Sunday, December 25, 2011

TL: DR Socks

When my Spanish class ended I suddenly had a lot of free time to do something other than study verb tenses.  But the break before class starts again is only three weeks... not quite enough time to make a quilt.  So I cast on a pair of socks. 

I'm not a big fan of sock-knitting.  I just like having socks that fit and don't fall down.  But I figured I'd try giving the magic loop 2 socks at the same time method.  I had some instructions that I'd printed out... and I was even watching a you-tube video.  Nope- wasn't happening.  The cord of my circular needle kept coiling up and flipping around and I could never tell which part of the row was the top or the bottom.  The working yarn kept getting tangled up.  I must have cast on and ripped back at least three times before I finally gave up.

The thing is... I was in no real mood to try anything new.  I found a pretty generic pattern for cuff down socks and cast on for just one.  Now... I've not knitted a lot of proper shoe-socks, but I've made a ton of Fuzzy Feet slippers, which are essentially just very big socks, so I had the general concept down.  Just needed to be given a number of cast on stitches and reminders on how to turn the heel & how to Kitchner-stitch the toe.

But even that got to be more reading than I really cared to do as a result of not really reading the instructions too thoroughly the gusset decreases on one of the socks are a bit hap-hazard.  Oh well.  I finished them up and they do in fact fit nicely. 

I decided to call them my Teal Deer socks, mostly because I had a bit of a  "too long; didn't read"  relationship with the pattern, but also because look- kinda looks like the color of a deer with a bit of teal in there for fun.

w00t!  Christmas Socks.


Notes
Yarn: Fingering weight Superwash Merino
Needles: size 1 Addi turbos, 47" cable (I don't like the cable, but the tips are good), ML one at a time.
Cast on: 58 stitches - cuff down
Heel: Eye of Partridge
Toe: classic/standard (totally botched the direction of the decreases on the first sock)
Cast off: 8 stitches on top, 8 stitches on the bottom... next pair I'll cast off sooner to get a toe that matches my actual toe a bit better.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Merry Christmas!


I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!  I will be spending time with friends over the weekend, and then traveling to Tennessee after the New Year to visit my family. 

I've had a very busy fall.  Spanish 202 was the most challenging course I've taken yet.  I've spent a great many hours studying, and haven't done much crafting.  I've also begun the process of applying for graduate school.  So it doesn't look like my life will be slowing down any time soon!