They’re finished!
I’m not completely satisfied with them, but these things took 3 years (from when I started knitting the leaves. The socks themselves only took me a few months). I’m not redoing anything else on them.
I had trouble with the embroidery. But I finally got something that looks good enough (the split-stitch just did not work at all). And some of the leaves are wonky, but they’re going to end up even wonkier when washed, right?
I think the toe inlays ended up pretty good.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with them. And I think my mom will love them. And they fit really well.
Details:
Pattern: Vintage by Lisa Grossman (Tsarina)
Yarn: Holiday Yarns (from the kit)
Needles: US1
Started: March 2, 2009
Finished: March 18, 2012
Tagged as:
Socks
Really, this pattern is fiddly. Fiddly, fiddly, and then it gets more fiddly.
After two tries, I figured out the integrated i-cord, and got all the leaves attached. I decided to go about it the way Stephanie did, it seems to make more sense to me than attaching the bottom row of leaves first. This way, the working yarn is no longer attached, so that’s one less little fiddly bit to worry about!
There are already enough ends hanging off of these things. If I can get rid of one of them, all the better.
All week, I kept thinking, “I might finish these tonight!” I’m no longer fooling myself. I’m calling it an accomplishment if I get only one leaf attached in a night!
But the good thing is: they fit. Whew!
Tagged as:
Socks
And just in time for a week of 70-degree temperatures! My handknit socks didn’t get much use this year.
The Opal Handpaint #11 has finally been conquered! It feels good to use up a yarn that has been in my stash for so long, and after so many attempts to knit it.
There’s no pooling!
I really only used the stitch patterning from this pattern. I knit it cuff-down (pattern is written as toe-up), used a smaller # of stitches (66 instead of the 72 in the pattern), and used my own favorite methods for the heel and toe.
Details:
Pattern: Leyburn, by MintyFresh, with significant modifications
Yarn: Opal Handpaint #11
Needles: US1 Brittany Birch and Clover Bamboo DPNs
Started: January 1, 2012
Finished: February 27, 2012
Tagged as:
Socks
I see it!
I finished one of the Vintage socks yesterday. That’s just the main sock part – it still needs its leaves added and all the embroidery.
But before I do that, I’m going to finish up the other sock to the same point. To me, adding the leaves and the embroidery is the “fun” part, so I want to get all the hard stuff out of the way!
These feel like they’re moving along quite quickly now, ever since I switched to metal needles. The wooden ones were too short and too fragile to handle all the extra stitches and increases and decreases required for the grape pattern on the front of the sock. I have one pair of US1 metal needles, and they’re 7″. Longer than I would normally like to use, but in this case they’re working out perfectly. Once all the patterning is done, I’ll switch back to the 5″ wooden needles.
I also finished the Leyburn socks last weekend. But it was too dark to take FO photos, so I’ve been waiting for this weekend when I will hopefully have a little daylight.
So I have 2 WIPs at the moment, Vintage and the scarf I started with Rowan Kidsilk Haze (another yarn that has been in my stash a long time). After I finish Vintage, I’ll cast on some other socks. Probably just a plain stockinette pair. I think I’ll be wanting something easy and mindless after Vintage!
Tagged as:
Socks
Sock #1 of my Leyburn socks is complete.
When it came time to knit the heel, I forgot the stitches were unevenly distributed on the needles, so the heel came out larger than usual. But it really doesn’t fit me too badly, since I have such a high instep. Most of my socks shrink a tiny bit over time, so I think it will eventually fit just perfectly.
I just have to remember to make sure that the heel is worked over the same # of stitches for sock #2!
Tagged as:
Socks
