New Knits

Check it oooout!


I don't know WHY, after it took me nearly a year to finish the first pair of socks, I felt the need to do up yet another pair. I guess I was feeling more confident, and I wanted to try some different colors, plus I wear the first pair enough I DO worry I'll wear them out...so if I have a second pair to alternate with, it'll make them last longer! This pair actually took me less than a month - and that was well-used time while we were watching TV/movies, or just chilling out with some quiet time and a critter napping on/against me. Here's the finished product.


Do they look oddly shaped? Yes! Are the feet parts WAY bigger than the calf parts? You betchya!! But did the first pair of socks I knit look the same? Yes sir! And after I wore them around a bit with them being all super-sized, I finally decided it was time to let them go through the wash and see if they'd survive, and they got more normal-sized and more normal-shaped. (Maybe wearing them a bunch helped with the shaping). Here's a sock from the first pair compared to the new pair:


You'll notice the calf area (all ribbed) on the original sock is much shorter than the new socks. I knitted the new pair longer to take into consideration some shrinkage. The old socks don't feel TOO short when worn, but I wanted the new pair to be a little longer. And you'll see some pilling/fuzz-balls on the original pair. I guess that's just gonna happen with wool?

Here's me wearing the new pair...


The lighter colored toe-patch area really takes up a good-sized portion of my foot right now. Again - hoping for some shrinkage! (Now how often do you hear a guy say that?!) And here's the feet turned a bit so you can also see the heel patches:


See how the heel patch is actually up higher above the heel area? Again - cross your fingers for me that this pair shrinks like the first pair. The first ones turned out so great that I didn't change anything about the pattern aside from length of the calf (note: that last statement implies I counted the number of stitches/rows in the length of the calf, and the length from heel-to-toe. Not so! I'm just guessing...)

I'm not so sure I'm loving the light-colored toe- and heel-patches on a darker sock now that they're finished. Yeah, it's pretty much how I visualized, but it looks odd when I'm walking around and see my feet.

Brett's now asked if I'm going to make him a pair - he thinks he wants forest green. While the brand of wool yarn I've been working with, Paton's, doesn't actually come with a "forest green" option, there are some similar greens he might like - if I can find them. I'm tempted to try something other than knit 2, purl 2 for the ribbing on the next pair of socks. Maybe knit 3, purl 1 - and see how that turns out?

I'll have to get these guys run through the wash soon, and then post pictures to see how much they changed... (That's another reason I've got pictures of the new pair with the old pair. Once washed, I'll take pictures of new pair and old pair together again so we can judge the change!)