She Was Twisted

I finished my first purple cable sock and have about 3 inches done on the second sock.  Woot, woot! I am very proud of myself for actually starting the second one. I have the worst case of second anything syndrome. After I’ve done it once, I’m usually bored and ready to move on. But these socks are keeping me going. Here are some goody shots:

First up, the finished sock. And yes, this photos turned out terribly blurry, but they will do. I love the way the cable show up against the yarn – something that I see get lost all the time with handpainted yarns. But this rainbow dyed yarn from Fearless Fibers is the best. Love it.

And here are two photos showing that I really and truly have begun the second sock.

Maybe I can get these finished before the blistering Arkansas cold is over? Now wouldn’t that be something….

I turned the heel of the purple cable sock the other day and now I’m busy knitting up the leg. It fits perfectly! Yay. Adding that extra cable really made a difference.

Here it is flat:

And a foot shot:

And another:

The gusset heel seemed to work,  however I’m not sure if it fits where it should. Is the curve part supposed to fall just after the curve of your heel?  Or is it supposed to fall right at the center of your heel?

It feels great, and seems to work just like it should. But I was just curious if I should have started the heel a little bit sooner than I did.

Here are the pics:

See, just after my heel. I also think I did something weird  on one side. It formed tiny little ridges where I decreased back down. (Or maybe it was where I made my M1) I will have to go back and look closer.

Regardless, I still love it. Much better than the short-row heel, in my opinion, which I don’t like at all for some reason. The gusset heel is tighter and doesn’t leave those horrible tiny holes where you wrapped the stitches.

So knitting up the leg I go!

…but in a good way.

I started knitting these purple cable socks many months ago..o.k. like at least 6 months ago, maybe more. I didn’t account for the cables pulling the sides in when I figured my stitch count, and they were way too tight from the start. So what did I do? Kept knitting!!

I knitted all the way up to the heel, thinking, “they will just be extra snug socks.” But when I began the heel, I realized there was no way I was going to be able to squeeze my ankle through without cutting off my circulation. -As if I didn’t already know that from the start. So in disgust, I tossed the socks to the side and haven’t thought about them since.

Until…

I’ve been catching up on all the Lime n’ Violet podcasts that I haven’t listened to since July. And we all know how much they oogle over sock yarns and sock patterns. This, of course, inspired me to want to knit some socks. Since we are in poor mode, (can’t afford to buy anything unless it is necessary for existing. Ah-hem, yarn does not count.) I pulled out my sorry sock and started reworking my numbers. I added an extra cable and messed with the “in-betweens” a little bit, and got my stitch count to 72 stitches. -Which just happens to be the cast on for Wendy Knits’ Fingerweight Toe-Up Gusset Heel Sock Pattern. Perfect. I’ve never knit a gusset heel before, so it will be fun!

Here is my yarn:

Gorgeous! It is from Fearless Fibers, in the colorway “Midnight Passion.” Love it, love it. The thing I adore about her yarns, is that she does not hand paint them – she rainbow dyes in a pot instead. What this does is eliminate the chance for any pooling or patterning, which is something I really loathe about most hand dyed sock yarns.

So on to the sock.

Here is the new sock. It now has 4 cables instead of 3 – which isn’t quite as visually appealing, but it makes the sock wearable.

So far, it is feeling like a perfect fit!

Now here is the old sock. See how the stretched out the areas are between the cables? It really squeezes and stretches on my foot, almost to the point of being uncomfortable. (Can you believe that I knitted as much of it as I did, knowing in my gut that is was a bad fit?)

That is just me for you. I have a need for self-torture I suppose.

But I am loving knitting socks again. It has become my “knit outside while Evan plays in the backyard” activity. It is simple and easy enough of a knit that I can keep my eye on him while he plays, and since I’m knitting on 2 circs, I an easily put it down when Evan needs me.

In other news, I’ve got the Rambling Rose cardigan blocked out and drying right now. I think it is going to work!! I’ll post pics in my next entry.

Have a fantastic Thanksgiving everyone. Eat LOTS of pumpkin pie!!