FO: Patience Socks

And they're done!

The nifty sock blockers were a Christmas present from my husband--he came up with it all by himself! I can't imagine using them to block socks--do people really do that?--but they're perfect for taking FOtos.

The Details:

Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Sweetpea. Definitely my new favorite yarn. I've been snatching it up in Rav destashes as fast as I can hit "pay now."

Needles: Size 2 Bryspun dpns. I really wanted to use the Bryspun needles and size 2 is as small as they go, so even though I'd prefer a smaller needle, I gave them a shot. They socks turned out fine. I think this yarn is a little thicker than most sock yarn. I did the cuffs on size 1s (some new wood dpns I got from DyakCraft--formerly Grafton fibers--thanks to a tip from kmkat), because I was hoping tighter ribbing would help them stay up.

Pattern: Winged it. Cast on toe up and increased to 56 stitches. Worked in k2, p2 on the tops only for four rounds, then switched to p2, k2 to get a checkerboard pattern. Toe, bottoms, and short row heels are plain stockinette. When I got to the ankle, I continued the checkerboard pattern all the way around. The cuffs are k2, p2 ribbing. I really like the finished texture. It looks almost like a diamond weave.

Size: Women's 11. I worked the foot until it measured 8.5 inches from the toe, then started the short row heel. After the heel, I worked about an extra inch before beginning the ankle. Foot length is about 11 inches.

Name: Well, that's pretty straightforward. I started these waiting in the doctor's office--for hours--and finished them while waiting for the release of Clue 2 of the Enchanted Wood mystery shawl. "Patience" seemed appropriate. I wonder if wearing them will give me more of it?

Coming Unraveled

I finished Clue 1 for Enchanted Wood a few days ago (ahead of schedule!), and since the next clue won't be out until the 22nd, I picked up my current pair of socks to fill the gap. I made such good progress that by the end of American Idol last night, I had two socks that looked like this:

All they needed was a bind off.

Ordinarily, I would have gone to bed then, but I was so close to the finish that I figured I'd just stay up a little later and get them bound off.

Does anyone else hear the Knitting Goddess cackling?

I got about ten stitches into the bindoff of the first sock when I discovered I had somehow dropped a stitch while binding off. I started tinking back. The bindoff I'm using involves knitting two stitches, slipping them back to the left needle, then knitting them through the back loops. This makes a nice, stretchy edge for toe-up socks. It is also absolutely impossible to tink back. After two hours and a raging desire for a bottle of Xanax, I had one sock ready for its bind off and one sock that looked like this:

Oh, yeah. It's not pretty, folks.

But for once, I'm proud to say, I recognized bitter reality while it was staring me in the face and bowed to the inevitable. I stuffed the sock back into its bag and went to bed.

Thanks to my HMO...

...I got this much sock knitted waiting at the doctor's office today. I am not a fast sock knitter, so you can imagine how much time this represents sitting in the waiting room. Thank the good lord for knitting, and Mountain Colors for my new BFF, Mountain Colors Bearfoot.

(I should also thank my HMO for the $1200 per month premium, the visit to the primary care physician for a referral to the specialist, the copay for the primary care physician, the mandated specialist, the additional co-pay for the specialist, and the six month wait to see the specialist, but at least we don't have government-run health care. Because that would be inconvenient and expensive, and we wouldn't be able to choose our own doctors. Sorry. My sarcasm is showing. Hey, Canada, wanna trade?)

Socks and More Socks

I would never have believed it possible, but I think I've caught the sock bug.

I finished the Mountain Colors toe-up socks a while ago:

I love these socks! Despite the wonky toe on the first one, I think they're the most comfortable socks I've made. The yarn is amazing; the colors are great and it knits up into a soft, dense fabric that responds really well to machine washing. I do think they got a bit shorter with washing, though. I really, really like knitting socks toe-up. I can use all the yarn and I don't have to graft the toes.

I enjoyed these so much that I immediately cast on for another pair. I had a 150 gram ball of Supersocke dk weight, so I made knee highs!

I prefer longer socks, so these really please me. The top ribbing is a little floppier than I'd like. Next time I will use a smaller needle for the ribbing. I did these on size 2 (2.75mm) dpns. Yes, dpns. And despite my great love for magic loop...I had so much fun!

