Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Some New Socks

The long and the short of it is this: I decided to take a summer class so that when I took the fall semester off to go to Bhutan, I could be ahead of the game. The summer class is a pre-requisite I need for two spring semester classes. So, I’m in week five of a double-time, eight week course. And then I found out last week that the Bhutan trip will be postponed a year. Hmm….

Miraculously, though, I’ve been able to do some knitting. Some really fantastic knitting, on a project I’ve been dying to make since I saw it last year on Ravelry: Becca Compton’s Vinnland socks. I love the way the leaf motif sort of twists and weaves down the sock, and I searched high and low for the perfect yarn, which just happens to be Sundara’s sock in Black over Emerald. I am officially obsessed with Sundara’s yarns, after discovering them late last year. Absolutely obsessed!
This was my first time doing toe-up socks, socks on two circulars, and of course, using Sundara’s yarns. I loved everything and am converted! The toe-up construction is really neat, because you can get a perfect fit, and try them on the whole time without much trouble. The two circular method is fantastic, and while I even tried the Magic Loop for a few rounds, I prefer the two circs. My next lesson will be knitting two socks on two circs, although I will say with this pattern and yarn combination, Second Sock Syndrome was never a problem. In fact, I knit the second sock faster than the first.

I couldn’t really figure out the short-row toe, and the links on the Ravelry page for the Vinnland’s didn’t work, so I just did a Figure-8 cast on, which was really easy to figure out. The only problem I encountered was in the cast-off, because you need a REALLY stretchy end to the cuffs. After three separate attempts, I finally found the Modified Russian Bind-off, which was the perfect trick.So, today is June 10, and we’ve been having all sorts of freaky-cold weather. In fact, there is actually snow predicted for tonight. At least I’ll be able to wear my toasty-soft Merino socks!

No comments: