I had a fabulous time in Virginia, in case you were wondering. I learned so much I thought my head would explode, made new friends, saw old ones, good times. Now, onto what you are really interested in, the knitting. Did I knit while in Virginia? You know it.
Amongst my other wips, I managed to finish my Sockapalooza Socks.
A few people have knitted this sock out there on the internets with great success. And though the socks are fairly easy, I had some thoughts about the pattern, the yarn, etcetera, so I am going to share them. Feel free to throw tomatoes later.
The pattern (Laburnum) was really easy; easy to memorize, easy to execute. And because it is basically a cabled rib pattern there is a lot (A LOT!!) of stretch in the sock, which is what I was going for. My sock pal said she had big feet (but I am going to disagree, I don't think a size 10 foot is big at all--says she sporting the size 9 foot). In any case, the Sock Pal is convinced that her feet are large, so I am nothing if not accommodating. So, stretchy sock, check.
The pattern is knit from the toe up. To prep my self for this toe-up excursion, I gave Wendy's Plain Toe-Up Sock a go, I finished one and loved the method. Her directions are also flawless and quite detailed. So in doing one sock, I felt pretty confident.
So I tend to like to do things as written, because that is just me being Type A, I should have gone with my gut and done the toe that I liked from Wendy's sock. Why argue with genius, right? The toe on this sock is "easy toe" as spelled out by Charlene Schurch. It was easy, I guess, but I just didn't love it. Also, I think I would have extended the stockinette in the toe a bit more, but that is just me.
The heel is a reverse short row heel. I don't like it. There was too much wrapping of stitches to be reasonable, and the look of the heel (in comparison to the heel produced with Wendy's pattern) didn't meet my aesthetic expectation, but it's functional, and it looks okay.
As as much as Charlene Schurch likes to give you avenues for success in sock making, she doesn't really offer much in the way of finishing the sock off (for toe ups). So after doing some searching for good ways to finish the cuff of a toe up sock, I was led again to Wendy and her suggestion for a modified Russian Bind Off. I just knit it all. Looks fine to me and it's stretchy as all get out.
The four row pattern was pretty easy, I think the variegation of the yarn obscures the pattern somewhat; but some people are into that sort of thing. Also, I was pretty sure the Sock Pal was a lover of variegated yarns. She also requested bright colors, "the brighter the better." Now all of you who know me and love me, you know that this is something difficult for me to work with. So I was going to go with Pomatomus in the yellow Koigu for the sock pal. Sock Pal does not like yellow (predominantly or alone). Huh. She does however like other colors with yellow, especially pink. Huh.
I have to admit, I was at a loss. During a trip to sorta local yarn shop (Knit Wits, Westerly, RI), I saw this yarn sitting there. The colorway is called "Brights." Well, how can you go wrong with that, right? Super bright yarn, check.
The short of it folks, is this: easy pattern, quick to knit, happy results. I hope my Sockapalooza pal likes them.
Laburnum Socks
Pattern: from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Brights
Needles: US 2 bamboo dpns
Modifications: None
A note about the yarn, the dyes bled a little during the wash before the blocking stage, but the brightness was still retained.
And the yardage is pretty amazing. I had a ton of yarn leftover at second sock's end. I think the leftovers might make interesting baby socks. Maybe?
And totally unrelated to socks, Sockapalooza or anything having to do with knitting whatsoever, during our recent trip to Virginia, Little Sir discovered his love for crayons and this picture makes me so happy. Maybe it will make you happy too.
Happy Monday all!