I did them simultaneously on two sets of dpns, to prevent second sock syndrome. I used Bryspun nylon needles, which are my favorites for sock knitting. Unfortunately, 2.75mm is the smallest size they make. They worked well for this yarn, but for most sock yarn I prefer a size 1 (2.25mm). I haven't yet found any dpns in that size that I really like; I'd like a slightly flexible, non-metal, short (4-6") needle. Any suggestions?

Look! Up in the Sky!

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's...a toe-up sock!

The specs:

Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot. (Love it!) Not sure of the colorway.

Needles: 2.24 mm, long, slippery, metal Susan Bates dpns. (Not so much.)

Pattern: I started with Wendy Johnson's "easy toe", which wasn't. Halfway up the foot, Cynthia took pity on me (thanks, Cynthia!) and turned me onto her pattern (Rav link) for toe-ups. It includes instructions for a short-row heel (love it!) and a really easy, stretchy bind-off (ditto). I can't wait to try the toe on the second sock. The top of this sock is done in 2x2 ribbing, with every other knit rib done in a 1x1 cable for a ropey effect. I would have done this all the way around once I reached the ankle, but I forgot, so it's only on the front of the sock. I finished the cuff with basic 2x2 ribbing.

To my great relief, it fits perfectly and feels like it will stay up. I particularly like the short row heel. I have narrow heels, and my flap heels always sag. I also never seem to get them the right height. This short row heels fits the shape of my foot much better and didn't require picking up gusset stitches, which I dislike.

Unfortunately, I didn't knit two at a time (sorry, Melissa!), so now I have to go cast on for the second.

The Trouble with DPNs*

It took me about an hour to get to this point.

I've never done a toe-up sock before. After a quick check of Rav, I looked up Wendy Johnson's "Easy Toe." It's not as easy as the name would have you believe, but I am willing to believe it is easier than the alternatives. Unfortunately, it calls for the use of dpns, which are not my favorite knitting tools. I'm sure there is a way to do it with a long circular, but frankly, my brain was pretty overtaxed just following the directions as written.

I'm not one of those people who can manipulate five tiny needles with speed and grace. When I have to use them, I prefer short, blunt, bamboo or nylon needles with a little give and a little stickiness to help me control the stitches. The only dpns I have in the right size for this yarn, though, are rather long, pointy, slippery, metal needles. This did not make for an easier first toe-up experience.

I did eventually get the toe finished, but I'm not at all sure it looks right. It seems to me the increases ought to be on the sides, not on the top and bottom. Yes, I could just lay the sock the other direction (and in fact that's what I will do), but then the tip of the toe is vertical rather than horizontal. This seems wrong to me, even though I'm sure I followed the directions correctly. Does anyone understand what I'm talking about?

This is what it looks like now. I'm not the world's fastest sock knitter, obviously.

(Can you see what I mean about the toe now? The stitches on the very tip are turned sideways because I turned the toe to put the increases on the sides.) I'm not using a pattern. I just ribbed the top in 2x2 ribbing, because I like ribbed socks, and did a twisted stitch cable for every other knitted rib for a little more interest. I'm sort of regretting that, actually. I don't use a cable needle and I've dropped quite a few stitches because I can't really see the little buggers that well, even with my glasses on, and the metal needles aren't helping. But I do like the effect.

All in all, I'm finding the sock knitting pretty interesting. I'm hoping I can sustain this level of interest, because this is what the mailman has brought so far--and there's more coming.

I may have gotten a little carried away.

*Please note that I am not in any way disparaging dpns. I know many people love them with a deep and enduring passion. I am not one of them, but I do understand. I love alpaca like that.

Now That's More Like It!

This is not the yarn I am planning to overdye. That plan is still in the works. This is the yarn that arrived today, and I am beyond pleased with it. This is a skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot that was admittedly a splurge. I've often fondled this yarn in my not-so-L YS, but as a confirmed non-sock-knitter, I could never really justify buying it, no matter how soft it is or how rich the colors.

In my new knitting-socks-may-not-be-so-bad world, I decided it would maybe be okay to buy just one skein of unreasonably expensive sock yarn, just to try it. Sort of like testing the heroin, because, ya know, you can always go back, right? I found this skein in a Rav destash, and it was less than retail, so I'm working that angle, too.

