Sock Disaster Movie

SOS is over, and I said I was done with socks, right?  Well, yeah…but then I saw the Socknitter’s Anonymous group on Ravelry, and they’re just starting a Mystery Sock in orange, and I have more of that perfect Trekking orange that I love so much, so I said what the heck and joined the group. I printed the first clue to the Mystery Sock and cast on and got the toe done quick as a wink (by this time, I could do it in my sleep.)

Then I hit the pattern section. Now, I’ve read charts before–many times, in fact. But I only managed to get three pattern rows done in one entire evening. I swear I had to rip that thing back eleventy times. I picked it up again today, figuring that I’d sorted out what all the little symbols meant, and where they were all supposed to go. I knitted part of one row, saw it wasn’t working, ripped back, knitted it again–correctly, this time, and zipped through the plain knitting on the sole. Next row: three quarters of the way through, things are looking good, then…hey, what’s this big strand doing here? There’s not supposed to be a yarn-over th…gaaaaassssspppp. I dropped a stitch right in the middle of the twisty part, and I mean DROPPED. It had already laddered down to the beginning of the pattern rows.

This cannot be fixed. At least not by me. I’ve had it. I like complicated stuff to a degree, but complicated stuff plus a dropped stitch is way out of my league. Forget it. (Let me note here that it is clearly not the fault of the pattern designer, because I’ve already seen photos of socks with the whole Clue 1 pattern chart knitted. They’re very pretty, and I’m an idiot, because I haven’t read of anyone else having trouble with the pattern. Some things can’t be explained, but I know when to quit. It was five rows back.)

Luckily, you don’t have to do the Mystery Sock. You can do any pattern you want, as long as it’s with orange yarn.  I’m playing it safe and doing “Spring Forward” again. I can handle that.

Hey, It’s Only Been A Week…

So I finally got pictures done and posted to Ravelry of my SOS socks. I’ve finished 15 pairs, and am working on #16. I’m not sure what the stats are, though I do have some inside info that someone (who shall remain nameless) has more socks done that she hasn’t posted yet.  So I know I just can’t win this thing. Second place would be nice. Yeah, a silver medal works for me.

Not to mention that I love having all those socks!! I had planned to share the wealth and give away most of what I made, but I’ve only given two pairs to Missy because she happened to see them and yowled for them. I never “got” the whole sock-making thing before, but now it’s one of those little weirdo things that make me happy every morning when I open the sock drawer and see the awesome selection waiting for me. The rest of the day may be a total disaster, but at least I’m wearing cool socks!

Here, as promised, is the Clapotis before washing and blocking:

 

Here are the post-blocking pics:

/

It really softened up quite a bit after washing, but I think I spread it out too much while it was drying. It seems to have lost some of its “crinkle” so I may dampen it again and let it dry kind of bunched up lengthwise. Or I may just wear it and let gravity and humidity do its thing. The Noro Sock yarn worked out terrifically, and I do love it. I think I want one in every color they make!

Meanwhile, this jumped on my needles and demanded to be started:

This is the Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn C. Clark. You can download the free pattern here. The yarn is a really gorgeous cashmere/silk blend from Fila de Crostura–I think it’s called “Suprima” but I’ll have to check the ball band. I can never remember this stuff. So far it’s an easy pattern, but I really must put it aside and make one last surge in the sock contest.

So that’s the project update for today. I updated my Ravelry notebook with the latest socks (I’m Spingirl1961 there) so if you want to see them in all their gorgeousness, check it out!

I got a kick out of this blog post. I SO feel her pain!! But at least I got my Dream in Color Smooshy the other day (in a gorgeous lavender/blue colorway) so I’ll live at least another day without Wollmeise!