Spring Socks

VickiLeave a comment

One of the goals I’ve set for this year is knitting a pair of socks each month, usually as part of the Sock Knitters Anonymous challenges on Ravelry. I’ve also decided they would be part of the #FreeSocks2020 project, where the socks are knit with yarn I already have in my stash, from patterns available for free.

These are my Cuarzo Rosa socks, and between the pretty lace pattern and delicate pink heather color, they feel just perfect for spring. I cast these on for the April-May SKA challenge theme of “under-appreciated patterns,” where a design must have fewer than 15 projects on Ravelry to qualify. I am stunned that I was only the seventh person to cast on for this incredibly beautiful and enjoyable design.

Inspired by the lacy clusters of rose quartz crystals as they are found in nature, the pattern grows into rhythmic organic shapes that are nowhere near as difficult to knit as they may look. I always love that quality in lace.

I’m having a great time watching these socks develop and look forward to having a finished pair soon!

FO: Scrolls Socks

VickiLeave a comment

Amazingly, I finished another pair of socks this month! And it only took me ten years or so to get here…



The last time we talked about these socks was back in July 2008 (yikes), when I had cast them on for a lace socks challenge. I made a silly mistake in the pattern that would have meant I had to rip back three or four rows to fix it, and I was still a new enough knitter that such a task was entirely too daunting, so I did what any sensible person would do: put them in the bottom of my knitting basket for 10 years and pretended they didn’t exist.



Pattern: Scrolls Socks by Charlene Schurch, from her book More Sensational Knitted Socks. (Project page on Ravelry)
Size: Women’s size 9.5 (US)
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential (now called Stroll), fingering weight, 75% superwash Merino wool / 25% nylon in Coral
Needles: Size 1 (2.25 mm) DPNs (from the Susan Bates 7″ sock set)
Modifications: None, as the pattern creates custom socks

Started: July 14, 2008 (no, that’s not a typo)
Finished: August 19, 2018



Every August, the Sock Knitters Anonymous group on Ravelry has a community KAL to finish in-progress WIPs, and I finally worked up the motivation to pick these socks back up again. Gosh, they just danced off the needles this time.



I was glad to revisit Charlene Schurch’s brilliant book, which I had initially purchased primarily for this pattern. This time I read the note about how despite being a fairly open 8-stitch repeat, scroll lace knit in the round has a tendency to be less stretchy than one might expect because of the way the pattern falls on a bias. Therefore, I followed the recommendation to increase from 64 stitches on the foot to 72 on the leg, resulting in a perfectly-fitting sock.



It was around the time when I started these socks that I discovered my favorite elements in sock-knitting, starting toe-up with a figure-8 cast-on and working a short-row heel.



As with my Catnip Socks, I worked several rows in stockinette stitch (half a repeat) on the back needles after turning the heel. I used these rows to absorb the 8 stitches I increased for the leg, and I think it all worked out quite nicely.



The scroll lace pattern is so intuitive I had it memorized by the first repeat, and it was great fun to work. I love when lace is so high-impact from such simple combinations of yarn-overs and decreases. It makes me feel terribly clever as a knitter. The saturated coral-orange color and lovely feel of the yarn made this project a pleasure through and through.



If I had known what a joy it would be to make these socks, I probably wouldn’t have waited ten years to finish them! But I’m delighted to get to wear them now and looking forward to the next pair.

 

Previous Entries with this Project:
– 2008 Knits in Review
– Keeping Busy

 

FO: Catnip Socks

VickiLeave a comment

Toward the end of July, I cast on a new pair of socks on a whim, thinking it would be fun to participate in a Sockdown knitalong in a beloved Ravelry group for the first time in… oh, ten years or so… and this weekend I finished my Catnip Socks!



Pattern: Catnip Socks by Wendy D. Johnson. (Project page on Ravelry)
Size: Women’s size 9.5 (US)
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Tonal, fingering weight, 75% superwash Merino wool / 25% nylon in color #26755 Cucumber
Needles: Size 0 (2.0 mm) DPNs (Knit Picks 6″ nickel-plated)
Modifications: Changed to a short-row heel with additional stockinette rows before beginning lace of leg; worked pattern over 70 stitches

Started: July 26, 2018
Finished: August 10, 2018



I’m just delighted with the way these socks came out. Something about the soft cool color, delicate lace, and fine gauge thanks to size 0 needles makes these basically perfect.


I was attracted to this pattern for the toe-up lace, which flowed neatly and was easy to memorize. I started with a figure-8 cast-on over 8 stitches and increased to 70 so the pattern would be continuous around the leg.



I worked my favorite short-row heel by decreasing to 13 stitches (11 on each side), then I continued in stockinette for 1 pattern repeat (8 rows) to give a bit more depth to the heel before beginning the lace for the leg.



I was somewhat irrationally nervous I would run out of yarn, despite the super generous 462-yard put-up. I had no reason to worry, as I still had quite a bit of yarn left after working my typical length legs and plenty of ribbing.



I truly enjoyed working with this yarn, which was soft but strong and so subtly variegated that the color shifts were nearly imperceptible at times, building to a beautiful semisolid. I’m glad I have other colorways of this yarn in my stash, as I can’t wait to work with it again.



Everything about this project was a dream, and it reminded me of why I love lace, sock-knitting, and lace sock-knitting so very much. Not suprisingly, I’ve already got another pair of lace socks on the needles.

Previous Entries with this Project:
– Summer Knitting