Knitting on the road

No, not the book. The ACTION!

What's the best way to clear off the WIPs on your side bar? Well, lock yourself into a car for 14 hours one weekend with nothing but unfinished knitting projects to work on. Voila! Before long, everything is done!

Like the Plymouth Sockotta socks I started a few months ago. I actually completed an entire sock and the cuff of the second one, but stopped when I came to the heel. See, I have flap-and-gusset heels memorized, but not short-row heels, and the self-striping yarn really looks better with those. So I put the socks down until I could sit down long enough to work the heel from instructions. And, of course, once I lost momentum, it took a while to regain it.

In fact, it took a car drive. In the dark. Yes, I knit these in the dark without looking. I mean, they are just stockinette. Although I goofed and made them longer than the first pair and had to go back and fix it.



I like these. I wore them, but just to bed. I can't say I enjoy the feel of Plymouth Sockotta -- it's too...cottony and rough, and not very elastic. But the socks feel nice on. Plus, I shaped them to fit my calves. They're slouchy at the ankles, but don't let that fool you -- they actually DO stay up.

Also, they are not identical. Obviously, the yarn striped differently, especially since my gauge was quite a bit looser for the second sock than for the first -- don't know why -- but I also did the cuffs differently. I don't know why, but the first sock has 2x2 rib and the second 1x1. I just didn't look closely enough or something.

But, yeah, to sum up: Sockotta yarn, size 1 needles. Basic top-down stockinette sock with short-row heel.

And then there's these socks that I started back in July (!!!):



See? These were finished on the road. And modeled on the road. And I still had 4 hours to go, with no more knitting. I somehow survived.



These socks are in Knitpicks now-defunct Sock Garden in Daffodil, and are wonderfully soft and snug, but I'm sure will wear out quickly when I wear them with boots in the winter. They're knit on size 1 needles, top-down, using the Chevron pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks (where else?).

As with the previous pair, I knit the first sock and half of the second one, to the heel. These have "afterthought" heels, and I worked the first one per Charlene Schurch's instructions -- you cast on separately for the heel as you come to it and basically work it like you're doing a toe decrease, then knit the foot of the sock. Well, of course, since this isn't flap-and-gusset, I didn't know how to do this off the top of my head, and lost momentum. As it was, I ended up working the heel of the second one differently -- rather than working the heel immediately, I knit half the stitches on scrap yarn and then continued knitting the foot of the sock as a tube. Then I undid the scrap yarn stitches and decreased the heel after the rest of the sock was done.

I really prefer "forethought" heels to short-row heels. They LOOK nicer, are easier to do, and don't have those holes. I just can't avoid holes along the sides of short-row heels, no matter how hard I try!

Also, for some reason, the second Daffodil sock took alot less yarn than the first. And I have a decent amount left over of the Sockotta. I'm saving my sock yarn scraps so that I can one day make crazy leftover socks, with different-colored heels and toes and stuff.

Finally, the reason we were on the road:



My little brother-in-law graduated from college this weekend. This was one of his gifts. The pattern -- you guessed it -- is a Jean Greenhowe (from Knitted Animals).