They actually didn't take all that long to complete considering the time I spent on them...it's just that there was the interruption of the OTHER pair of Warm and Cozy Socks (see pattern on Ravelry). I knit the first sock in this pair on size US9, and then we had my brother, sister-in-law and two of the nieces show up for a stay, and one night while they were out visiting old friends I'd figure I'd start the second sock in this pair. Only I grabbed the wrong needle. Size US2.5 is very different from US9 (I blame it on poor lighting and TV distractions), and I didn't realize the toe section was looking a bit different and smaller until a couple inches in, but I hate wasted work where you have to undo knitting, plus I was liking the tighter knit. Unfortunately, I didn't have a ton of the Cascade 220 Mallard blue yarn to knit two full pairs of socks with it, so I got creative with the other, more snug pair, and saved most of my Mallard blue for the mate in this pair.
This is pair is sized more like how I used to make my socks, when I knit up three or four pair a few years back. Oversized, so I can wear them over a pair of regular socks during the coooold days of winter. Toasty warm and lots of cushion. The other pair is actually a perfect fit on their own.
This was the first time I tried the Warm and Cozy Socks pattern, which is a "toe up" method. That means you can start at the toe tip, try the sock on as you're going, know when it's time to start the heel turn, and once that's finished, you can just keep knitting your way up the calf until you run out of your skein of yarn. Going the other way - calf down towards the toe - can involve a little more guess work on how much yarn you're going to have to work with.
While I love the idea of toe-up, and really liked the Judy's Magic Cast On method for starting the toes (really cool once you get the hang of it!), I don't love the heel on these. The texture seems a bit weird. I'm still trying to decide if that's because I'm not great with stockinette stitch - where you knit a row flat, flip your work over, then purl back in the opposite direction. My gauge just isn't nearly as tight or consistent as when I'm just doing garter stitch in the round. So the looser, lumpier look of the heel might be my own fault, or it might have to do with the short row turns used on the heel. No idea. NORMALLY if I was doing different colored "patches" on a sock (toe, heel, and then some bands around the calf), I'd have the heel be the same color as the toes - but this was a new method to me with the toe-up, and I wasn't sure where to change the colors, plus didn't love how it looked when others had done the same.
I'm torn now - I might knit up more socks of the snugger size (perhaps trying a size or two larger even), but these "over socks" will always have a place. On my feet. ;-)
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