The Joy of Socks
This weekend I finished two pairs! OK, so one of them has been on the boil since mid last year, but does that matter?
First, the quicker pair: the Fruit Salad Socks.
These are made from Scarlet Fleece ‘It’s Tubular x 2′ in colourway Popsicle. The pattern is ‘Vog On from Knitty. The yarn has a fairly loose twist and is stretchy - it worked well for this pattern which has only a 56 stitch cast on. I did increase the sole stitches to 30, because I have a wide foot.
I really like this heel. I’ve avoided it for a long time because of my aversion to the old wrap and turn - but lately I’ve discovered that I really do need a heel flap, or at least a band of heel stitch or Eye of Partridge at the back for where the heel rubs against the shoe. This heel has that, but no picking up. I do like it. And I’m learning how to do the wrap and turn more neatly!
I am fond.
Next, the pair that’s been a long time coming: Eviscerated Seaweed (thank you Emily for the name):
These are made from Wollmeise Sockenwolle in ‘Suzanne’. I love the colourway. I wish you could see it for real - the colours are amazingly vivid and wonderful. The pattern is Broad Spiral Ribbing from More Sensational Knitted Socks. I actually found this yarn a bit difficult to knit with - it has an unyielding texture, almost stringy. However, I ordered some of Wollmeise’s new 80/20 sock yarn recently, which has the addition of 20% nylon, and I find that much easier to knit with.
On my monitor, this is very close to the actual colours. Oh, I love it!
And finally… what does one do with leftover sock yarn?
I’ve always been attracted to crafts which make use of scraps, like patchwork (the old-fashioned kind rather than modern quilting where you colour-coordinate everything). I’ve tried a few things with my sock scraps but I’m really pleased with this. The square pattern is from Mason-Dixon Knitting and I’ve done them on 2.75mm needles. I plan to do this with all my sock yarn scraps and make a nice light blanket.
