Toe-Up Socks – Hot off the needles

Finished up this comfy pair of toe-up socks this morning. These socks have been hanging fire for two weeks, only needing a couple of hours to finish. I put them aside (in fact, I put ALL of my knitting aside) when my best friend put the arm-twist on me to design a website for a political action committee she belongs to – but that’s another story. As I said in my previous post, I put a new Estonian lace project on the needles and I’m anxious to get clicking on that. Unfortunately, I couldn’t until these socks became a done deal instead of just another UFO.

You see, about a year and a half ago, while in the process of cleaning/reorganizing that pit I commonly refer to as my “studio,” I came up with no less than 26 UFOs floating about in various stages of unfinishedness. I did a little mental calculation on what I had invested in yarn alone in these projects and was stunned when I came up with a number that exceeded $1,000 (and if you spill the beans to my DH, I’ll lie through my teeth about it). Really, though, even DH couldn’t be more unhappy with me that I was with myself. I vowed then and there that, in future, I would not start any new project until: 1) the current one was finished;  AND, 2) I had to finish one of the UFOs.

That was over a year ago and I’m glad to say that I’ve stuck with it and completed most of the damning evidence of my knitting sloth. Today, out of the original 26 UFOs, only 3 remain – the comfy socks in the photo were not one of these, BTW. That was my project on the needles. The UFO was one of those “Surprise” baby sweaters. Have you heard of it? It’s a mitered square affair worked as a single piece of fabric that, when folded correctly, produces a little boxy sweater needing only seaming at the shoulders. I saw a couple of cute incarnations of that pattern and gave it a go, but found that I hated the execution of it almost from the get-go. Garter stitch…yards and yards, hour upon hour of garter stitch. ‘Nuf said.

Okay, so after making a short story long, let’s get back to these socks. They were knit on two Size 1, 24” circular needles using the basic sock pattern I adapted for myself from “Socks from the Toe Up” by Wendy D. Johnson of Wendy Knits. See my post on “Knitting with Rheumatoid Arthritis” for more info on this book and why I don’t use double point needles (DPNs).

I’m giving this pair of socks a B grade for a good fit, soft yarn, and a bit of lacy interest. They’re short of the A grade because I’m not over the moon on the colorway. The yarn is a tweedy blend of pink and blue with just a teensy bit of yellow ochre tossed in for God knows what reason. What can I say? It looked better when I bought it. Some yarns are just like that. They can be awfully appealing in the skein state, but once it’s knitted up…meh.

I don’t mind it so much with something like socks. Once your shoes are on and pant legs are down, who’s going to see them anyway? It really snaps my girdle, though, when I get suckered into using one of these changling yarns for, say, a sweater project. It’s just too bloody expensive and too much labor to end up with a sweater you’d only want to give to your ancient aunt – the one in the nursing home – who’s blind – and seldom comes out of her room.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I put a new Estonian lace project on the needles yesterday. Using Size 2 needles and laceweight yarn (which is a bit like knitting with spiderweb) it takes a lot of knitting to come up with enough fabric to photograph. I'll post something when it looks like something...or I'll let you know if my patience wore out and I frogged the whole business.