Sunday, July 23, 2006

Carmel Surf Socks - Leg and Leg start



Once I had the Irish Hiking Scarf done and blocking, I spent the rest of Saturday afternoon working on the new socks. These are made from Regia Surf (which is a wool/cotton/poly blend). Named them Carmel - a play on the Carmel CA beach and the colors of the yarn. So much more fun than "Farbe 5420", don't you think?

The leg of sock #1 is at 5 inches and ready to start the heel flap. Sock #2 is cast on, and about an inch done. I was very careful with the repeat start when I divided the 100 gm ball and so far the two socks are identical. I've already finished off the start ends (hence the stitch markers). I really dislike the way that the starting yarn flops around and gets tangled up in the dpns, so I usually grab a needle and weave it in as soon as I practically can.

Oh, and the point count on the Widow's Shawl is now 65. At 70-73, I will turn the last corner.

3 comments:

Alliesw said...

Love those socks--what a fun beach project those would be--and I agree with you on getting rid of that cast on tail asap--not only does it tangle, but I have managed to pick it up and knit with it on the end and third row (yes, I am sometimes easily distracted)!

Knitting Granny said...

The Irish Hiking Scarf is gorgeous and looks so soft and cushy...almost makes me long for winter. Question re/ the socks...Do you always knit the legs of both socks before you do the heels? I'm a relatively new reader of your blog - which, incedentally, I enjoy a great deal.

Karla (ThreadBndr) said...

Long after the fact answer to 'granny''s question. Yes, my usual pattern for working socks is cuff/cuff, leg/leg, heel/heel, foot/foot, toe/toe.

Two reasons: I don't get second sock syndrom since by the time sock #1 is done, there's just toes and ends left to do on sock #2. Secondly, I don't have to remember what I did (how many rounds of ribbing, how I handled the gusset corner, etc) for very long. I do take good notes on my socks; I keep a knitting journal. But doing them in this fashion makes identical socks SO much easier.

I think I developed this habit in the sock class I took last winter. It was a six week class and we did the cast on and leg in week 1, the heel flap in week 2, the turn and picking up the gusset in week 3, the foot in week four, the toe in week five and finish and show off in week 6.

I actually knit a complete pair of socks (the green worsted house socks) during the class by repeating each week's lesson on my own to really make it 'sink in'. So I've been working socks in this manner from the start.

I will, if I'm worried about the yarn or pattern or technique, sometimes do a complete sock first, but I find in those cases that sock number two just languishes in a way that my 'doubled up socks' don't.