FO: Cat in the Hood Socks

Pattern: 2x2 rib, afterthought heel, sewn hem cuff
Yarn: Knit Picks Bare - Merino Wool Fingering Weight, dyed with Wilton's food dyes
Needles: Knit Picks DPNs size 1
Started: Janurary 18
Finished: March 6
Modifications: none
What I learned: I have a deep heel so knitting a 'toe' for a heel doesn't work for me. Love the sewn hem for a cuff, it's totally stretchy and way easier to get right on the first try than casting off with larger needles. I think it looks nicer than a regular sewn cast off and gives a firmer edge too. I don't mind pulling these on just holding the hem. A pint glass makes a great knitting tool. How to dye self-striping yarn; and I love it.

I'll be wearing these quite often the rest of the winter. They're the perfect thing to brighten up a dreary day. They just plain make me happy.

Cuppa Sock Anyone?

Mmmmm, looks pretty tasty to me! I finally finished the heel* on one of my Cat in the Hood socks last night, so I decided to reward myself with half an FO and sew up the top hem.

I wanted to use as much of this yarn as possible, however, when I held the sock up to my leg, it looked like it was going to hit my leg at the bottom of my calf. So, I chose a hem top instead of a straight up cast off to avoid any calf shaping. Plus, I personally think it's more stretchy than a traditional cast off. Finally, this allowed me to guarantee the sock would end with a brown stripe. I was concerned about the sock looking too yellow since it ended up so bright. I think it turned out nicely balanced.

So what's with the pint glass? So glad you asked! I've sewn a hem top once before on one of my Carbonite Socks and it was kind of a bitch to do holding such a floppy material in my hands. Inspiration struck about a week ago when I realized that a pint glass was about the right diameter to hold the sock open enough to see the stitches as well as a hard surface to use the needle against.

I stuffed the sock into the glass and then pulled it back over the top for about 5 inches. Then I flipped enough of the sock up - one 'stripe width' - so that none of the facing yellow stitches would show at the top of the sock and began sewing. I made sure to sew the live stitches to the last row of yellow stitches on the leg to avoid any color confrontation (yes, I just coined that phrase) on the outside of the sock. Also, it should be noted that I placed the stitches on a piece of scrap yarn rather than leaving them on DPNs so the sock would hug the glass smoothly.

Then, following a wonderful tutorial** by TechKnitter, I slid the needle into the first live stitch purl-wise and tacked it to the corresponding stitch on the leg. Since I knit the socks in k2p2 rib, I ended up sewing purl stitches to knit stitches and vice-versa, no big deal. Click on the pictures to see more detail.

After that I just worked my way around with the glass keeping the sock stretched well enough that I didn't sew any stitches too tightly. You can see that the resulting hem does not pull in as tightly as the rest of the sock, but rest assured that it stretches out just as well.

Finally, I leave you with an Ode on a Grecian Sock Urn. :-)

*I ended up using this tutorial to work an afterthought heel, which worked SO much better than simply working another 'toe' for a heel. I guess I have fat ankles. The first attempt resulted in a sock that was stretched so tightly, I was afraid my skin would start oozing through the stitches like play-doh.

**She doesn't explicitly explain sewing shut live stitches, but the concept is the same.

Stripey Goodness

The sun wasn't out today, but with all the snow we've gotten lately, it's still bright enough for some good pictures. These were accomplished by opening the back door to let in the light. Our house sucks for letting in light. We have a grand total of one window with southern exposure, and it's in the dog's room.


We 'bee' stripey yo

You can just see the end of a dark line on the larger sock on the right; this is for an afterthought heel. I'm not sure how long I can make the legs since I didn't separate the ball of yarn into two equal balls; one of the disadvantages of not having a ball winder. I started the first sock from the outside of the ball and the second from the inside. That should make things interesting closer to the finish line.


We are limp and lifeless without a foot

I hate photos like this. Sock blockers are a step better, but in my opinion, socks need to be showcased in the environment they're most used: on the foot. But, by the time I got around to taking these photos, this was pretty much my only option.


Ahhh, that's better

I tried to do a round toe at first, but that looked awful. So I tinked back and finished with a wedge toe. This sock is the best fitting sock I've finished so far. It's a tad tight to get over my heel, but once it's on, the foot fits perfectly and I'm pretty sure the leg will stay up too. My only complaint is that I worked it cuff down and there's a lot of leftover yarn. Oh well, I suppose I'll save it in case the heel wears out.

Finally, we have some yarn porn:


Feel the wooly goodness

Some Cascade 220 Wool from WEBS. This will eventually become a Shedir hat and matching scarf for my wife, Matrix gloves for me (x2), a chunky cabled purse for her and hopefully a Koolhaas for myself. It's friggin cold out there!

Finally, I was going to suggest you go watch the NHL All-Star Skills competition on VS., but it's pissing me off this year. The camera work is AWFUL (camera guys on the ice is a bad idea), the powers that be changed the setup of some of the competitions (have you no respect for history?) and every five minutes there's a 'technical difficulty' either with mikes, timers or something else. Hopefully the game tomorrow is better.

My new model

He needs to clean up his act, he's a little blurry, but he's got a good pose. :-)