Sunday, September 18, 2011

Come Blog Along Pattern 03 Post 02

a mismatched pair
Knitting on the Road: Canada Canal du Midi • Conwy • Dalarna • Denmark • Friday Harbor • Hiiumaa • Huron Mountain • New England • The Road to Oslo • Santa Fe • Spey Valley • Christmas in Tallinn • Traveler's Stockings • Uinta Cabin • Unst • Whitby

It's not second sock syndrome, really it's not! It's just that the yarn that I'm using for Conwy was driving me around the bend. There was too much twist in the yarn; so much that I was fighting to keep it untangled long enough to knit it. Ravelry to the rescue! After posting my problem to the yarn forum the answer came back: reskein it, wash it and weight it down before hanging it to dry. And that seems to have worked. It looks like the remaining yarn will be much better behaved for the second sock.

While the green yarn blocked I cast on for the next pair of socks in the book: Dalarna. For this sock and the decorative chain stitch detail on the cuff I had to rewind the hank for a centre pull ball. That's not something with which I've had much experience but as usual there were some helpful YouTube tutorials. My ball works but it's not as tidy as yarn cakes I've seen on other blogs ... that's why it's outside the crop of the photo. If I start knitting socks two-at-a-time I'll need a ball winder and swift pronto.

The decorative chain stitch is a cute detail, but working it once above the ribbing and once below leaves me with four additional ends to weave in - I'm not wholly convinced it's worth the effort. Besides the cuff and the small clock pattern down the legs and edging the foot, the sock is mainly stockinette. Ho hum. I'd like to get both these pairs of socks off the needles as soon as possible and move onto to something more fun!

11 comments:

Tonya said...

Can you post a pic of the chain detail? It sounds interesting. I'm glad reskeining and soaking made the yarn more agreeable. The socks look great.

Anonymous said...

They might not be fun, but they are mighty cute!

Leftycrafter said...

Yarn does make a difference when you are knitting a project and if it was making you nuts than it was time to put it down and work with that glorious purple yarn. Someday I will try and knit sock on double points. I only use the magic loop method but it seems you double point knitters go much faster.

Delusional Knitter said...

I tried winding from a hank by hand once ... and I had to lock the cat in the bathroom while I used a dining room chair ... now I have a swift and ball winder, LOL!

Unknown said...

They are both beautiful and I hope you get them done before you know it!

Michele said...

Mmmmmmm...Love that green! Soooo pretty!

Dorothy said...

Second sock syndrome or not !! I admire anyone who can knit socks. Yours look great and I hope you get that yarn problem sorted out.

Anonymous said...

You're doing so well hanging in there despite all the hassles with that beautiful yarn. Both socks are beautiful. Your work always looks so neat, I blame you and It Started with Ruby for my not so secret wish to try knitting socks on dpns. Totally with you on the ends - the saying about ends justifying the means could have been made for knitting, just perhaps the other way around.

CrochetBlogger said...

You will be done before you know it and on to something more fun and you'll have these socks to show for it!

Sandy said...

They may be mismatched, but green and purple go so well together, and seems I've seen kids wearing 2 colors of late. Perhaps that's the new style, lol.

Stefanie said...

My two favorite colors! The green one has such neat-o twists and turns. What a great purple.
How do you like those sock blockers? Yours are plastic yeah? Have you heard anything about wood compared to plastic? I'm looking for a pair and hope to buy some this weekend.