Red Socks

Just the perfect thing for a cloudy, cold Saturday afternoon.

Pattern: My own, with guidance out of The Book of Knitting.
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease in some crazy red, speckled color.
Needles: Clover US3 dpn
Notes: It's quite difficult to knit a second sock out of your own pattern, when you didn't write down the pattern as you made the first sock! It took three tries to get the heel to come out right, and the toes are slightly off. As far as the toes go, I've seen (and made) better. I'm in the midst of learning how to graft, but I couldn't be bothered to look up the instructions online when the time came- on either sock! (The instructions are online and we were watching To Catch a Thief!) The first sock I just sort of stitched together and the second I tried grafting. It came out all right until halfway through when I must have mixed up the order of the stitches - I was grafting correctly, and all the stitches look like knits, and then they switch to purls! It's an interesting sight. It's a good thing I'm not a perfectionist (ie: can't be bothered to go back and fix mistakes more than a few stitches past them). When I put on the socks, I noticed I had dropped a stitch just before the toe decreases start. On the first sock I made. I sewed in the stitch and sooner or later, I'll forget about it.

I also have a problem with the heels. The book I used lists three different methods for turning a heel. I followed the first set of directions, and the heel came out very narrow and ugly. I like the way I made the heels for Mike's socks much better. The Red Socks have a square-ish heel, 5 stitches wide. The Long Socks havea heel that's shaped more like a U that gets wider and wider, and looks much more comfortable. Again, hopefully sooner or later I'll forget about this problem as well.

All in all, I really like them. They are keeping my feet warm as we speak. For my second go at socks, I think they came out pretty great! I'll have to be careful, though. They're very slippery on tile.

I have yarn for two more pairs of socks (this time with actual sock yarn), so I'll be able to work on my technique. I'm debating between making a pair of Jaywalkers or Anastasias or Broad Ripple from Knitty Summer 03.

I think Anastasia for the spring green yarn, and Broad Ripple for the stripey Juicy Fruit yarn.