It’s another project from the backlog!

I started this pair of socks back in March, when I needed a new project because I was taking a cross-country plane flight.  I took that flight to get to Oregon for a job interview.  I got that job, and finished this pair of socks on the drive from Illinois to Oregon (I wove in the ends in a hotel in Coeur d’Alene, ID).    So, I guess you could call these my “new job socks”, or maybe my “cross-country socks”, or perhaps just my “I must be totally crazy to pick up and move socks”.

Pattern: Gentleman’s Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern
Designer: Nancy Bush
Source: Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Zitron Trekking (XXL)
Quantity: 1 skein (459 yards/100g)
Color: 69
Needles: KnitPicks 2.0mm 32″

Started: March 13, 2008
Completed: April 14, 2008

Pattern modifications:

• Cast on 72 stitches
• Knit 2.25 inches of ribbing
• Knit leg to 9 inches before starting heel

Yarn overview:

This was the first time I’d used Trekking XXL.  It was thinner than most of the sock yarns I usually knit with, similar in weight to Opal or Lorna’s Laces.  After quite a few wearings of this pair of socks, the yarn is still holding up well.  There’s some slight fuzzing on the bottom of the socks and in the heel, but it seems to be holding up well.  Overall, I think that it’s a great deal for it’s yardage to price ratio.

I finally got around to knitting up the Artyarns Supermerino that I’ve had in the stash for a while.  I picked it up as a gift to myself when I was in Fresno, CA as a bridesmaid in a friend’s wedding a few years ago.  During a break between running around doing bridesmaid tasks and the rehearsal, I snuck off to the yarn store, Ancient Pathways.  It was a really nice way to treat myself in a weekend that was all about other people.  I was lucky and found two skeins of this yarn in the sale bin, and got it for a steal.

I finally decided that I wanted to use the yarn, and went searching for a pattern to use with it.  I came upon Thuja from an older Knitty issue.  I decided to give it a try.

I forgot how quickly a heavier weight sock can knit up.  I finished these in a matter of days.

Pattern: Thuja
Designer: Bobby Ziegler
Source: Knitty, Winter 2005
Yarn: Artyarns Supermerino (104 yards/50g)
Quantity: 2(208 yards/100g)
Color: 101
Needles: Addi Turbo US4 (3.5mm)

Started:  June 7, 2008
Completed:  June 15, 2008

Pattern modifications:

• I cast on 40 stitches instead of 44
• Knit the foot as 21 stitches on the top and 19 stitches on the bottom so that I could center the purl stitch in the center of the foot, so the pattern on the top of the foot became
  Round 1: K all stitches
  Round 2: K2, P1, [K3, P1] 3 times, K2
• Decreased toe until 8 stitches remained

Yarn Overview:

This yarn is super squishy, which is one of the reasons I purchased it.  It washes well, no signs of pilling so far.  However, I’m not sure I’d use this yarn for socks again.  While the socks are soft and warm, they are showing some significant signs of wear after just a few wearings.  In the future I’d use this yarn for sweaters or hats or anything else that doesn’t get as much wear and tear as socks.

I finished the William Street Socks a week or two ago, but I haven’t gotten around to posting about it.  I’ve worn them once, and they’ve been through a washing.

I knit this pair as part of the Ravelry Sock Knitters Anonymous’ February Sockdown challenge.  The challenge for February was to try a new heel.  Since I’m strictly a top-down, heel-flap sock knitter, I tried this pair of toe-up, short-row heel socks.  I think that I’ll stick to top-down heel flaps.  While I like this pair of socks overall, I’m still not sold on the short-row heel.

Pattern: William Street Socks
Designer: Lisa Shroyer
Source: Interweave Knits, Fall 2007
(also available free online from IK)
Yarn: Schachenmayr Regia Tweed 6-Fadig (136 yards/50g)
Quantity: 2 skeins (272 yards/100g)
Color: Gray
Needles: Addi Turbo 3.25mm

Started: February 1, 2008
Completed: March 12, 2008

Pattern modifications:

• I changed the ribbing section of the pattern.  When I knit the ribbing per the pattern, the sock ended up much too loose.  To remedy this, I decreased the last round before the ribbing.  Starting with the cabled section of the sock, I K1, (K3, K2Tog) — this knit together the first and last stitch of each 5 stitch section of cable.  On the back of the sock, I did two decreases, one on each side of the center of the back.  On finishing the round, I slipped the last stitch of the back of the sock to the front needle, and did a P2Tog with the K1 from the cabled section.   This gave me 56-stitches on the needle.  I did P2, K2 ribbing around until I ran out of yarn.
• I used the magic cast-on for toe-up socks from Knitty instead of the specified cast on.
• I only used 2 balls of yarn.  While I wish the socks were a tiny bit longer, the length is acceptable.

Yarn oveview:

I do not knit socks with sport weight yarn very often, so it was interesting when the socks seemed to be progressing very slowly.  As for the yarn, I was surprised by the tweedy-quality of the yarn.  The little tweed bits seemed to be loosely added to the yarn, some even fell out of the yarn as I was knitting the sock.  Most all of the bits that can be seen in the Feb. 8th post on this pair of socks are gone now that they’ve been washed.  Overall, the sock has developed a slight halo of fuzziness from being washed, but otherwise is ok.