Jealousy Socks

Well, hello! It has been one rainy, dreary week that has kept me from taking any good photos, so I've been doodling and taking notes, and cutting and fusing fabric and interfacing (hardly photo-worthy moments). BUT the sun came out on Friday, so I raced home from work to take advantage of the remaining light, and then worked like a...like a...like a hard worker to stitch and photograph the sew along bag the rest of the weekend. That part is finished--I've just got to write it all up. Definitely coming soon!



In my after-the-stitching cleanup I found a pair of socks I knit that I never showed you. The heat is moving on in, so I did what any sane person does and put on my wool socks and went outside to take pictures. In capris. Very becoming, very alluring.

For these I used Red Heart's Heart and Sole sock yarn (a wool and nylon blend) in Green Envy (I bought it here). I didn't want to splurge on yarn until I felt more comfortable making socks, and now that I do I plan on using better yarn when I make them.

Happily the self-fair-isling came out to be an almost an exact match. I love the look of fair-isle but I don't know if I have the wherewithal to do it. (Challenge to self accepted. Stay tuned).

I knitted these socks using a provisional cast-on at the toe and German short rows, but then stuck with this pattern pretty much to the letter. These socks are insanely comfortable. They are knit toe-up but have a heel flap and gusset, as opposed to a short row heel. After spending way too much time studying the other socks I've made I think I realized why this style feels so much better on my foot. I have a high instep so I've got a little more girth to my foot in that spot. This method gives a little more fabric to go around my foot, whereas a short-row heel yields just as much as a short-row toe (seriously--they're exactly the same, it's almost weird) and is therefore a little bit too constricting on my foot.

I knitted the legs of these until I was almost out of yarn and then did the ribbed cuff. I did this super-stretchy bind-off.  One thing I didn't consider--legs get wider as they go higher so they're a little too tight to pull up all the way. Note to self: throw in a few increases next time. The bind-off gives a lettuce-edge when it's not on but is nice and snug when it is on (as I don't expect any sock drawer inspections I'm fine with that).

And this picture makes me think of those history-of-knitting books or look-what-was-unearthed-in-a-medieval-grave news story:

I still have a teensy bit of laddering I need to work out, but from everything I've read practice is the best remedy for that. Good thing I've got a few skeins (fabric de-stashing is going well, yarn de-stashing not so much)...