Baby Cable Sock WIP

Remember that post from the other day? The one about the maths? Here's proof of my complete ineptitude...


But it fits! I swear!


This is probably my favorite sock to date. The pattern is simple enough that I don't have to concentrate and knits up quickly. I'm already past the heel and finished with the gusset decreases so it should be finished in just a few days (assuming I don't get bogged down with foreign movies on the NetFlix). The pattern is Baby Cable from Sensational Knitted Socks using KnitPicks Essential in Grass (same as my Kew socks).

This sock also double as a convenient beer cozy!

Because I totally have time for another hobby.

It's here! Last weekend my parents were kind enough to drive the sewing machine out to my apartment and today I finally had a chance to snap a few pictures.


Doesn't it look like a UFO? I think so.


No bells & whistles on this baby; everything is analog.

Sorry for the lack of content lately (yes, Sam, I do read your comments). I'm writing dissertation from my last 7 years worth of research and the final product is due sooner than I care to think about. Thank goodness for double spacing and enormous margins. You'd be surprised how quickly the pages add up.

Sock knitting is proceeding as usual but I ripped out the green Jaywalkers. What can I say? I'm fickle these days. I started the Pomatomus socks from Knitty but they look awful. Why on earth would someone put yarn-overs at the join between needles? I have huge gaping spaces at the joins. Other than that, the sock is gorgeous. Of course, it will be ripped out as well and possibly restarted by Magic Loop, once I have US2 circs that are bendy enough. Yet another sock has been turned at the heel and the gusset decreases finished. Stay tuned.

FO: Kew socks

Behold! My first pair of knit socks!

I finished the Kew socks (pattern here) in time for Socktoberfest but my camera mysteriously broke* but now all is well with the world and I can post away.

The specs...
Yarn: KnitPicks Essential in Grass
Needles: KnitPicks US1 dpns. A word of warning, KnitPicks US1 and US2 needle sizes are not the standard mm sizes. This was fine with US1 but I tried knitting with the US2s for another pair of socks and the gauge was way off.
Changes to pattern: None that I can recall. Every row of the leaf pattern requires slipping one stitch to the next needle all the way around. This was hugely annoying and I forgot once or twice so the leaves don't completely line up. The mistake wasn't too obvious to require fixing, thankfully. I'm still no expert at tinking back to mistakes in lace. Actually, this was my first ever lace project (and first pair of socks). I did two and 1/2 pattern repeats for the foot and added 1/2 inch of stockinette before beginning the toe decreases. This adjustment resulted in a perfect fit for my foot and kept the integrity of the pattern.

The pictures...


The color in this picture is pretty much accurate. Unfortunately there is no natural light in the Northeast this week so the flash was required, even at 9AM.


The lace pattern opened up beautifully on the foot but not so much on the ankle. Either I have much smaller ankles than the knitty model or these need a good block (not gonna happen).



These have already been worn and washed twice and seem to have held up extremely well. I washed them in the machine on delicate with a load of sweaters and two of my sweaters exploded lint onto everything in the wash. Conveniently, the batteries in my sweater shaver died the same day. Coincidence? Overall I was very happen with this pattern. There was only one small error in a stitch count calculation but it was no big thing.

*Confession: The camera didn't really break, per se. The batteries died and I had no idea how to recharge them. Turns out when the camera was gifted to me the charger was lost somewhere in my parent's house. But it has now been retrieved and the mystery of the broken camera solved.

WIP: Kew socks

This week the bonus knitty patterns came online and I immediately casted on for the Kew Socks. I don't like the socks all that much (sensing a pattern here?) but the design is one that works for my beginner sock knitting issues (ie, I can only figure out top down patterns with a heel flap) and I wanted to try my hand at a lace pattern.



The first sock is coming along nicely. I'm just about finished; only half a pattern repeat remains (12 rows) before the toe shaping decreases begin.



The leaf pattern is quite nice but, as you will see when they are finished, it makes for a very loose-fitting sock. I wonder if there's a way to take out one leaf to tighten up the circumference of the sock. Maybe I'll just gift them to someone with larger ankles.