FO Monday: Socks
Socks off the needles and on my feet – or, on my sock blockers, as the case may be.
Socks: Monkey Socks by Cookie A from Knitty. One hank of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in Carbon Dating (100% superwash merino wool) on size #1.5 Knitpicks DPNs.
Started: June 15, 2007
Finished: June 24, 2007
Mods: Knit all of the purl stitches, and did a garter stitch short row heel. One less pattern repeat on the leg. Decreased toe about 4 extra rows for pointer toe.
I do love these socks, so there isn’t much more to say about them. I really like the colors, particularly on the toe and heel where they didn’t pool. But the striping affect is nice, so it’s still a winner. I love, love, love knitting with this yarn. Can’t wait to wear these this winter!
Socks: Twinkle Toes socks by Cookie A from Knitty Gritty. One hank of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Heavyweight in Cotton Candy (100% superwash merino wool) on size #3 Bryspun DPNs.
Started: July 3, 2007
Finished: July 9, 2007
Mods: Absolutely none – followed the pattern to the letter.
Wow, were these a fast pair of socks. The heavy yarn made them zippy, that’s for sure.
There were a couple of firsts with these socks – first Figure 8 cast-on and first toe-up gusseted heel. I loved both of these. The Figure-8 cast-on for the toe was very easy, and kept me from having to do a short row toe with a provisional cast on. Not that there’s anything wrong with those – the Figure 8 is just a lot easier for me. Granted, the first row of stitches is a little loose, but luckily Cookie A demonstrated how to tighten up those stitches on the Knitty Gritty episode, and it worked like a charm.
The toe-up gusseted heel was also a new one for me. I wasn’t sure how it would work from the instructions, but I just followed them blindly and sure enough it all worked out. I could see the construction as it happened on the second sock, so it makes a little more sense to me now.
Another first on these socks were the Bryspun DPNs. They’re plastic, and very very bendy, which I absolutely loved. I’d been using the 6″ Knitpicks metal DPNs, and while I like them (so slick! so fast!) there’s a lot to be said for being able to bend my needles to knit some lacy stitches. They’re very pointy, too, which helps. I would love to knit some lighterweight socks with them, but the smallest size they’re made in is US#2. That might work with the STR Mediumweight, though… hmmm…
Finally, I love how these socks look when they’re worn – the lace looks very pretty across the top of the foot. As it turns out, it’s the same lace pattern that Cookie uses in her Beaudalaire socks, which are for a lighter weight yarn. Which is perfect, because whiel I love these socks, they’re so thick I’ll most likely wear them a slippers instead of with shoes. But a pair in a lighter weight yarn would be fabulous.
