Sock Knitting Progress (with cat)

I'm here to write about socks, socks, and more socks, but I can't start without a few more cat pictures.

Carlos on my lap. Yes, we're in the bathroom (and the toilet seat is down, thank you for asking); he spent much of the day there.

Often in the tub, in fact.

Now, socks! I finished the first of the hybrid socks I'm making with the Dream in Color Smooshy yarn that I bought at the same time as the yarn for my mother's shawl. (Got that?)

On the 4th of July, 2009, I started with this:

I cast on, in the sun.

Such humble beginnings. I love knitting. It truly is magic.

July 4th to January 22nd ... as the Yarn Harlot says, not fast magic. But magic nonetheless.

By July 19th, I had, well, this:


And on July 25, this:

But I had cast on for the shawl by then, and while it grew, the sock mostly languished.

It got some work in Florida, due to the difficulties inherent in knitting a surprise gift in front of the recipient (let me know if you figure that one out). On August 25th, it was This Big:

And by December 31st (no photos in between, somehow), the heel was past, and I had switched to a pattern for the leg.

I decided to bastardize the popular Spring Forward sock, which is (ahem) knit cuff down, not toe up. Not letting that stop me, because I really like this pattern. The stitch pattern is similar to the shawl, in fact.

By January 16, it was here:

And here we are today, finished.

Granted, the photo was taken before the end was tucked in. But 99.99% done in the photo, and 100% done now. Ta-da!

I also have a yarn confession to make. I ordered some more yarn this week.

I know! I already have plenty of yarn, yarn I'm really looking forward to using. Why more?

Well, I have some sock issues. Let's look at my personal history of sock knitting, shall we?

In August, 2006, I took a class on sock knitting. I made the first of this pair* in the course of the classes, and it was a bit large. The second sock was more my size.

*In Baby Star yarn from Laines Du Nord, which is 100% merino wool.


But over the next 2-3 years, the socks shrank*. First they fit better, then, not so much.

*Shrink resistant, it says, but of course it also says hand wash, which I may not have done every time.


Pop! Out the back of the heel.


Good-bye, first pair. Hello, second! This time, the yarn was Schaefer Anne.


And that, a blend of wool, mohair, and nylon, is supposed to be machine washable. But in my experience, it shrank.


Also, the halo it grew was not that attractive.


Eventually unwearable.

Pair the third is still in time out. Lorna's Laces yarn, bind off issues. I'm almost ready to try again, less than 2 years later!

I called these the Banish February socks, because I bought the yarn to liven up the dead of winter.


When they went into time out, I moved on to pair number four. The yarn is from Kangaroo Dyer, purchased at Webs when we went out to see the Yarn Harlot two years back.


I'm still wearing these socks, and they are wearing well, and of course they have not shrunk one little bit, because they are too big. And they stay too big. Sigh. Socks are hard.

Pair the fifth I made a little smaller, and they're really a little too small. I can get them on my feet, but it seriously takes about five minutes to get them on. They're really soft, though! Happy Feet yarn.


So now I have half of pair the sixth done, and it fits, which makes me very happy. However!

I basically don't trust sock yarn. Is it soft enough, will it shrink, how will it wear, who knows? So when a trusted knit blogger, Wendy, wrote about how she had made these socks for her husband 6.5 years ago and they don't show wear! I knew I had to get some of this yarn and try it for myself.

And as it was on clearance at Webs, well, here comes some. And maybe some Misti Alpaca Lace that was also on closeout jumped in the bag, too. Hmm, how did that get there?