Socks, Socks, Everywhere

It feels like I just finished the last pair for Sock Madness and now the new pattern specs are already up and the next round is due to start on Monday. I'm so getting kicked out this round. :) We'll get the pattern between noon and 6pm my time on Monday, so even if I switch all the studying I had planned for that day to Sunday (which is usually my study free day), I still won't get that far. Maybe the first sock if I'm quick and the pattern arrives towards the beginning of that time frame. But then on Tuesday I have 8 hours of classes. I *might* possibly be able to knit during 4 of those, but that still won't be as streamlined as knitting at home. Not to mention that only 6 people from each division get into the next round.

Still, I'm looking forward to the pattern, because consensus appears to be that the next pattern is this one. Lace! I love knitting lace socks, so this'll be great even if I don't make it. The choice is to overdye the finished sock, so the yarn suggestion is for some light yarn. Since I know that I won't be dyeing the sock I can't decide what yarn to use.


I had planned to use my Claudia's Handpainted (the red/black one), since that is the one the pattern suggests, but now that I've seen the teaser of the pattern, I'm thinking it might be too dark to show the pattern.

So, I pulled out two lighter yarns (I really don't have a lot of light colours), Tausendschön Sockenwolle (yellow/white/black) and Thank Ewe's Sock Yarn (pink/blue). They are a bit thinner than the Claudia's, so I'm not sure if they'd work. I'm gonna have to actually swatch for socks.

Speaking of Sock Madness, I still haven't show off my socks from the last round.


They are knit in Malabrigo Lace, Purple Mystery and Verde Esperanza, with two strands held together and one of the colours of the strands switched every couple of rows. They are incredibly soft and warm. I'm actually thinking of knitting the pattern again, only as wrist warmers. But first I have to be allowed to buy yarn again.

I also finished half of another pair of socks in Noro Kureyon Sock yarn and with the cuff pattern from Nancy Bush's Gentlemen Socks with Lozenge Pattern.


Even though I didn’t like the green that much at first, now that it’s blocked and blended into the other colours, I quite like it. The yarn really did soften up with washing and I’d now put at at about the same softness as Regia, Opal, etc. The differences in thickness give the sock a nice rustic look, which works really well with the pattern imo. I used just about half a yard more than the colour repeat is, so the second sock will be slightly off, but I don’t have enough yarn to start at the start of the next repeat. And around the foot it’ll become slightly uneven anyway since there was a knot with the wrong colour attached. I think the purple just after the heel is slightly longer than it is supposed to be.