We’re going to start this one on Monday due to the upcoming Passover holiday this weekend. So, specs today and the pattern on Monday between 6 am and 10 am our time.

Here’s what you need to know:

Yarn: approx. 360 yards fingering weight sock yarn, white or other light color such as Louet Gems Merino White, 185 yards/50 grams per skein)

Needles: Size 1 circular, or size needed to obtain gauge (written for 1 or two circ method, easily adapted for DPNs)

Gauge: 8.5 stitches per inch

Additional supplies: Couple yards of smooth, contrasting waste yarn for heel.

Optional supplies: Wilton, Easter egg or other dyes appropriate for fiber content.

This pattern is written for a plain colored yarn with directions for dip-dyeing the sock when it’s finished. The test sock was knit with Claudia’s Handpaint and was not dyed at the end. We are leaving the dyeing portion of this pattern entirely up to you. Your socks will be considered finished when they are knit and you can dye them later if you choose to do that.

The first 6 finishers in each division will advance to the next round.

Round One Specs

The specs for Round One are as follows:

Yarn = 1 skein of fingering weight yarn, solid or almost solid is probably the best choice for this pattern. Think “scary” when you pick a colorway! The designer used 100 grams of Colinette Jitterbug in Charcoal, I used 1 skein of Opal Hand Painted.

Gauge = 32 stitches/4 inches

The pattern will be sent to you all on Thursday between Noon and 5pm EST.

Are you excited or what?

Carole

Tap, Tap, Tap

Are you still out there? 

I really hope you’re still there because I’m getting ready to start discussing Sock Madness 2.  I hope to post a request for SM2 designers in the next few days.  I don’t anticipate many changes to the guidelines for the first round with one major exception – the timeline.  The designs will be due quite a bit earlier so that there will be more time to test them and make any adjustments.

 Before we really get started with SM2 I have just a few loose ends from SM1 to wrap up.  Actually, now there’s just one because Kristi finished revising her design, Mashup Madness, and is now offering it for sale on her blog.  It looks even cooler now.  If you were a player in Sock Madness then the updated version is in your email box.  If not then you really ought to go buy a copy.  The scalloped edge treatment is super! 

Here’s is a pair that was finished recently by one of our SM1 players, Linnakat.  She used the original version of the pattern for these and the the instructions for that version are included in this newly published pattern.

Looking for These?

For those of you who’ve been watching Sock Madness from the sidelines – we’ve got a treat for you today.  Pattern 6 – Mad For Fair Isle Batik Style socks – is now available from the designer, Tina Lorin.  She’s charging a small fee of $3.25 for this pattern and it’s so worth it.  Go get a copy for yourself.

New Voices and Mad Weaving for Free!

It’s so nice to see that the Madness continues over on the flickr group.  New socks keep popping up and some of them are from people we haven’t heard from in quite a while.  New voices are almost always a good thing.  They add to the diversity and provide inspiration.

 

I’ve been putting off saying too much about Sock Madness 2 because it will have a new voice as well.  Felicia is an amazing friend of mine and I couldn’t have done this (or anything else) without her.  In real life, she often steps in to help me with stuff like picking up my kids when Hubbo and I are caught at work.  She helped me do a little surprise renovation on my daughter’s room while she was away at camp last summer too.

 

Felicia will be around for SM 2 but not quite as much because she’s got some big stuff happening at home.  It’s not my place to say any more than that.  The bottom line is that I needed a new co-host. 

 

I’m really excited to say that Carole has agreed to step in and join me as co-host.  She made the official button for the last round and she was a player in Nancy’s Division.  I’ve read her blog for a while and she’s got some great skills.  She’s also a librarian like me which is very cool.  I’m sure that she’ll have great ideas to contribute so that we can make SM2 even better than SM1.  Feel free to welcome her with a shout out! 

 

By the way, as of last week, the Mad Weave pattern is available for anyone who wants to try it.  Tina has incorporated many of the suggestions and comments from the players and is offering it on her blog here. There will be more to come soon.

Where to Get Pattern 3

Thanks for all of the lovely comments.  I truly appreciate them.

The prep work is being done to roll out pattern 6 shortly but thre’s quite a lot of other business to catch up on first so I expect that there may be a lot of posting going on this week.  First I need to wrap up a loose end from Round Three and let those of you on the sidelines know where you can get copies of that pattern.  Here is the information from the designer, Tricia Weatherston:

The Painted Madness pattern is available  by emailing me at  twistedtreasures@verizon.net or from Mountain Knits and Pearls my LYS here in East Stroudsburg, PA. Either way the cost is $4.00 and $1.00 for postage and handling. I’m not set up for paypal or anything so if anyone is interested they will need to send me an email for an exchange of address information. Joanne on the other hand can take credit card info.  She also has some great sock yarn available.  Her phone is 570-424-7770 and the email is mtnknitspearls@yahoo.com

Just as an FYI, I believe that the prizes sent out by Tricia all came from Mountain Knits and Pearls so you know they have some great stuff.

Monday Update

It’s just after noon here - high time for an update on Round 4.  At this moment there are 5 knitters who’ve made it through to Round 5.  Woot!  Congrats to all!  It’s been an really interesting and exciting round so far – filled with photo finishes and gallantry.  The Stitchinwench beat out Linnakat by “the hair of her chinny chin chin” and Yarnatic Vikkie beat out Geotrax Laurie by just a bit.

I suspect that the story that’s taken most of us by surprise would be the match between Knitting Mamma and Lalaknits Laura.   Laura put down her needles when Mamma started struggling with a migraine.  Many were tempted to refer to Laura as a Gentleman for such behavior but I prefer to think of it a knitterly.  As you all have demonstrated time and time again, friendship comes first.  Knitters never hesitate to help each other out – even in the heat of competition.

Here’s a little news for those of you who are watching the Madness from the sidelines.  Karin Bole, the designer of Mad-tini, our Round 2 pattern, has it available for sale on her website.   Go on over and get a copy.