Sunday, February 26, 2006

Rapunzel Socks

Yeah, Baby! The other pair of magic-looped, toe-up, worsted weight socks from d-made are finished! What a fun sock knit! Good stashbuster, or a good project for cheap-asses like me who only buy cheap worsted weight yarn (Go ME). You decide. But definately consider this sock (or its cousin, Traveler) when you find yourself in possession of about 200 yds of worsted weight yarn. These socks are also special because they are one of the rare gift-knits I perfom. As we speak these babies are on there way to my hometown in PA where they wait patiently to warm the feet of my dear Mom. :)

There's a shot of the front lace panel. Sorry the gray yarn doesn't do the lace justice, but hopefully you get the idea. The cuff is slightly long to allow for ample shin and ankle insulation (ka-ching!). Here's another shot of the socks footless and with a side view:

The cuff ribbing is a "faux cable ribbing" (can't really see it). I don't know why it's called "faux" because you actually cable the ribbing. Ionno. So with the lace and the cabling these are really ornate socks. If you're wondering why the socks look a little... well snug it's because my mother has smaller feet than I do and I want her socks to fit. I have recognized that not everyone has sasquawtch feet like me. *embracing inner sasquawtch...*

Oh, the socks as a gift for mom have a little special meaning. Throughout my teen years I was in the habit of not doing my laundry and thus running out clean socks. So I would sneak in my mom's drawer and steal a pair of hers (what are mothers for?). Even throughout college I would do this when I would come home to visit. My mom still teases me about me stealing her socks so these will at least help make up for my past misdeeds. :) Here are the specs:

Project: Rapunzel Socks from d-made (seen on Craftster.org)
Yarn: LB Wool-Ease Worsted, gray, 1 skein (purchased for a buck-fiddy)
Needles: Denise Interchangeables Size 5 long circular
Mods: Almost none. This is a good pattern. She even includes little checkboxes in the pattern so you can keep your place (what a doll!). One thing though, because I was magic looping a rather small circumference the stitches at the half way point and endpoint would stretch out a bit. I remedied this by knitting through the back those stitches. Problem solved. You might not have this problem though.
Woulda-Shoulda: It's not like I have regrets about my knitting projects, it's just that since I'm somewhat new to this knitting stuff my knitting projects are more like learning experiences. I like to keep record of these lessons. For this project I wish I would have used a better color yarn. The gray doesn' t show off the lace work as much as I like. Plus, gray is just boring. Buy something bright or funky. Something that will show off the overall purdiness of this sock. That's it!

In other news, the BWC is trucking along, and I'm just about finished with the first MJ slipper. Here's a pic of the BWC in progress. It kind of looks like a mess of black and white homespun (which it is, try to imagine 2x2 rib on the bottom half and St st on the top, just try). I couldn't get a good close up (lack of good light and a camera that can't function without the flash >.>)



Needless to say, I'm feeling very productive. Ciao!

3 comments:

Karin said...

Nice socks. I've never been a fan of hand-knitted socks that only cover your ankle bone and that's it. They seem so worthless to me.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link to d-made. There are some great free patterns on there.

Congrats on finishing a nice pair of socks. I'm sure your Mom will wear them proudly!

Erin said...

Wow, those socks look great. Oh, I totally used to steal my mom's socks too, but she used to steal mine so we were even!