I finished a sock! And it only took me a sock and three-quarters to do it.
As you may recall, I had to change needle size when I’d knitted nearly all of my first Spring Forward sock, because it wouldn’t go over my ankle. Keeping the cursing and wailing to a functional minimum (there are children present, after all), I flung myself at sock no. 2, and here’s the result.
As you can see, it goes on! (You’ll have to take my word for it that it comes off again.)
Happily, I much prefer the fabric produced by the 2.5mm needles. It’s noticeably softer and stretchier – so in case you were wondering, even a 10% change to the needle size makes a difference.
I think it looks good, no? (Fish, fish, fish…) OK, it will look good when I’ve blocked it and you can no longer see the rivers where I changed needle. As I’ve mentioned before, I love that lace. It’s beautifully simple and memorable, and it looks gorgeous. Thank you, Linda Welch!
The colours are rather more saturated than the pictures here suggest – though it’s still definitely pastel. Thanks to Mary for identifying the yarn for me: it comes from the Natural Dye Studio (which is one of those OMG I’ll have one of everything! sites, so click at your peril). Mary warns that it’s inclined to felt, which I’d believe given how it handles, and that it isn’t super-strong. It’s still gorgeous, though, and with a bit of care I should get good wear out of my Spring Forwards.
I frogged* sock no. 1 the other night, rewinding the ball from the outer end, using my grandmother’s method. It came out small and tight, like a little pellet of anxiety. I could scarcely pull my thumb out from the middle. Worth noting in this connection that the Season 1 finale of The Wire provided the entertainment as I wound.
* Just in case you’re not up on knitter-talk, to frog is to rip out one’s knitting with abandon (rip-it, rip-it, rip-it, you see), whereas to tink is to unknit carefully, stitch by stitch. Very useful distinction, I find!
So now I’m embarking on sock no. 3 of the pair. Wish me luck!
Oooh, it’s so pretty! Congratulations and well done for casting-on for the second (third!) one straightaway.
I think it looks good but would love to see truer colours for it because it’s very very pastel there. Like, really, very very…
So so pretty! I love that wavy transition between lace and sole – I’ve never seen that before. And it fits like a glove!
Oh. My. That is one beautiful sock! I love the pattern. Wow.
This is one amazing sock! I’m working on a pair, and I’ve decided that I’m just not all that good with socks – It has a simple spiral pattern in it which I keepmessing up with breaks on the spiral. Alas. But I will wear them when they are done, heck yeah – they just might not end up on Ravelry!
@Felinity: Thank you! I do seem to be surprisingly dogged about finishing them…
@Ailbhe: On my screen, they’re pale all right, but the lower picture is closer to the actual colours. Tell you what – we’ll just have to arrange for you to meet them in person
@Glitzfrau: The waviness is ace, isn’t it?
@Emily: Thanks! It’s a gorgeous pattern.
@Erin: Thanks! I wear my (only) other pair of handknitted socks as often as I can. They’re so comfy. And nobody is going to be peering at your socks to see if you got all the stitches right, are they? Unless you’re at a stitch-’n'-bitch meeting, when yeah, they might
Having seen it at various stages of creation, I can tell you it looks fabulous now that it’s finished. Congratulations!
Very pretty!
They actually look nicer than the photographs in Knitty!
I like. Resisting looking at the yarn website
@Deirdre Yeah, they do.
Ah, right – the lower colours are much stronger. I wonder if I could knit a sock…
@Katherine and Mollydot: Thank you very much!
@Deirdre: Wow, I’m scarleh
Resist the yarn! Resist! (Ah, no, give in…)
@Ailbhe: You could, you know.
These are gorgeous! You’ll have to get some of those see-though shoes to wear them with, because it would be a shame to hide them, yes?
@Rainy Daisy: Oh, I very much suspect they’ll be displayed at every opportunity! They go pretty well with my Birkenstocks, for that hippier-than-thou look