Year of Projects 3: Crowley 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

As you might expect, a pair of socks knit with thick wool on 2.75mm needles doesn't take much time at all... less than two weeks in fact. Although, when the temperatures starting dropping to well below seasonal I was in a bit of hurry to finish them and get them onto my feet.

When I visited Cottage Craft almost four years ago, a pair of socks exactly like these were what I envisioned from this Cottage Craft 1ply wool yarn. The perfect boot socks! As soon as I saw the Crowley pattern I knew what my yarn choice was going to be. The colourway is called "Spruce Green" - be still my Canadian heart - and the yarn base is from Briggs & Little processed from fleeces from mostly Quebec sheep farms. Oh Canada!

Experts will tell you that 1ply wool is not a good choice for socks - more plys mean more durability - and besides these will likely felt. It's okay though; I'm planning to take good care of these by hand washing and laying flat to dry and never, ever wearing them in stocking feet around the house. Hopefully that will keep them in good shape for years to come.

Now that I've blocked them, the wool has relaxed across the cables somewhat and the socks are softer and less lumpy. But the pattern's still clear enough, right? I did have a look at the finished socks from other participants in the KAL - the pattern is really dramatic in smoother, traditional sock yarns. Que sera, sera.

Next on the KAL schedule is the pattern: Vorticity. I've got the perfect skein of Twisted Top Cat in a colourway called "Tidal" ready to go. Now I just have to wait patiently for October 1st, the first day of this next pattern in the KAL. I guess I'll have to find other things to knit or crochet over the next few weeks!