Back Home with New Socks

Kevin and I got back home yesterday afternoon, and immediately took a nap (and I'd already slept on the way to the airport, on both planes, and on the way back from the airport)—the weekend was strangely exhausting. I've probably mentioned that my extended family is much smaller and quieter than Kevin's, so visiting with his family, even under subdued circumstances, overwhelms me. Add to that small talk with second cousins I'd never met before, and by the end of the trip I really needed those naps!

I finished the first Socks That Rock sock (for the first time…) pretty soon after my last post, but then I tried it on the ankle was indeed too tight to fit over my foot without a lot of wiggling and stretching (it would have really helped if my foot could have sucked in its stomach, or something). The cables were too inelastic, as others have found. I thought about going up a needle size, but I think the fabric would have been looser than I like for socks—and in any case, I didn't have any larger needles with me. So instead I revised the cable pattern slightly, so I had twice as many cables that were half as wide (a 5-stitch cable of 2 ribs instead of an 11-stitch cable with 4 ribs, if you've seen the pattern), which kept them from pulling in as much, and kept the ankle elastic. My pattern isn't reversible, but based on the very fuzzy inside of my previous pair of STR socks, I’d have had to pick one side as the outside anyway.

I ripped back the first sock to right after the heel on Sunday morning, then finished it for the second time that night (or maybe first thing Monday morning?). The new cuff fit just fine, so I made the second sock the same way and finished it after we got home last night. Pictures in my next entry, maybe—I need to post about it in the Sock-A-Month knitalong too, so maybe that will make me actually take pictures? I was going to make all the club socks according to the written patterns, but since I've deviated from that plan already, I may do something else for the rest as well.

Even though it didn't work as written in the pattern for me, I really like the original rib and cable stitch pattern, and I think I might try it either as a scarf (where elasticity isn't an issue at all), or on the foot of a sock (where my gigantic heel wouldn't be a problem—although in that case I think the whole thing might be too thick to fit comfortably under shoes). And in knitting the new pattern I thought of another variation on the cables and ribs theme which might be fun to try.

In addition to this sock, my other knitting activity for the weekend was mailing out a design submission. I like my idea (also a sock), and had fun putting it together, but I’m worried that my little packet will look really amateurish compared to many submissions—not the knitting itself but the presentation overall, because I draw like a kid.