SAM3 - April done!

Ooops, long time no post. Sorry, didn't mean to fall off the face of the earth. Blame it on a combination of busyness at work, a nasty spring-time cold, and new glasses.

Not much knitting got done, but my April socks did get finished.



These are based on the Kansas Harvest pattern from the Townsend Knitting group. The original pattern is written for DK weight yarn, but I re-worked the numbers to use fingering weight and to fit my foot.

The pattern calls for a bunch of 1-over-1 cables. I decided I wanted to use twisted stitches instead of cables for both the grain heads and the stems.



Although the pattern calls for K1-P1 ribbing at the top, the picture shows K2-P2. I decided to use twisted stitches in the ribbing as well. As written this would have resulted in the ribbing not aligning nicely with the pattern. By starting the pattern stitches on Round 11, I was able to have them flow smoothly together.



I decided to use the eye of partridge heel flap instead of heel stitch.



One thing I really liked about the pattern as written was how the rib stitches flowed down from the leg into the instep. Of course, that's the part of the pattern I misread. I should have carried the twisted rib from the previous pattern instead of starting a new one. (sigh) The way I did it, it looks clunky.



But the yarn I used is nice and sproingy ...

... and the ribbing helps the sock conform to the foot.


No, my foot doesn't have that weird hump in it. That's my hand holding it open a bit to show the ribs.

I really like this pattern stitch. It looks great up close and personal, but you do have to get up close and personal to see it properly. In the future, I may try something similar but simplified a bit.



The light today is kind of funny - sometimes bright, sometimes subdued. I'm quite smitten with the effect it is having. Some of my photos came out sharp and warm ...



... and others cool and velvety.


I'm loving the play between the pattern stitches and the plain stitches on the bottom of the foot.

I'm also loving the total randomness of the colours in this yarn.




Oh, did I mention the yarn? Hand-dyed, expertly and exquisitely, by Jessie and available at A Piece of Vermont -- if you can beat me to it.

That's been the sum total of my knitting this month. I've not even started on my scarf for the ISE. Gotta get going on that. Yikes.

Oh, and there's a winner in the contest in my last post, but I haven't yet written them to so advise. The actual answer is that it's a dying blank. You paint on the colours you want, then unravel it and knit it up. What a great way to make stripes or gradual gradations! Which answer entertained me the most? Guess you'll have to wait just a bit longer to find out. :-)