Thursday, January 31, 2013

Ticking off the boxes

Okay, I am doing it! I am getting items done, no more lazy knitting for me - although I don't feel that bad as most of my knitting over the years was charity knitting or gifts for friends. First on the list is socks for my cold tootsies. I made a pair from an intermediate level book but I didn't like that it left 2 seams along the heel, I can't imagine that being comfortable as the day goes on. So I searched and found a pattern on Ravelry that I liked and went with it. I'm almost done, just need to finish a bit of the ankle and go up the leg a bit and I can see where I may have made mistakes and I can try the fit of it. So far I'm extremely happy with this pattern. This is the heel:
There are no odd seams on the heel and a special stitch is used (I really need to learn the technical names) on the bottom of the heel to strengthen it. PLUS this turn that goes up the back of the foot is gorgeous and surprisingly easy. I have a feeling that I didn't make the foot long enough and I'm thankful that this was a test round with cheap, acrylic yarn. I became a little too impatient and just started the heel :-) The pattern isn't made for all sizes, it was a free pattern and her specific measurements are too her foot which seems to be a few inches larger than mine, which isn't surprising as I'm only a size 6 and 1/2 foot. I just made sure to read the pattern thoroughly as I don't want to bother making ANOTHER practice sock. So that is why the heel starts way too soon, I needed to knit the foot part a little bit further past my arch (no need to show pictures at this point).
I went to Urban Yarns near UBC last week to get some supplies and information on making socks. For someone who has been knitting their whole life I sure sounded like an amateur to them. I'm really happy I'm taking this next step and teaching myself the advanced techniques of a skill that I already kick ass at. Plus my feet are cold, getting older doesn't bother me that much except how easy it is for me to get cold, each year it gets worse. So I need wool socks and why not make them myself. My first real pair will be done with this gorgeous merino wool from Spud and Chloe yarns which probably just looks dark. It's a wonderful brown that has a hint of metallic in it. I'm so excited and I know I'll be working on them this weekend! After that it will be fun, colourful, patterned SOCKS!

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