Socks for Audrey

It's COLD here. My hair froze on the way to work this morning. FROZEN HAIR, people! Of course, when it gets cold here, it usually means brilliantly sunny and clear, and today is no exception. So I'm torn, but I think I prefer sunny and cold rather than grey and warm. Now I better go pick up my fingers off the cold, cold ground where they've fallen.

Hey, found the camera cable! These have been done and sent off for weeks, but I'm still going to show them off.

Warm socks on the cold ground

Socks for Audrey!
I hope she likes them.

Pattern: Denmark socks from Knitting on the Road, by Nancy Bush

Modifications: I deviated slightly from the chart because I liked the effect. At the top of the sock, after the nupp row, I continued the ribbing pattern from the top instead of changing to K6 straight across the cabled section. I liked how the very first cable crossing folded in the Ks from the edges, over the interior ribbing.

Yarn: RYC Cashsoft DK in color 520 -- Bloom. Used about 2 1/4 balls for a US Women's size 9 foot (142 yards/ball)

Needles: Brittany Birch 3.25 mm, 7.5 inch long DPNs.

Gauge: I got about 6 st/inch using the 3.25 mm to produce a firmer sock yarn.

Finish time: About two weeks for the pair - the pattern is easy to memorize, the larger gauge makes it faster to knit.

Notes:

About the Yarn: I LOVE knitting this stuff; it's very soft, very squishy, and extremely pleasurable to knit with. It's not as smooth as a 100% superwash, many-plied wool, such as Karabella's Aurora 8--it's got a little fuzz, but nothing that obscures the cables. The color was a lovely damask-rose pink.

There was a knot or bad spot on every ball I used, just about 20-25 yards in on Every Ball. What's with that? Someone must've gotten slap-happy with the scissors at the factory, I guess.

The yarn's superwash but I'd only wash it in a pillowcase on gentle cycle, and no drier. It doesn't felt well, but it's not exactly a sturdy yarn. This yarn was a bit splitty and looked messy after splitting, so try to avoid the splitting by using a dull-er needle.

The DK weight means that these socks wouldn't be all that pleasant to wear in shoes, even with how soft they are. These were meant for comfy around-the-house socks or for bed. I fear that they'd wear poorly in shoes as well.

Russian (felted) joins looked like complete crap with this yarn. I tried a join but the section just look sad, soggy, and lumpy. Instead I duplicate-stitch-wove in all the ends for a long length and hope for the best.

About the Needles: I prefer wooden DPNs because the stitches cling to them and don't slip off as I'm working. I like the pointiness of the Brittanies, which are just sharp enough to handle the K2Togs and SSKs, but not so sharp that they split the yarn easily. They're one of the less pointy ones in the class of wooden DPNs.

I did not use a cable needle. The crossovers were only 1 stitch over 2. I got much better at my cabling-without-a-needle technique on these socks.

About the Pattern: well-written and easy to follow (thank you Nancy Bush!). The nupps at the top are interesting and not hard to do, and for you nupp-haters, there's only 8 per sock. The pattern produces a decorative cabled ribbing that stretches well. I really like how the single ribs on the side frame the pattern when it reaches the foot.