Friday, August 14, 2009

Socks 14 & 15

I finally finished up and washed socks 14 & 15. I decided that since I was having such success with my old sock pattern it was about time to expand my knowledge and I actually bought a book on sock knitting. It's called 'Knitting the Perfect Pair' and every pair of socks in the book has at least one unusual technique demonstrated in the pattern.


I chose to try a pair knitted from the toes up rather than from the cuffs down to the toes. The pattern included lots of things I hadn't tried before like unusual stitch patterns, multiple color changes and, just to keep things interesting, instead of knitting the heel while working the rest of the sock, the heel is knitted after the sock body is completed by opening a hole in the sock where you want the heel to be worked.






Yikes!





Just to make things interesting I decided not to use the recommended size of yarn or needles which meant I needed to re-work the pattern a little so I had at least a prayer of them even coming close to fitting.





Here is how they came out:

The yarn is a self-striping super wash wool from the Hen House and included extra yarn for reinforcing the toes and heels. I did not use the extra yarn to reinforce the toes because I had enough trouble trying to start the socks at the toes. I did use it to reinforce one heel (the left one above) but I forgot to use it on the second heel. I can't find the label for the yarn so I can't give you the name of it but it is really soft and feels great. I did not attempt to match the stripes between the two sock so these will definitely be worn under my longest jeans.




These are a little snug in the fit but that means they should fit nicely in my loafers... at least I hope they will when I replace my old loafers.




I hope your week went well. I am planning on joining some friends tomorrow for a day of playing with the French Braid quilt piecing technique. I have a Moda Jelly Roll that I bought a while ago and it resurfaced from the clutter pile just in time for this class. Unlike previous gatherings when we have had a volunteer who has done the technique before and has a completed sample, we are winging this one with no samples and a couple of books for guidance. Wish us luck!

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