While I was in Maine I did manage to get in some sock knitting. I even finished two pairs!

Gift Socks #1 – Summer of Socks Pair #4

Pattern: Plain stockinette toe up sock.

Yarn: Austerman Step (No idea on the colorway)

Needles: Size 1 addis

Knit: 6/17-8/10/2007

Yes indeed, I am already thinking about Christmas gifts and that is exactly what these will probably end up being. As you can see, these are definitely not my colors, but I think the recipient will find them to their liking. This is pretty much my usual pattern, which has gotten a few tweaks as of late.

Incidentally, I really loved working with the yarn. Maybe the whole deal of it being infused with Jojoba oil is a crock, maybe it’s not, but it is soft and strong and really lovely to work with. As you saw in the last post, I bought three more skeins, so it definitely grew on me! Now if only I had paid more attention to the stripes, maybe they would have matched. Ah well… I think they will still be appreciated.

If you really want to know who these are for, you can check my page for the project on Ravelry.

Purple Herring – Summer of Socks Pair #5

Pattern: Red Herring from Knitty.

Yarn: Tess supersocks and baby. 1 ball purple and 1 ball of black

Needles: Size 2 addis for the colorwork, size 1 for the foot and heel.

Knit: 8/1-8/13/2007

My first top down socks of the summer. I really enjoyed doing this pattern. It was interesting enough that I had to pay attention, but intuitive enough that I was able to memorize it for the second sock.

I modified the pattern slightly by using a size smaller needle to knit the foot. I prefer a sturdy fabric for my socks and it was just going to be too loose if I stayed with the size 2 needle. I switched needle sizes just a few rows after I put in the waste yarn for the afterthought heel.

I’m still not crazy about this type of heel, but it’s about the only way to get the heel to be a different color in the manner that the pattern calls for and I do like the use of the different color for the toes and heels. I think the toe came out quite nicely as written.

And I must say again that I absolutely loved working with this yarn. It has a good bit of stretch and is soft and oh so nice to work with. The dyeing is quite nicely done as well. You can see some slight variations in the purple in the picture of the cuff and while some might call that a flaw, I actually like it. I’m also a big fan of the yardage. After knitting this pair, I may almost have enough to do a second pair just like them if I reverse the colors. Not sure I’ll do that any time soon, but I always like to have plenty of yarn. I’m disappointed that I couldn’t secure some more while I was in Maine. I could get some at Stitches East, but I’m seriously thinking that I probably shouldn’t go to that considering it is the weekend before Rhinebeck (anyone want to bring back some sock yarn for me? ). Then again, can you really have too much of a good thing? Like socks?!?!

This puts me one pair away from my goal of 6 for the along. Not bad considering it feels like I’ve been very busy and distracted this summer. These will also qualify as my August submission to Sock a Month 4 (which I joined a while back and have yet to mention, much less get the button on the blog). If you haven’t had a look at that group, please do! Many beautiful socks being shown over there! I do of course have another pair (or two!) on the go again already. But you’ll have to wait for another day to see them.