My Favorite Socks

This is my favorite pair of socks so far. I've knit quite a few socks from many different yarns, and while this Lorna's Laces (Shepherd Sock, hand-dyed, 80% superwash wool, 20% nylon, color 502-Sassy Stripe) isn't necessarily the softest I've used (I think Paca Ped and Crystal Palace Mini Mochi are the softest) I love them the best-because of the colors! Older daughter and I each bought enough for a pair at Gauge in Austin, Texas and have both made socks. I love them!

On the other hand, there's the Mini-Mochi lace scarf. Grrrr.... The lace fought me for every stitch and I swear I ripped out more rows than I knitted (take my word for it-it is possible). So here it is, finished:

And that's all I'll say about that.

Lace!

I am knitting lace!

I have seen many lace items that I wanted to make, but when I looked at the patterns, I found charts. Charts intimidate me; they make me twitch a little. So I sigh and go back to some chart-less projects. But while I was looking for patterns on Ravelry, I found several lace projects that had written instructions.

I have recently realized that I have the same reaction to charts that I do to maps. I just don't get them. I need directions. Turn left at.....go straight for three miles.....turn right on such-and-such street.....

So I printed out a lace pattern that looked a lot like this: K1, *(yo, skp) twice, (k2tog, yo) three times, (skip to my lou) twice, sk2p once, p1. I tried, over and over and over, casting on again each time because I defy anyone to frog back things like sk2p and have the correct number of stitches remaining.

But what you see above is a lace pattern that people at my LYS knit-night have been working on. I had lost it, but now it's found and I'm knitting away. It's easy, really, really easy. Thank goodness.

I am using some mini mochi sock yarn, and I'm not sure I'll like the scarf when it's finished, but I am so thrilled not to be screwing it up that I'll continue working on it for awhile, and see what happens.

Lace!

Whew!

I finished my first pair of socks knit from Crystal Palace Mini Mochi yarn, color 108, and as I mentioned previously, I threw caution to the wind and knit the second sock without a row counter. Gasp.

It did make me a bit nervous on the foot portion - what if the sock didn't fit based on eyeballing the measurement???

But it does, and I will admit that I enjoyed the process more by NOT counting all the rows. My feet will not know the difference!

Throwing Caution to the Wind

After reading comments on a previous post about my possibly pathological (I love alliteration!)need to use a row counter when I knit socks, I just, after row 10 or 11 (I don't know which because I think I remembered to click the counter, but I'm not certain I remembered to click it) took off the counter. If hokgardner and Mary Ellen can do it, then maybe I can too. After all, as Ann in NJ reminded me, sock-knitting is supposed to be fun, right?

So even though I'm cringing a bit, and my right eyelid is twitching now, I'm going to give this eyeball-measuring technique a try.

There may not be drugs for how I'm feeling, but there's always wine.

First Mini Mochi Sock

I just finished the first sock made from Mini Mochi by Crystal Palace Yarns. The colors are every bit as gorgeous as those of Noro, and the yarn is SO much softer. If it holds up well in wearing, so long to Noro when I want color. It is single ply, 80% Merino and 20% nylon, color 108. Except for the problems I had with its being kind of splitty (and that could be my fault), I loved working with it. It's just so wonderfully soft!

This yarn is kind of hard to find, but if you can get your hands on some, give it a try.

Maybe There's a Pill for This.

No, not for the new stash.

I was in Austin last weekend and two knitting shops there had Mini Mochi, which my LYS was out of and was not getting any in until April! So I bought two colorways of that (106 and 108) and a skein of Rio de la Plata, kettle-dyed sock yarn from Uruguay. It's really soft and I'm curious to see what it will look like knitted up.

So, nope, not for the stash. Stash is a good thing. Stash is a necessity.

But you will notice a row counter in the photo; it's attached to the sock I'm working on. I know lots of sock-knitters, but only one of them, Jan, a knitting designer and teacher, uses a counter. No one else I know uses a counter, and I tried, I really tried, not to be so compulsive with this pair of socks. I should be able to eyeball the cuff and foot. I took off the counter after I turned the heel and tried to go without it. I just couldn't. I had to put it back on.

I think that maybe I'm an undiagnosed OCD knitter.