lostpurl

The toe up sock I am working for Socktoberfest. I am using Knit Picks Donagal yarn. Very soft, I am wondering how long those tuffs of colored yarn are going to last. My daughter likes the pattern and the yarn. I was using Wendy Johnson's generic toe up pattern. Short rows are not my friend. I can short row anything but socks. I turn into a dribbling idiot when faced with a short row toe or heel. Go figure. I had concerns about the sock directions,because there is no shaping for the instep part. I got my daughter to try it on and sure enough it was stretched like mad as it went over the top of the arch of her foot. It made the pattern look awful. And the whole thing looked like she was wearing someone else's socks. So I dug out my copy of Queen Kahuna book, started the gusset increases on the sole side of the sock. After just 10 increases I got dd to try on the socks again. What a difference. The sock fits smoothly over the top of her foot. I think that Wendy's pattern would work fine on my feet. I have a narrow foot. And not a particularly high arch.
Sock in progress



A close up of the pattern and the yarn. You can see my terrible left twists. I am not about to use a cable needle to do them, so I guess I will live with it :-)Left twists are a trick of the devil to make us curse like drunk sailors. Not that I would do that, hehehe



Hard to capture, but the yarn is more tan then creamy off white. It is soft and not spitty. You do get big tuffs of color once in awhile. I just pull them off. The rest are more specks and knit right in. This yarn would also make a nice hat or scarf.

The other Knit Picks Bare yarn I purchased, the wool and nylon is so flacid that even at 12 stitches per inch, it just lays there. Maybe it is a bit more firm if you dye it. It is super soft, in fact it feels like Merino. Would make beautiful baby things (superwash) or scarves. But for socks it just spreads out and keeps spreading. I am thinking of using it for the pirate wrist warmers my daughter would love. Since that is color works the soft yarn might work. Or not. But I have a lot of it to play with.
I wish Elann would get its solid color sock yarn back in stock. Oh great yarn goddess, I promise to stock up this time.

Out in the blogland you read about this or that hand dyed yarns. Yarns so excluse that you need to get on a waiting list, or have a blog that attracts 700 comments per post to get any. How super soft it is. How wondrous the colors are. Almost all of them are based on Knit picks bare yarns or Henry's Attic yarns. Dunno, I think super soft yarn for socks it over rated. Even at a high spi, they flatten out when you stand on them. Not that I want scratchy yarns on my feet, but I think sock yarns need a bit of body to fit correctly. I like commercial sock yarns like Regia or Opal. Soft but not limp. And they soften up even more after being washed. I am not a big fan of hand dyed yarns. Most never knit up and nicely as they look in the skein. Or maybe I am just a jealous cow :-P