Sunday, September 1, 2013

Year of Projects 3: Hundred Acre Woods 02


SOCKTOPUS: Totally Vanilla • Kandahar • V Junkie • Kwalia • Farmer McGregor • Shur'tugal • 2luvcrew • Vorticity • Rumpled! • Crowley • Om Shanti • Mince Pie Mayhem • Hundred Acre Wood • De Stijl • Fiori di Zucca • Caretta Caretta • Spring Shoots

I missed posting again last week ... the crazy busy-ness just won't quit. But at least this time I've got some knitting done! My Hundred Acre Wood socks are done and they are gorgeous.

The yarn is Djinni Sock from Dragonfly Fibers in a colourway called "Oberon". It's my first experience with this yarn, which I ordered to support one of the sponsors of the KAL that I'm taking part in. The yarn base is 80% merino + 10% cashmere + 10% nylon; it's classified as a "light fingering" but I'd disagree. The yarn is thicker than most sock yarn I come across; more of a heavy fingering I'd say. And since most of the socks in Socktopus are written for size 1 (2.25mm) and size 2 (2.5 mm) needles, the heavier weight is much appreciated.

The pattern is a lacy pattern reminiscent of leaves worked with simple decreases and yarn overs. The chart starts almost immediately from the toe and continues seamlessly from the foot to the leg until it flows into the ribbed cuff. It's very pretty and surprisingly stretchy. There are a lot of charts at first glance, but looking closer it's just one chart for the foot, another for the leg and one for the cuff. I thought this pattern was going to need my full attention, but after a couple of pattern repeats I didn't need to refer to the pattern and could take it along as travel knitting.

Many of the KAL participants found these socks worked up too large for their feet and since I've been finding that same thing throughout the book I decided to be pro-active. I deliberately chose the medium size (my feet are large all the way ... in fact if you look up big feet in the dictionary, there's a picture of my feet) and then went down a needle size. It worked, and I couldn't be more pleased.

I'm also very pleased with the gusset shaping on this sock. In the past I've had trouble estimating the correct point to start the gusset shaping for a well-fitted foot but the instructions from designer Alice Yu are very clear, and the fit is perfect.

At the end of the cuff I worked my modified version of Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off. With toe-up socks you have to be very careful that the bind off is not too tight. I find that JSSBO is too loosey-goosey so I process every other stitch according to her method for a stretchy bind-off that's not too loose.

And here we are at the beginning of September. HEY! Where did summer go?! According to the KAL schedule today I can cast on the next pair of socks .... Crowley. I've dug deep into my stash to pull out the oldest skein of yarn I have. It's a rustic one ply 100% wool yarn that may or may not be suitable. I guess I'll cast on to see!


17 comments:

Anonymous said...

They are gorgeous, Lynn. That's a real good choice of color and pattern.

Renee Anne said...

Those are lovely and grand :) I, of course, am drawn to the color first, though.

Stefanie said...

Love these socks from its rich, deep color to the stitch pattern.

Christine said...

Amazing socks! I love love love them!

Lucy Bowen said...

They are lovely and I love the colour. I have yet to start my socks - but I will!! One day!

Tonya said...

Agreed colour/pattern is combination is great. I like that bind off for shawls that I'm going to block, the blocking isn't constrained by the bind off...I love the idea of ever other stitch for socks.

Ylva said...

Sock knitting sounds so fun and enjoyable when you describe it :)

Sam I Am...... said...

I love your posts as they are so detailed regarding the pattern, the yarn and your modifications. I am not a good enough knitter to do some of them yet (they scare me! LOL!) but when I get to that point I will be coming back to refer to your posts. And to think I thought socks were all pretty much the same before I started knitting them and reading posts from YOP'ers! Wow! Was I ever wrong! Thank you and those socks are absolutely gorgeous!

Unknown said...

Such a lovely color. Great job.

Elisabeth said...

Great socks!

Anonymous said...

Oh Hundred acre socks are just fab and well done on getting a fit that's just perfect, all the others in the group will soon be coming to you for advice on making their socks fit. I like the look of the Crowleys to, well lets face it I'm just a fan of cables and lace.

Keri said...

Those are beautiful. I love them.

Kim said...

Oh so pretty! I love the dark deep green and aptly named project!
*smiles*

Wanderingcatstudio said...

Yours turned out fantastic! I gave up on mine - maybe one day, I'll give them a try!

Caffeine Girl said...

I love those socks! Green is clearly the right color!

Frieda said...

Gorgeous socks !

Emma (GirlAnachronismE) said...

The socks look gorgeous, and I think you made the right decision about the sizing, they look like they fit perfectly!