Sunday, March 4, 2018

Year of Projects 7: Week 36

My Grade Nine Physics teacher told me that I'd be an ideal University student - prone to postponing until the very last minute but very good under pressure. That turned out to be true in University and proved true again as recently as last week with my February Paper Bag Project. 

I started my Yaacov Socks promptly at the beginning of February, knit to the heel flap of the first sock and then put them aside in favour of my Mojo Socks. I wasn't enjoying the knitting of the Yaacov socks in no small part because I wasn't happy with how they were knitting up so my motivation flagged. But once the Mojo socks were complete and as the end of February loomed I dug deep and pushed through. I wove in the last end of the second sock at 10:53pm on February 28th with just about an hour to spare!

And you know, I actually really like them now that they're done. So why did I put them aside in the first place? Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy! 

I'll admit I might like them even more if they were in the brighter greener/bluer rainbow colourway, and I'll admit that the un-stretchy corrugated ribbing at the cuff is not ideal, but never mind that. The floats on the inside of the toe area bug me too, but I'm washing and drying them inside out to see if they'll felt into the sock. I think they will.

Aside from the un-stretchy cuff the socks actually fit really well. They're also super soft and comfy thanks to the yarn which was a nuisance to knit - lot of halo and very splitty. And they are very colourful. I especially love the blue/red/brown stripes in the toe area which almost seem to glow like a gas-fired BBQ grill! Fun! 

Let me also say that the pattern design strikes me as very clever. The idea of staggering the gradient  between two balls of the same colourway to create the colourwork pattern - brilliant! Working a two colour heel turn and angling the gusset decreases across the bottom of the heel without disrupting the colourwork pattern - brilliant! I'm glad I knit them and finished them.

On March 1st I opened the next bag for my 2018 Paper Bag Project Year Long KAL on Ravelry to find a skein of sock yarn from Songbird Yarns and Fibres in a colourway called "Blue Jay". It's quite a busy colourway so I went with this Leyburn pattern that uses slipped stitches and lifted floats to break up pooling in variegated yarns. I've turned the heel on the first sock and love how it's knitting up so far. But more on that next week!

8 comments:

Wanderingcatstudio said...

Yaacov looks great! Have fun with the new socks

Gracey is not my name.... said...

Those are awesome looking socks! I love the look of the new sock that you are making too...I keep just casting on self stripe yarn...looking for some patterns that go well with self stripe...doing a test knit now, but don't love the yarn, as there are many accidental drips of color throughout the stripes...I talked to the dyer and she is going to send me another skein...

Becki said...

The finished Yaacov socks really are cool. And the toes do look like charcoals glowing through a BBQ grill. Fun! That Blue Jay colorway looks pretty. Looking forward to watching those socks grow. :)

Lucy Bowen said...

Oh my, the yaacov socks are amazing. I'm so glad they fit ok despite the issues. I love the blue jay yarn and that looks like the perfect pattern for it.

Leftycrafter said...

Well dang it.....Leyburn just went into my library. I havecso much variegated yarn and this looks ideal to make it non pooling.

Your Yaacov socks are gorgeous. I love the play of colors in it.

Stefanie said...

So neat how those socks came out! Wow.

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

Before I forget like last week. I LOVED The Crown and I hope you enjoy it! If you have any suggestions for Netflix let me know. I also love When Calls the Heart Series (Canadian Mounted Police in that one....oh yeah!)
LOve the Yaacov socks but boy do they look difficult. You are so right about the toe....that one color does glow. Your new socks look great and they are all so different in pattern and colors. I like the paper bag KAL....maybe next year? I'll have to start setting them up this year so I have enough yarn. You set them up yourself, right? Great fun!

Stefanie said...

Thanks for adding my new blog on, Lynn. And thank you for the sock love. Yes, they start out fraternal but are almost identical after the heels for some reason.