Skew Socks

Between last night's coffee night with the girls and a few minutes in front of the tv this afternoon, I have finally got the second of the Skew socks into the finished pile.

I really love the way that the stripes in the yarn turned out -- it's partly because of the angle, and partly because of the increases, and partly because three out of the four colours in the yarn sort of blend together at a distance. You can probably see easier in my previous post that the yarn has a bright watermelony pink and three darker colours: a deep teal, a chestnut brown, and a dark violet. Up close they are all pretty apparent, but from a distance they all blend somewhat and the pink really stands out more than it would, were the others more variegated. Makes for some cool stripes that remind me of lightning bolts.


The yarn itself is one I bought off the internet ages ago, intending to make it into Joelle Hoverson's Chevron scarf (ravelry.) I didn't like the way the scarf was turning out with this yarn as I was knitting it, so I frogged it and the yarn sat in my stash, unloved, until now. Having knit these socks with it, I am really impressed -- it has a weight and roundness similar to Socks that Rock Lightweight, and I love the saturation of the colours. I actually have more of it: one full skein in shades of teal, and one partial skein in yellow/orange. I will have to use them up, one of these days.


The socks in particular were a bit of a challenge, in that the pattern was something I had to really follow, line by line. I was also relying on written instructions, rather than charts, which is not my favourite. The socks fit pretty great, after the fact, except that the last few decreases above the heel made them a bit more snug in the leg than I'd like. Next time, I'd probably just ignore those decreases and let the leg have a little more room. I definitely like the pattern, though, and would do them again... when I feel like a more challenging sock.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

I finished the first Skew sock, and while it was certainly weird, I have to admit that I love the final product! The heel turn is a very strange thing, and until a row or two after it, it's hard to believe that it will really be a heel -- I tried it on as soon as I felt like the rows above it were stable enough for that. As others have said, it's a bit of a squeeze to get your heel through that bias strip of knitting, but once you do... what a lovely hug all around your foot. Very very cozy sock.


In the meantime, I turned the heel and finished the gusset on the first Slip Jig sock, only to realize that it's too big in the foot. I've ripped back to the heel flap, where I'm going to try a combination of shortening that and decreasing a few stitches around. Then we'll see how it goes with the altered gusset. I have to admit that a little bit of frogging isn't as unpleasant when you end up with such a pretty pile of yarn to re-knit.

This Week in Knitting

After finishing Sophie, I picked up the Skew socks I've been knitting on, and let me tell you, they are getting interesting. There are some sort of Zimmermann-ish contortions about to happen, which are somehow supposed to turn all those stitches bulging off to the side of the heel into the back leg. The mind boggles, I know. I'll show you the finished heel once I've made that turn, but don't count on it making sense.


I also got the March Rockin' Sock shipment, and of the two lovely patterns that came with it, I chose the one called Slip Jig. It is a much more straightforward pattern than Skew, so when my brain starts to hurt too much from the strange construction of Skew, I just resort to knitting on these ones. Aren't the colours lovely? It is a very springtimey yarn, and they are very fun and quick to knit.


Lastly, despite being distracted by so many socks, I made a bit more progress on the Aeolian shawl in the last day or two. I am just past the first row of nupps, and they turned out so nice (even though you can't really make them out in this photo. Trust me.) I just did a row with nearly 70 beads in it, so it is also very sparkly.