one week one sock

One sock!

Usually I knit two at a time, but I don't relish having four strands going at once. I've tried it before. It's insane.

While I was plotting this sock, it was obvious I needed to do some serious swatching. It was also obvious that I couldn't do a tiny swatch like I usually do, I would need to do a fairly good sized in-the-round swatch. So I cast on the number I thought I would need, and swatched with the intent that if it worked out, I would have a sock. If it did not, I would not be so attached to it, because it was officially a "swatch" and could rip it out. Turns out I got attached to it anyway, but when I was approaching what would be the ankle, I finally accepted that it was not satisfactory and ripped it out.

This is knit with Fearless Fibers. I cast on using a size 3 inox needle and knit the braided cuff according to directions in Nancy Bush's Folk Socks. It was truly magical. The instructions seemed a little whackity, but after following them, poof! I had a knitted braid! I was awed. It was beautiful. I used some guidelines from Simple Socks, Plain and Fancy. For example, I would normally knit this yarn on a size 1 needle, but I used a size 3 on the legs and size 2 for the rest of the socks thanks to her instuctions. I did not choose to make a double-wide striped down the middle like she says, nor did I do the short-row toe with a seam. I did follow her yarn-over heel instructions and was very displeased with the results. It made a join line so flimsy that it looked like a line of starry lace along the heel seam. I left it because I didn't want to figure out how to make it so the stripes line up on the usual short-row-heel I do. But I did weave a long strand of yellow yarn behind the joins to strengthen them and to hide the lacy see-through look.

I started sock #2 last night. Unfortunately I did not look at my notes, just started knitting, and forgot about the size 3 needle thing. I knitted to five rows past the braid before I remembered, and that braid is some slow-going knitting! I had to rip it out and start over, and as we were watching a foreign movie at the time, (SUBTITLES, can't stare at my knitting so much) I didn't get very far.