Look! Sister socks!
Pattern: Roman Holiday socks, by Lorain Pettit
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Multi, in Diving Board Multi
Needles: 2.25 mm / US 1
Um. I finished these a long time ago. Like, 5 February 2015. What happened? I neglected to take pictures of them before handing them off to my sister, and then kept forgetting to snap pictures when she was wearing them. I finally remembered last week, so here they are, in all their glory.
I really liked this pattern, but I gotta say, the socks aren't terribly impressive-looking when they're not on feet - the texture pattern is pretty satisfying work (or maybe that's just me and my increasing obsession with knit-purl textures), but when you're done, you find yourself looking down at these sort of corrugated bent tubes with one end closed. For reasons I don't fully understand, they look much nicer once you slam them onto some feet. I got the pattern in last year's Sock Sniper - I was non-combatant, which is why my sister got the socks, and yes, I finished way after the game was done - but if you are so inclined, the designer has made it available on Rav for free.
But wait! There's more!
Pattern: Effervesce, by Purrlescent
Yarn: Mackintosh Yarns Celtic Sock, in Taurus
Needles: 2.25 mm / US 1
I know. These pics aren't splendiferous. I'll have to try again when I see my sister wearing them, but that could take a while because I really only see her in the evenings, and we've just begun the season of no sun in the evenings, and it's not going to get better until spring. I'm not holding my breath.
It's a shame my pictures don't do justice to this pattern. It popped up on my radar my first year playing Tour de Sock - it's designed by one of my faboo teammates! She's got a number of free sock patterns up on Rav, and I went through and snagged the ones that appealed to me. This one also appealed to my sister, and was her pick for her summer vacation socks - I wound the yarn, divided it into two cakes, and then packed it to come along with us to Europe. The first was cast on as we were waiting to board the plane to leave Calgary, and by the time we'd landed in Toronto to change planes, I had a couple of inches or so of leg.
And then I noticed I'd done something wrong - I was so excited I didn't count the cable twists on the chart, and assumed it was for only half the leg. It's not. It's the whole leg, so I had to take the sock back down to the ribbing and try again. I did that on our second flight, from Toronto to Copenhagen. That's a pretty long flight, but they also give you food, and I may have nodded off for a bit at some point as well - it's been awhile, my memory's a bit fuzzy. Either way, we landed in Copenhagen, and I had a decent chunk of leg - more than what I'd had in Toronto, but not yet a complete leg. We then boarded our shuttle to go to the cruise terminal, boarded the cruise ship, got settled in our cabins, and crashed out for naps before dinner and a somewhat early bedtime.
The next day, after we'd spent several hours exploring Oslo - our first port of call - I settled in to put some more stitches into the sock, and noticed it didn't really look right. I stared at my work for a few minutes, and then realized what the problem was - I had been working the 'bubbles' wrong. Mine were hollow, with purls between the twisted knits that make up the edges. Those purls are supposed to be knits. The nearly complete leg came out, back to the ribbing again, and I very maturely resisted the urge to fling the yarn overboard. (I don't think Sister would have understood.)
Once those hurdles were overcome, the rest of the sock was fine. It should be noted that none of my mishaps were due to the pattern - it is well written, and the charts are absolutely clear and not at all confusing. I had problems because I didn't look too carefully at the charts. Had I done so, it would all have been fine on the first pass. (It should also be noted that I was careful in setting up the ribbing, which was without fault.) I finished the first sock on the second part of our flight back home (London to Toronto), since we actually didn't have much downtime on the trip, and the second sock was cast on a few days later as we were departing for a week on Vancouver Island with the Mister's parents. By this point, however, I was feeling pretty done with the pattern - I suppose that's what happens when you knit the leg of the first sock twice, plus a bit of a third round for good measure - so my progress slowed as I distracted myself with other things. The pair was eventually wrapped up in, um, early October.
I suppose this means that I should start setting things in motion for another pair of Sister socks pretty soon.
Well. I'll finish her current sweater first. And maybe the other sweater that just needs sleeves. Sigh. It so often comes down to the sleeves.
