The magic socks

They are done, washed, blocked and cords tied.



Here's another picture, with the light on; it's difficult to say which pic is more true to the colors:


They are a bit big for my feet, but I still like them (how could one not?). They might be donated to an auction, or I might wear them around the house anyway. The merino yarn is very warm and cushy knit like this, and I love the colors. I can't wait to start another pattern by this designer. In fact, I might go and do so right now!

Caspian sea socks, again

Oh, the beauty...


The first of the Caspian sea socks is almost done; there are still a few ends to weave in, as well as some duplicate stitch on the leg. As you can see below, I tried carrying the yellow in the first green band, but I really don't think it's worth it. The floats are long and I think it will be more efficient to duplicate stitch the few stitches in the other two leg bands.



Here is the sole, which might perhaps be the one element that attracted me the most:



In the "Gauss would have been so proud of me category", I realized that mistakes in Fair Isle knitting can be corrected with duplicate stitch, if they're not too big. I missed a couple of green stitches on the foot, and a couple of pink ones on the sole, and I think I know how to fix them :)

I probably will not post so extensively about the second sock, so here are the details of this one:

Pattern: Caspian Sea Socks, from knittingdaily.com

Yarn: KnitPicks Merino Style in Hollyberry, Petal, Pine and Honey

Needles: bamboo #3 dpn's

Modifications: I did not do the absolute last row of the heel, as I thought the heel would be too pointy that way. So instead of knit 4 in wine, then knit one more row and Kitchener, I only knit 4 in wine and then Kitchener stitched the remaining 16 stitches. I think it looks much better this way.

Comments: the pattern recommends Dale of Norway Tiur on #2 needles, but I think the sock turned out allright in the Merino Style on #3 needles. Excellent written instructions for everything, and a quick knit. I know "quick knit" is usually attached to ugly sweaters on size 19 needles, where you cast on 60 stitches for the body; these socks are a different category of quick. I've also fallen in love with Priscilla Gibson-Roberts and I will look for more of her patterns.

Caspian sea socks

The yarn for the socks arrived last night. I cast on immediately, and here is the result of 3 hours of knitting:



Every time these socks are mentioned, people seem to say "definitely a long time commitment". However, they go really quickly! It helps that the yarn is DK yarn, and the pattern asks for size 2s (I am using 3s and the size looks right). There are only 60 rows before the heel, and the color work makes them go really fast. It was so difficult to put the socks down, because it's a lot of fun to see the pattern emerge.

Also, Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' instructions are flawless. She explains everything very carefully, row-by-row for the first 20something rows; there are pictures for the middle-eastern cast on, as well as left and right-leaning increases (or rather, "make one"s). The color pattern on the sole is actually very easy to memorize, and the way she deals with the yellow strand on the foot is pure genius. The Knitpicks Merino Style yarn is soft and squishy and very pleasant to work with. I've never had so much fun knitting something!