A Sock Story.

It all began last Friday night. I think we'd had a stressful day - either too busy or too quiet, I can't remember. I'd done a lot of knitting on Amy Singer's cardi and wasn't ready yet to go back to my cardigan yet, and I knew that the wedding was happening and I needed some easy knitting but I wanted to feel inspired. Know what I mean?

So I began - the socks:

 

 In the Regia Fluormania Sock. AHHHHHH! And just about a row after that - I got bored.

Socks aren't a 'project' project are they? Unless they're like this beaut:

That's the Hannah Sock by Patti Waters and if you click on that rav link (or any of her other designs) it'll take you through to the pattern and if you click to buy and then the paypal link this pattern and all of her other ones will jump in your library for FREEEEE (until the 21st of March)! To celebrate her wedding! What a woman. She's not said this, but I am, designers give things away for free so that people will knit the stuff and put up reviews and versions on Ravelry. Have you ever seen something you think you like on there but you're not sure and only one person's made it? Well, you and your project that you've put on rav could be the difference between somebody umming and ahhing and actually buying the pattern and that's why she's giving it away. I'm sure she's lovely too and wants you to have something nice to knit but I feel like we need to give back - yes? :)

And back to MY sock. The most important sock. Obvs. 

So it's not a 'project' project is it? They're things that come with you on the go, in the queue, on the bus, whilst talking to customers, at weddings, at the pub, watching tv. Know what I mean? But, I'm kinda like that with all of my knitting so I need a bit more (but not much...) to keep me interested. Also, I am TERRIBLY lazy and I often need a 'goal' to work to otherwise the second sock will be a cm or two shorter that the first one. A pattern, or a pattern repeat, is perfect for that because whilst I'm happy to have one stocking stitch leg shorter than the other, I am not. happy. to have one pattern repeat less.

I had a quick think and this idea has been floating around in my head for a while. I'm going to explain it to you, it's not a pattern but please feel free to ask if you don't get it, I am beyond happy with the idea.

• So, you start with all stocking stitch and the idea is that you end with all 2 by 2 rib by the time the heel comes. 
• I had 68 stitches divided over four needles (and a spare) so 17 stitches on each needle. 
•  I knitted to two stitches before the end of the first needle, purled one and knitted one. Then on the second needle I knitted one, then purled one then knitted all the way round. This way I had the middle knitted rib and the start of the surrounding purl ribs. 
• Work a row knitting the knits and purling the purls. 
• Next row, I knitted to one stitch before the purl, purled two, knitted two, purled two and then knitted all the way around. Now I had the middle knitted rib and the two purl ribs on each side. 
• Work one row knitting the knits and purling the purls. 
• Then I worked four rows knitting the knits and purling the purls. I did this because in my head, I was 'introducing' the new knitted ribs at either side of the purl rib, yeah? So one stitch gets 'changed' (it doesn't because it's already knitted) and then there's a rest row where you knit the knits and purl the purls and then the next stitch gets changed (it doesn't because blah blah) and then you have a rest row. 
• The next row I worked to three stitches before the first purl, purled one, knitted two, purled two, k2, p2, k2 and purled one, then I knitted around. Then a rest row. 
• Then I knitted to one stitch before the purl, p2, k2, p2, k2, p2, k2, p2, knit all the way around. Rest row. 
•  And so on. Does that make sense????? I'm going to try doing a quick excel sheet for you - let's see what I can come up with. 

Does that make any more sense? The light greys are the knits, the dark greys are the purls and the pink bit is where you change.

Anyway, if you get that, follow me, there's more...

I decided on my first one to make the 'point' at the back of the heel, so as soon as all of the stitches were incorporated into the two by two rib, I started working back and forth over the appropriate half of the stitches, then I turned the heel, picked up stitches where I needed to and did my instep decreasing all like normal. When I'd turned for my heel I worked the bottom half of the stitches in stocking stitch because I can only imagine that walking on rib would be a nightmare but I kept the rib going for the top half of the stitches.

Then I got bored.

So I started doing the opposite of what I'd done on the leg portion and gradually turned all of the rib stitches back into stocking stitch, starting from the outside so it ended up in a point. By the time I'd finished this I only had about 10 rows of stocking stitch to go before shaping for the toe and I did that by decreasing at four different points until there were eight stitches left altogether and then gathering them up like the top of a hat (I started that at the wedding and I didn't have a sewing up needle for kitchener stitch so I played it safe and it makes a nice and easy, if slightly pointy, toe).

I LOOOOOOOOOOVED how the first sock turned out so I set out to do the same thing again.

Then I got bored.

But not too much. I decided to make the point lie at the front of the sock this time and instead of eating all of the ribbing on the foot from the outside in, I ate them from the inside out which left me with a different kind of point.

Can you see? It's incredibly hard to photograph this yarn. The only bad thing about it. The. Only.

DOES ANY OF THIS MAKE SENSE?! (I've all of a sudden come over all tired and words aren't coming to me but I deffo want to finish this blog because I want to make my eight blog posts a month thing happen!).

And, just in case you're wondering (and I would be), I'm going to be self-deprecating now:

LOOK AT THAT BUGGERING BIG LADDER! Ugh. Now, everybody gets ladders when working in the round, I don't care what they say. Everybody gets ladders to a greater or lesser extent. Mine usually aren't that bad but they're definitely there and, on the whole, they disappear after three or four washes and they don't do anything terrible to the structural integrity of the sock (have I actually just said that?!) so whatevs. But seriously - look at that whopper! I am SO embarrassed. Haha. I *think* it's because this is my first serious knitting in a long time (evidence: see the blog for the entire last two years, it's actually been Crochet Nottingham for a loooong time) and I ended up with two little holes in my finger because I lost my protective pads that I spent so long earning. Bum. I had to wear plasters for three solid days just to knit. Oh woe is me.

I looked like a scratty two year old for the entire end of last week... And  I couldn't hold my needles right, hence the massive ladders which are much less massive on the second sock, by which time I was back knitting normally - thank the lord!

So, now these are finished and I've been wearing them all day:

I've started back on the ones that I started before Christmas because I want the half ball left from those to combine with the half ball left from the others to make a whole 'nother pair of neon socks!!!!!

And I'm really not far off finishing. But these pose their own little problems because I decided to use the most ridiculously small needles - like 1.75mm/2mm rather than 2.5mm/2.75mm because that's all I had to hand as I was rushing out the door to travel down to meet Boyf's family and I realised that I'd got the yarn but not the needles. Ugh. For some reason I decided not to up the stitches though, just used my average 64/68ish combo and hope for the best. Hmm. They do not fit me. But they will fit somebody oooooor I could maybe use them as a shop sample. Slightly problem with that is that because the needles were so small I broke a few of them and had just enough for a set of three plus an extra left but then this morning, when I was searching for the project I couldn't find the spare one anywhere so I thought bugger it, found two 2.5mms and hoped for the best. The foot on the second sock is very much bigger than the foot on the first sock and ugh, people will think I can't knit.

To be fair, anybody reading this blog recently would be within their rights to think that I can't knit. I'm going to blame the hiatus. And the plasters. Yeah, it's deffo those things.

Right, I'm off. I need a nap. I'll have to settle for coffee and some walnuts.

Love Eleanor. xxx