Friday, January 12, 2007

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.

7 comments:

Carrie said...

I LOVE the socks! The shrug is pretty, too, but I can't say anything about the shoulders, because I've never knitted one. I have the Laura Bush book Knitting on the Road, so I'm going to have to go look that pattern up. They're beautiful!

zoe said...

THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!! I will speak with Audrey tomorrow and see if she has recieved them!!!!

Gale Bulkley said...

Thank you for the extensive notes on your mods etc. They look great.

Marianne said...

Those are beautiful socks, absolutely beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Those are lovely socks!

LHWB Knits said...

Thank you so much for the socks for Audrey. Tons of love and an endless stash of yarn to you! The socks are GORGEOUS! I was wavering about buying the book, but after seeing your awesome socks, Amazon here I come. I appreciate all the tips you included in your post as well. So nice of you to share!
Just to let you know, Socks for Audrey has its own page now, you can find it at:
http://socksforaudrey DOT blogspot DOT com/
There is a button you can add to your page if you would like. Please spread the word.
Thank you again!
B

Anonymous said...

The socks are beautiful and such a great thing to do for this little girl. I do have a quick question for you though...I see you are using DPN. How do you prevent the "ladders" of stretched out stitches where your needles meet? I am using the Yarn Harlots method of twisting the first stitch of each needle but if I don't untwist them I get a funky twisted stitch row down the sock. Then, when I untwist them I still have stretched stitches. I can't seem to win. Any suggestions would be great!

Marly
www.knitthing.blogspot.com