Socks on my Creelman Brothers machine, and sock yarn on the inkle loom

I recently put in an order to Dharma Trading Company for some more silk scarf blanks, and some earth tone dyes. This time I also ordered two blank silk ties, to try painting them as well. I had such fun with the last set of scarves that I really want to keep going with them.

While I'm waiting for the order to come in though, I dusted off my Creelman Brothers circular sock knitting machine. I had a friend order a set of socks for her husband's birthday present. I snapped a picture of them in progress, about the time that I was ready to turn the heel. (That is why half of the needles are lifted up out of play.)



I'm happy with the way that they turned out. These are men's size 10 socks, out of Serenity sock weight yarn. It is 50% superwash merino wool, 25% bamboo, and 25% nylon, which makes for a snuggly soft but still strong sock. And they are machine washable, too.



I was pleased enough with how those turned out that I figured I'd make another pair out of the same yarn this evening. I wound up a different colorway, and got started.

The first sock turned out beautifully. The second one was perfect...up until I wasn't paying attention on the Last Two Rows. I screwed up, fixed the mistake, and then screwed up even bigger. So I ripped the whole sock back out into ball form, and set it aside until my head clears. I'll make that second sock tomorrow. Sometimes you just have to step AWAY from the machine.

I did figure out what to do with the partial skeins of yarn that are left over after I make the socks, though. I've been balling the tail ends back up and saving them. I've got a small basket full of small balls of sock yarns now. In fact, the basket is overflowing and ending up on the floor. So I got an idea, and put a batch of sock yarn on my inkle loom to see how it would work up. I usually use cotton crochet thread for my inkle bands, so this was a new experiment for me.




The yarn is a little grabby, so I need to be careful to get the sheds open well. But it is easy to keep tension, and the variegated sock yarn works up into a lovely band.


I think these will make lovely belts, especially for my historical recreation hobby. Maybe camera or guitar straps? Hmm...and I bet I could make stripes of different sock yarns to add to the patterning.

What would you use bands like this for?