As promised it’s time to share my final two pairs of socks for SOS’08 with you. Here they are in order of completion:

Earl not-so Grey Socks

Pattern: Early Grey by the Yarn Harlot
Yarn: Tess Designer yarns Super Socks and Baby
Needles: size 1 knitpicks circs
Knit: 8/9-8/25/2008
Mods: Knit toe up to maximize yarn

These socks were my main knitting project for the Ravelympics and they didn’t quite make the finish line. The got finished about 36 hours too late, but I was still very proud of the progress that I made on them in the given time period. We purchased the yarn on our trip to Maine so HWJF got to pick out the colors himself.

I modified these to knit them toe up which was quite simple to do. I just followed the pattern directions line by line just as they were written. I’m glad I did because I used nearly every last bit of the yarn! Tess sock yarn has very generous yardage but I know how my boy’s feet like to eat yarn. The only other mod that I made was to knit the cables in a more traditional manner (although without a cable needle) instead of doing the twisted stitches as described in the pattern. The result is the same and I found cabling as I normally would much less fidley than the alternative.

And I just thought I’d share a good way to get a boyfriend to tolerate a sock photoshoot:

He was much more patient this time.

On to the last pair for me!

Berlin Muster

Pattern: Berlin Muster
Yarn: Koigu
Needles: size 1 knitpicks
Knit: 7/18-8/26/2008
Mods: Knit toe up

These wouldn’t have taken nearly this long if they hadn’t been interrupted by Olympic knitting, but a girl has to have her priorities! This was a lovely pattern which I once again modified to knit toe up. I also know how *my* feet eat yarn and how not-so-generous on yardage koigu is. I’d had this yarn in the stash for a while, just waiting for the perfect pattern to come along and when I saw this one, I knew it would be a good match.

This is definitely a pattern that you have to pay careful attention too. As I’ve said before, I ended up following the chart instead of the written directions which seem to leave a little to be desired in translation. Still I was able to use the chart without incident and I’m happy with the result.

The pattern is more of a recipe in some ways, telling you to use your favorite toe and heel instead of giving specific directions for which one you should use. That made me just as happy since I tend to put in my own toe and heel in most patterns anyway.

I managed to finish these up without running out of yarn. The was my main goal. They may be a touch on the short side, but I still think they will be a very comfy sock come the cooler months.

So that’s it for me for this edition of the Summer of Socks. My goal was 5 pairs this summer and I somehow managed to make it, even with a pair of boy socks thrown in there. I think the motivation of the Olympics certainly helped me reach that goal. I was definitely beginning to doubt myself there for a while, but I made it and I’m quite happy with that!

Tomorrow, if all goes well, we’ll have the announcement of the winner of the Most Socks contest and we’ll wrap up SOS’08! See you then!!

There’s been another couple of days of work. First, thanks to those of you who have checked out the shop offerings for the month and/or left kind complements. Much appreciated!

There was another fibery gathering at my place this Saturday. It went *so* fast I feel like I hardly had a second to talk to anyone! Of course, part of that might have been my slow pace as my back has decided that dyeing about 15 lbs. of fiber in only a few days might not be a great idea. *sigh* Anne was kind enough to work on me and that sure helped, but it’s definitely been a wake up call that there need to be some changes in my physical fitness. Oye.

Anyway, the best picture I got was of everyone fearing the cutting of the deserts (and let me tell you, there was some seriously amazing stuff brought this time around)!

Too funny. There was drum carding and spinning (and first spinning lessons!) and knitting and food and laughter and… well… you get the idea. If you want to see more, you *must* check out Chris and Deb’s blogs. They have some great pics!

I also went to a NJ Fiber Fanatics spin in on Sunday. No pics from that one either, but it was at the Howell Living History Farm and was quite a nice day. HWJF came along and we were quite happy to be out of Bergen County and out in the fresh air for a few hours.

In the meantime, I realized that I have not yet shown you my next SOS sock and the first one is nearly done!

The pattern is Berlin Muster. The yarn is koigu that’s been marinating in the stash for a while, waiting for just the right thing. I started these right around the same time as the Bad Ass Nanners, but the call of the nanner was too great to resist.

This is definitely, as the pattern warns, *not* a mindless knit. It’s a 16 row repeat that doesn’t seem to follow much of a logical progression, at least not that I can figure out. Despite that, I love them and I’m happy to be back at knitting them. If you decide to try it, I highly recommend ignoring the written directions and just following the chart. The English translation leaves a little bit to be desired and I found I struggled a lot less with the chart.

I should also mention, as I forgot to with the nanners, that I finally purchased a couple of the knitpicks options fixed circulars and I’m using one set for this sock. I like them for the most part, although I feel like this particular size could have a slightly better point. I didn’t have that problem with the pair I used on the nanners though. Ideally, if I could take the points on my addi lace, the needle finish and the cable from the knitpicks and put them together, I would have my perfect needle.

Ya gotta have dreams I guess.