It's really nice. It's a lot nicer than the cheap sock yarns I've tried. It's softer and denser and richer colored. It's like sweater yarn for the feet. I haven't tried knitting it yet, but I'm sure doing so won't lead me into any trouble. After all, my ability to resist beautiful yarns is well documented.

WTF?

I'm pretty sure I've used this post title before, but sometimes it just applies.

I ordered some sock yarn online. I don't really have an LYS. I have a not-so-L YS, but I only go there once a month for my spinning group (it's more than an hour drive round trip), so when I get impatient, I order online. No driving, less waiting. The only problem is, since the gratification is not instant, I tend to...um...keep ordering until stuff starts arriving. I'm not sure exactly how much sock yarn is on its way, and I won't know until the postman stops knocking, but the first of it arrived today.

Here's where things start getting interesting. When I first started ordering yarn online, I was often shocked at how...dissimilar the yarn looked in person from how it looked on my computer. I have yarns in the stash that no one in their right mind would buy in person, but they looked pretty darned good on my computer screen. As I've become more experienced at online ordering, I've learned to read the descriptions carefully and check photos of the yarn I'm interested in on multiple sites to get the best idea of how it really looks. I'm rarely surprised or disappointed anymore. Sometimes, though, I still open a box and think, "WTF?"

This is the yarn I ordered:

Pretty, huh? It is described as: "A Subtle Combination of Creme, Beiges, Dustings of Cinnamon & Rose Hues". I think that's a fairly accurate description of this picture, and I like it. I like the golden tones and the green and beige and just generally the whole thing. You know what I don't like, though?

This:

This is the yarn that showed up in my mailbox, and yes, the colors look accurate on my screen. I would describe it as "A nasty combination of greyish mauve with a dusting of puke green." No resemblance at all to the picture or the description of the colorway I ordered. And before you ask, yes, I did check the tag and the colorway is the one I ordered.

So I won't be casting on any socks today. I will, however, be breaking out the dyepot for some creative overdyeing. Stay tuned for the results!

Redemption

Aaaaand they're done! (They really do match, right down to the last row. The picture just makes them look like they ended at different places. I think I was curling my toes.)

The yarn is Supersocke Summer, if I recall correctly. It's a wool/cotton/nylon blend, which my feet like, but my hands don't. It's kind of splitty and doesn't really have the bounce of wool, although it's not terrible.

The shoes (my new favorites) are Born Joey clogs. They're super comfortable, lightweight, and go great with jeans or pants. They also show off handknit socks nicely. I got mine at theshoemart.com, but they're available all over online.

I don't know how all you sock knitters get decent pictures of your own feet.

Disgraceful

I am not a sock knitter. It's not that I can't knit socks, or that I don't like handknit socks, it's just that I don't quite get the thrill of knitting twenty- or thirty-thousand tiny stitches to come up with something no one's ever going to see anyway. I have knitted several pairs of socks. For various reasons, I don't wear any of them: wool is itchy--yes, it is!;I have thick ankles and skinny feet, so they always slide down; they're too thick to wear under most of my shoes, because my feet are really big and I can rarely find shoes big enough to accommodate my feet, much less my feet plus thick socks; most of the year I wear sandals anyway; etc.

But when the weather starts to get cold (that is, below 70F), I trade my sandals in for clogs (yes, I am a fashion maven, why do you ask?), and this year I've bought a new pair with open backs, which would be perfect to show off some nice, warm, handknit socks that wouldn't be prone to sliding down, since there is no shoe heel to pull on them. This is a convenient excuse to forget how much I don't like knitting socks and cast on a new pair. Except for this:

This is the last pair of socks I cast on, about a year and a half ago, in celebration of a new pair of Mary Janes for springtime. Evidently, my enthusiasm for the project waned before the end of spring and the socks ended up stuffed behind the sofa, not to be seen for many a long month. (For the record, I don't count socks as either WIPs or UFOs--ditto scarves and shawls, but that's a topic for another post.)

And that is just disgraceful. It's not like I fell victim to Second Sock Syndrome--that second sock is more than half finished! Even with my lackluster sock knitting skilz, it can't be more than a couple evenings' work to finish these off. They're even kind of cute, the stripes match, they fit, and they're a non-itchy cotton blend.

And so I'm going to go on record here and state that I will finish these darned things (darned socks--*snort!*) and actually wear them this winter. There. I did it. And you can all hold me accountable.

If sock yarn doesn't count as stash, do socks count as FOs?