Pattern: Roman Holiday socks, by Lorain Pettit
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Multi, in Diving Board Multi
Needles: 2.25 mm / US 1
Um. I finished these a long time ago. Like, 5 February 2015. What happened? I neglected to take pictures of them before handing them off to my sister, and then kept forgetting to snap pictures when she was wearing them. I finally remembered last week, so here they are, in all their glory.
I really liked this pattern, but I gotta say, the socks aren't terribly impressive-looking when they're not on feet - the texture pattern is pretty satisfying work (or maybe that's just me and my increasing obsession with knit-purl textures), but when you're done, you find yourself looking down at these sort of corrugated bent tubes with one end closed. For reasons I don't fully understand, they look much nicer once you slam them onto some feet. I got the pattern in last year's Sock Sniper - I was non-combatant, which is why my sister got the socks, and yes, I finished way after the game was done - but if you are so inclined, the designer has made it available on Rav for free.
But wait! There's more!
Pattern: Effervesce, by Purrlescent
Yarn: Mackintosh Yarns Celtic Sock, in Taurus
Needles: 2.25 mm / US 1
I know. These pics aren't splendiferous. I'll have to try again when I see my sister wearing them, but that could take a while because I really only see her in the evenings, and we've just begun the season of no sun in the evenings, and it's not going to get better until spring. I'm not holding my breath.
It's a shame my pictures don't do justice to this pattern. It popped up on my radar my first year playing Tour de Sock - it's designed by one of my faboo teammates! She's got a number of free sock patterns up on Rav, and I went through and snagged the ones that appealed to me. This one also appealed to my sister, and was her pick for her summer vacation socks - I wound the yarn, divided it into two cakes, and then packed it to come along with us to Europe. The first was cast on as we were waiting to board the plane to leave Calgary, and by the time we'd landed in Toronto to change planes, I had a couple of inches or so of leg.
And then I noticed I'd done something wrong - I was so excited I didn't count the cable twists on the chart, and assumed it was for only half the leg. It's not. It's the whole leg, so I had to take the sock back down to the ribbing and try again. I did that on our second flight, from Toronto to Copenhagen. That's a pretty long flight, but they also give you food, and I may have nodded off for a bit at some point as well - it's been awhile, my memory's a bit fuzzy. Either way, we landed in Copenhagen, and I had a decent chunk of leg - more than what I'd had in Toronto, but not yet a complete leg. We then boarded our shuttle to go to the cruise terminal, boarded the cruise ship, got settled in our cabins, and crashed out for naps before dinner and a somewhat early bedtime.
The next day, after we'd spent several hours exploring Oslo - our first port of call - I settled in to put some more stitches into the sock, and noticed it didn't really look right. I stared at my work for a few minutes, and then realized what the problem was - I had been working the 'bubbles' wrong. Mine were hollow, with purls between the twisted knits that make up the edges. Those purls are supposed to be knits. The nearly complete leg came out, back to the ribbing again, and I very maturely resisted the urge to fling the yarn overboard. (I don't think Sister would have understood.)
Once those hurdles were overcome, the rest of the sock was fine. It should be noted that none of my mishaps were due to the pattern - it is well written, and the charts are absolutely clear and not at all confusing. I had problems because I didn't look too carefully at the charts. Had I done so, it would all have been fine on the first pass. (It should also be noted that I was careful in setting up the ribbing, which was without fault.) I finished the first sock on the second part of our flight back home (London to Toronto), since we actually didn't have much downtime on the trip, and the second sock was cast on a few days later as we were departing for a week on Vancouver Island with the Mister's parents. By this point, however, I was feeling pretty done with the pattern - I suppose that's what happens when you knit the leg of the first sock twice, plus a bit of a third round for good measure - so my progress slowed as I distracted myself with other things. The pair was eventually wrapped up in, um, early October.
I suppose this means that I should start setting things in motion for another pair of Sister socks pretty soon.
Well. I'll finish her current sweater first. And maybe the other sweater that just needs sleeves. Sigh. It so often comes down to the sleeves.
Comments
Post a Comment