Thursday, May 13, 2010

The Most Intricate Socks In the World

I don't always knit intricate socks, but when I do, I prefer Wollmeise.*

Holy crap these socks are addicting. The pattern is Ornette by Cookie A. and it is the first pattern of hers that I have knit. I know there are tons of Monkeys and Pomatomuses (Pomatomi?) out there, but I couldn't resist the siren call of all those cables.

Sock detail

Contrary to how they look, the pattern is not all that complicated. If you can read a chart (and you'll need to as there are no written instructions to substitute) you can knit these socks. I find myself using the chart for the first cabled section you see on the right, then noting how the rest of the leg repeats and zipping through the end of a round. These definitely aren't the socks to knit when you're highly distracted or without looking, but they're hardly mind melters. I did run into trouble last night when I dropped a stitch several rows down. It was too tedious to tink back, so I had to frog six rows or so and pick everything back up. It totally killed my progress for the night.

Sock start

The yarn is Wollmeise in Kornblume (I finally got my hands on some) and shows off the cable stitching wonderfully. It can be a bit splitty at times and I have to untwist the yarn as I go, but the beautiful saturated color is worth it. The yardage in this skein (575 yards) will come in handy what with all the little cables and having to knit the largest size. I'll need every last inch of it.

Wollmeise - Kornblume

*An homage to these commercials