Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Coming in second

Before knitting camp this year, Kylie, Bells and I decided we'd do our own little Cauchy KAL, all casting on these socks at camp.

Well, Kylie won the race, and I've come in second.

Details
Pattern: Cauchy, from Sock Innovation by Cookie a. I wonder if there was a more highly anticipated sock book than this one? I think my sense of anticipation slightly ruined the final product. While the patterns are, on the whole, very good, for me they are not great. Not as superfantastic as many of her individually available (free or otherwise) patterns. Not that I'm complaining - I'm sure I'll be making more of the socks from this book in the future.
As we all were making the socks for the men in our lives, we modified the 60 stitch pattern by adding an extra stitch per repeat (for a total of 66 stitches). We decided to add it at the end of the repeat, so there would be an extra stocking stitch in the "gutter" - this meant we didn't have to add extra rows to the length of the pattern repeat (already a 28 row repeat, albeit an easy one to follow).
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot sock yarn in Moose Creek. I got this from a destash a few years ago, thinking it was a good "manly" colour. I love this yarn, particularly in this colour! Very nice to knit with, and the colours in the skein, and in the final knitted piece, are just gorgeous - ranging from browns to blues to greens to burgundy, no pooling at all. Just a lovely muted fabric. Of course, I cannot capture this adequately in photos, but it's a colour I'm so tempted to get for myself to make a jumper from, just gorgeous.
Although it's probably not the best yarn for the pattern. As the pattern's detail is in the texture, a smooth yarn, in a solid colour, would have worked best.
Sticks: 2.5mm KP Harmony dpns. Whilst I love my dpns, I have to admit I should have thought a bit more about knitting with multicolour wooden needles and dark yarn, especially at night! Much easier during the daylight hours!
Time: 25 April 2009 - 31 May 2009. I was keen to finish these so I could start something else. And I have to admit, I also didn't want to come last in the race!
Of course, in the end husby came first, since he got a great new pair of socks!!

20 comments:

kgirlknits said...

they're fabulous! The Bearfoot colour is, as you say, very manly.

I understand exactly what you mean about the anticipation almost spoiling the actuality of a book. I've found returning to look again in a few months has let me see the patterns with fresh eyes, and discover more than I originally saw - hope it's the same for you with Cookie's book ;)

LynS said...

Beautiful socks, and I found your comments about the mods most useful...of course one would add stitches in the 'gutter' -it's just it had never occurred to me! Thanks.

jen said...

Everyone's a winner in your '3 legged race'.
Love the hints of colour in the fabric.

Donna said...

They look great! Don't make the mistake I made with my first pair of Bearfoot socks - I tossed them in the washing machine with the other socks.
Felted. I'm making sure I handwash the new ones!

Bells said...

I will be last!!

They actually turned out better than any of us first anticipated I think. Fantastic. I agree with everything you say about them. Now if I could jsut get mine finished and get onto something more innovative!

Donna Lee said...

I got that book as a gift and can't decide which one to make first. Your socks look great. I like the pattern in that color.

Ann said...

Lovely socks & I like the colors too. I have the book but have not knitted any of the patterns as they are all cuff down.

DrK said...

they do look great, im so glad we all persevered with these. im with you on the book too, but i am thinking of the kai meis next....

TinkingBell said...

Love the colours - and I'm sure husby felt very loved!

Sigh - still haven't knitted any from this book.....

Gidgetknits said...

Great socks! And Cookie had the impossible to live up to - I still adore all the socks and can't wait to start them all.

missfee said...

great work - and there are no losers only winners - congrats on making a sock - I am still in the lusting pron stage with this book. I love the look of the rib at the top as compared to the picot in the original. Also the yarn is a perfect match for the pattern.

Lynne said...

Beautiful colours - I'd love to see them in reality!

Anna said...

Your competitive kal made me giggle! I love the yarn/pattern combination - it doesn't look in your photos as though the yarn obscures the pattern at all. Great manly socks!

Probably Jane said...

I think the end result is very masculine and sophisticated - and very warm, I'm sure!

Alwen said...

Lovely subtle color, yummy!

Celia said...

A race. How fun!

Michele said...

i would have come in last. too bad i wasn't in the race then you wouldn't have had to worry about a thing.

the color is wonderful - when the image came up i wasn't sure if they were girl socks or boy socks. they would make good girl socks too.

sweetp said...

Does your husby realise how lucky he is to have you knitting lovely socks for him all the time??

They look great, love the man wool

Sarah said...

I agree with you about those patterns - but anyway a great pair of socks - lucky husby

Michelle said...

I love these! Beautiful pattern, and the yarn is manly without being blokey, if you know what I mean. Maybe metrosexual is the word? ;-)