The 2016 Tour de Sock has begun!
Pattern: Twists & Turns, by Adrienne Fong
Yarn: Invictus Yarns Master of My Feet, in Peachy Keen
Needles: 2.25 mm / US 1
Tour rank: um, as of this moment, it is undetermined, but I definitely just got finishing points for these. I was the last member of my team to cross the finish line, but at least I got them done before the info for round 2 was released! I'll take it!
In actuality, this pattern just hummed along - the lace pattern is really intuitive, with panels of twisted rib that decrease away with a lace motif, so you don't have to strictly memorize the chart, just follow it for setting up each section and then work the pattern until you run out of twisted rib stitches, then consult the chart for setting up the next section, and after you've done that a small number of times, you get the hang of how the whole thing hangs together and just motor along smoothly. If I hadn't had to lose so much time to work-related tasks - like the 8 hours I ended up giving up on day 2 - then I would have had a much speedier finish. I suspect round 2 will be pretty similar, but once we get past June 25 and my current teaching contract has been fulfilled, and these paper revisions I'm wrestling with have been completed and submitted, my ability to prioritize sock racing will improve dramatically.
I didn't mirror my socks, but that option can be had very straightforwardly (and the pattern tells you how, if you can't be bothered to figure it on your own). While I generally am not a big fan of twisted stitches, I found I didn't mind the panels of twisted rib on these, because the pattern sets you up to decrease them away - they're gradually overtaken by a travelling lace panel, which leaves plain stockinette in its wake. It was sort of like old school video game levels - you work a setup round, that establishes all your baddies (the twisted ribs), then go round by round, taking out one with each successive round, until finally there are none left, and you whip along triumphantly with nary a purl or twisted knit in sight, and then you set up for the next 'level', with a new set of baddies, and a new plan for taking them down, since the direction of travelling lace panel is now switched, producing the switchbacky motif for which the pattern is named.
I am very pleased with the resulting socks, and would happily knit this pattern again - in fact, yesterday I was reflecting on this as I chugged along contentedly, and considered what a shame it is that the other people I knit socks for - my sister, and perhaps from this point forward, my mother - are lace-averse for socks. They think the holes negatively impact the comfort factor by making the socks 'breezy'. Maybe I'll just have to make another pair for myself anyway. They'd be quick.
Now. There's some deprioritized house cleaning - namely, dishwashing - that I probably have no real excuse for continuing to deprioritize. And some other stuff - sweeping floors, cleaning bathrooms - that I'll have to handle in the next few days. Because Round 2 is coming soon!
Ah, sock race season. Even if I'm not able to just immerse myself in all socks all the time, it's still a fun time.
Pattern: Twists & Turns, by Adrienne Fong
Yarn: Invictus Yarns Master of My Feet, in Peachy Keen
Needles: 2.25 mm / US 1
Tour rank: um, as of this moment, it is undetermined, but I definitely just got finishing points for these. I was the last member of my team to cross the finish line, but at least I got them done before the info for round 2 was released! I'll take it!
In actuality, this pattern just hummed along - the lace pattern is really intuitive, with panels of twisted rib that decrease away with a lace motif, so you don't have to strictly memorize the chart, just follow it for setting up each section and then work the pattern until you run out of twisted rib stitches, then consult the chart for setting up the next section, and after you've done that a small number of times, you get the hang of how the whole thing hangs together and just motor along smoothly. If I hadn't had to lose so much time to work-related tasks - like the 8 hours I ended up giving up on day 2 - then I would have had a much speedier finish. I suspect round 2 will be pretty similar, but once we get past June 25 and my current teaching contract has been fulfilled, and these paper revisions I'm wrestling with have been completed and submitted, my ability to prioritize sock racing will improve dramatically.
I didn't mirror my socks, but that option can be had very straightforwardly (and the pattern tells you how, if you can't be bothered to figure it on your own). While I generally am not a big fan of twisted stitches, I found I didn't mind the panels of twisted rib on these, because the pattern sets you up to decrease them away - they're gradually overtaken by a travelling lace panel, which leaves plain stockinette in its wake. It was sort of like old school video game levels - you work a setup round, that establishes all your baddies (the twisted ribs), then go round by round, taking out one with each successive round, until finally there are none left, and you whip along triumphantly with nary a purl or twisted knit in sight, and then you set up for the next 'level', with a new set of baddies, and a new plan for taking them down, since the direction of travelling lace panel is now switched, producing the switchbacky motif for which the pattern is named.
I am very pleased with the resulting socks, and would happily knit this pattern again - in fact, yesterday I was reflecting on this as I chugged along contentedly, and considered what a shame it is that the other people I knit socks for - my sister, and perhaps from this point forward, my mother - are lace-averse for socks. They think the holes negatively impact the comfort factor by making the socks 'breezy'. Maybe I'll just have to make another pair for myself anyway. They'd be quick.
Now. There's some deprioritized house cleaning - namely, dishwashing - that I probably have no real excuse for continuing to deprioritize. And some other stuff - sweeping floors, cleaning bathrooms - that I'll have to handle in the next few days. Because Round 2 is coming soon!
Ah, sock race season. Even if I'm not able to just immerse myself in all socks all the time, it's still a fun time.
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