Year of Projects 7: Week 38

• Petty Harbour Socks - complete
• Vanilla is the New Black Socks - complete
• There & Back Again Socks - complete
• Crosshaven Socks - complete
• Somewhere Socks - complete
• Tuxie Love - complete
• Brigit Socks - complete
• Crenate Socks - complete
• Mad Mix Socks - complete
• Ringwood Socks - complete
• Hearty Man Plaid Socks - complete
• Mojo Socks - complete
• Yaacov Socks - complete
• Leyburn Socks - complete 

• Gschnitztal Socks - 55% complete, using Tanis Sock Yarn in Papaya  

• Alfrick Socks - using Sandnes Garn Sisu in grey and white 
• Twisted Flower Socks - using Hikoo CoBaSi yarn in Egyptian Blue 
• Feny Socks - using Lang Jawoll Superwash in turquoise and chocolate 
• Double Heelix Socks - using stash yarn TBD 
• Somewhere Socks - using various shades of blue scraps 
• Merripog Socks - using stash yarn TBD 
• Rrribb-it! Socks - using stash yarn TBD 
• Glass Slippers Socks - using stash yarn TBD 

Most of my attention this week was focussed on Gschnitztal Socks, and after numerous false starts and much ripping back I've finished one sock to my satisfaction. My apologies for the photos; this yarn photographs very oversaturated particularly in the yellow/orange tones. You'll have to take my word for it - the colourway is very pretty, and not as harsh as the photos suggest.

There were lots of mods to get to this result. The twisted stitches draw in A LOT and are VERY inflexible so the sock is difficult to fit. The pattern as written works five 13-st repeats around the leg for a primary stitch count of 65 sts. Even after shifting up two needle sizes I couldn't make that work, so I added a repeat for a primary stitch count of 78 sts. Crazy, huh?

Although sock patterns typically allocate half the leg stitches for the heel flap, that was just too much in this case. Besides the pattern has separate narrower charts for the left and right edges of the instep which I wanted to incorporate because I though they added more interest to the pattern. After stringing a lifeline - just in case this was all a terrible idea -  I worked the heel flap by ribbing in pattern over 33sts, leaving 45 sts for the instep. Still sounds crazy, right? Fortunately it worked out as the pattern really draws in.

After working three repeats on the foot it was necessary to add some patterned rib rows to lengthen the sock before starting the toe. Not quite enough length for another full repeat though, and it's probably just as well not have all those twisted stitches across the top of my toes. Truth be told, I miscalculated this the first time too, so I ripped back once more to get the length right. After all the work in getting to that point, why not perfect it? Another repeat on the leg would have been nice but I'd have run out of yarn for sure! To start the toe area I worked a decrease row to shift from 45 sts to 30 sts ... did I mention that I continued the gusset decreases to bring the sole to 30 sts for a snug sock?

It was hard fought but what a pretty sock! I've already cast on sock number two and now that all the mods are figured out, it should be smooth sailing. As you can imagine, I'm also pretty good at working these twisted stitches... with all those restarts on sock one, I've had lots of practice!

Aside from Gschnitztal, I also devoted some time to Clue 2 of the "On the Other Foot" MKAL which was released on Friday. With each clue participants receive two options for the next section. In this case, foot option one is a cable and lace pattern, and foot option two is a stranded colourwork pattern.

The cable and lace option is very nice, although I have some reservations about it. I personally don't like lace for socks, so there's that. Will a 7-stitch cable down the centre of the instep be comfortable inside a shoe? Doubtful. And the large size is the same chart as the small and medium with added purl stitches on each side, resulting in a 5-stitch purl gutter down each side of the instep. Yuck! I don't like wide purl gutters so instead I've repeated the mock cables on each side to extend the patterning out to each side of the instep. Then there's that spiral toe - I'm still not a fan. It fits better than the toe on the colourwork sock, but not as well as a traditional wedge toe.

The stranded colourwork pattern is cute, but feels very fussy to me. Honestly, I feel like I'm knitting a Ukranian Easter egg. I'm tempted to halt the stranded colourwork and finish the foot as a vanilla sock. And I'm seriously tempted to cut off that garter stitch toe that I strongly dislike and rework the toe as a wedge toe.

But more than that I'm undecided about whether I want to complete either sock or make a finished pair of either pattern. With that in mind, I've put both socks in time out to await the release of further clues. Perhaps the reveal of the heel and leg patterns will make my decision for me.

That's it from me this week. There are 14 weeks left in this Year of Projects and I've got 8.5 pairs of socks to go. Doesn't look good, particularly as my knitting mojo feels at a bit of a low ebb. Maybe some spring weather and sunshine will help to perk things up?! Here's hoping!