Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Gentlman's Fancy Socks




Pattern: Gentlman's Fancy Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks

Yarn: Reynold's Swizzle (75% Merino Superwash, 25% Nylon; 100g; approximately 416 yds) 1 skein, color 4042

Needles: US 1/2.25mm double points

Guage: 9 sts = 1 inch

Info: I modified the pattern to work from the toe up (surprise, surprise). I did try a few different techniqes with these though. The first thing that I did differently was I used the Turkish Cast-On when I cast of for the toe. It felt a bit weird working with the needles for the first couple of rounds, but I think it was worth it. The next thing that I did differently was the heel. I had been wanting to try the traditional heel on the toe-ups for a while and I had finally decided that these socks would be the ones that I would take the plunge. The final thing that I did was I used the Sewn Bind-Off. The result....these are by far the most comfortable socks that I have made to date.

Sassy Socks





Pattern: My Own

Yarn: Cascade Yarns - Sassy Stripes (75% new wool, 25% nylon; 50g; 200m) 2 skeins, color 769

Needles: US 1/2.25mm double points

Gauge: 9 sts = 1 inch

Info: This was the first time that I had ever used self striping yarn. The knit was enjoyable especially since both of the socks are virtually identical. I did nothing to aid in that process. All I did was start knitting from the middle of each of the skeins for each of the socks, the yarn did the rest. The only complaint that I have about the yarn is that though both of the skeins are from the same dye lot, the colors are off a bit, though just ever so slightly. One of the skeins is just a tad lighter in color than the other.