Monday, November 06, 2006

Thank you Socktoberfest!

Without you, Socktoberfest, I may have never gained the motivation to finish these socks!
Pattern: Universal toe-up sock formula from Knitty.
Needles: us size 1 dpn
Yarn: KnitPicks Essential sock yarn colors Grass and Cocoa
Thoughts: I was consumed with Second Sock Syndrome, as the first sock took about a month to knit. However, since I am a joiner, I figured the last week of Socktoberfest would be the perfect time for me to crank out the second sock and it was! I finished binding off when I woke on Nov 1 (Halloween seriously cut into my knitting time!) Although The Gaming One would not have picked these colors for himself-I think he referred to them as either Dr. Seuss Socks or Willy Wonka Socks because of the colors- he really does love them! The yarn did soften considerably after washing (machine wash and dry-I will hand knit socks for him, but there is no way I am handwashing them!) and did not shrink a bit. I knit them a bit short, since he always pushes his socks down, in plain stockinette stitch. I finished with a 1" 3k1p rib cuff and a sewn bind-off for an extra-stretchy opening for his giant feet!

I cast on for Starsky this past week and am loving it so far! After knitting solid for a week on Sz 1 needles, the 10.5 I am using for this makes it seem like the stitches are flying off the needles! It is a nice change to knit 10 rows and add two and a half inches to my work instead of the measly inch I was getting with the sz.1. I am using KnitPicks Merino Style color Moss and it is heavenly! So soft, so cuddly I can't wait to wear this one! My only gripe about this pattern is that the leaf pattern does not grow from the ribbed section beautifully. It seems that there is no "flow" from one to the other, but the chart is easy to follow, mistakes are easy to see and fix. I am really getting the hang of finding a mistake in my knitting and instead of frogging back to the mistake, I knit to the mistake, unravel the ladder of stitches until I get to the problem, then pick the stitches back up with a crochet hook. Easy peasy! I hope to have this finished by the end of November...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Amanda,

The socks are kcute. I'm so proud of those that cranked out socks for Socktoberfest. I of course, did the exact opposite. I was on a roll for awhile, I don't know what happened. I don't think I deal to well with knitting pressure, lol. My Starsky is still on the needles, and I just hope I finish it before the year is out. Are you using a cable needle?

Andrea said...

Amanda,
Your Starsky is looking great and the socks are very nice. By the way, I finally finished the Angelica Jacket from White Lies Designs. Come and check it out.

TheSteph said...

Woah! I think those classify as socks that rock! :)

I'm trying that pattern, too. I haven't gotten very far... Joiner by nature, but procrastination usually sets in soon after I put my mind to doing ____ <--(insert any project name here). :) Or is that just A.D.D.?

Hmmm, yeah....