The Stem Socks are finished at last. It must be at least six months since I started them, possibly more. I remember that I intended them to be Spring/Summer socks; that's why I picked the light green color with occasional random flecks of pink.
The pattern wasn't particularly difficult; in fact it was quite simple. It was just that I kept putting the socks aside to go off on other knitting adventures. There's a fine line between "multiple projects" and "UFO's." If one is not careful, an active project upon which one knits happily every few days may drift apart from the collection and cross the border into UFO-land.
And I absolutely hate UFO's. They give me an itchy twitchy feeling. Right between the shoulder blades. No matter how deeply buried in a closet the object may be, I know it's there. And I know that because it is not finished, I have WASTED THE YARN. This is the ultimate sin to one raised in a culture of thrift.
I began another sock right away and knit 4-5 inches down the leg before realizing that it was not going to work. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in "Shadow" and I was using the "Slipped Stitch Rib" pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. I've knit this pattern once before and found that it does a great job of mixing up the colors for yarn that is too stripey (which LL unfortunately is). But 54 stitches on 2.25mm needles was a wee bit tight. And the overall look of the knitting was somehow too open--as if I had knit it on huge needles. So, off to the frog pond for this little guy.
I thought of redoing the cast-on with 60 stitches on 2.0mm needles, but then decided to have another browse through my SKS and MoreSKS books to see if I could find a different pattern that might work to break up the striping. And in MoreSKS I found something called "Cross Stitch Block" which has some stitch-slipping and stitch-crossing going on. Here's a picture I grabbed from a Raveler named Jenn who did a lovely job of knitting these socks. If mine are half as nice, I'll be pleased.
And in the meantime I have also begun fiddling around with this beautiful yarn. The pattern is going to be called "Coriolis." I won't actually know if it will work at all until I've turned the heel. Might be a total bust. But I'm feeling optimistic.
6 comments:
I tend not to like stripy-ness, and in picking a pattern from SKS, I used one of the smaller patterns (garter rib, p. 37). It is also possible to break up the striping by changing the yarn, but in a sock that will leave ends. I developed this aversion when using hand-dyed yarn for a sweater and getting pooling over the bustline (that sweater will be frogged and reknit in a modular pattern). But your socks look very nice.
Lovely socks. I am pretty slow with (most of) my knitting projects, so I understand that tug on one's conscious. I've never thought of unfinished UFO's as wasted yarn, but that would be a good motivator for me too. Of course, I know I'll eventually finish what I start. It will just be slowly.
Love the green socks-it is funny how such energy at the beginning of an inspired project can fizzle so quickly and when you re-find the stuffed away lovely you wonder why it was stuffed in the first place! It is almost like finding a treasure and then the joy at finishing it.....yes, it is an inner joy that is hard to express!
PS-Do you mind sharing your ravelry name? Mine is Delightful Hands....a mis-type on my part when I set it up late at night 'cuz I wanted it to match my blog so it would be easier to find-lol
Greetings from another Vogue crafts addict.
The stem socks are absolutely charming and make me think of Spring. I don't have such a thrifty sense of waste as you do, but I never have UFOs even if it takes a year to complete. I know that I'll finish.
Hi it's me. I did not mean to send the previous comment as anon.
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