Thursday, April 08, 2010

black {grey} white

Knitting! Knee socks!
I started these at the very end of August, so I guess it's only appropriate that they stayed on the needles all winter and are finished just in time for spring. C'est la vie. I'll be sure to slip them on the moment there's a chill in the air.

I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. They're knit from the toe up, making it easy to increase up the calf without much guesswork. The pattern is Firestarter. I picked it because I loved the gusset increases and heel. This might be my new go-to method for toe up heels ~ it provides for a heel with much more wiggle room than the basic short-row heel, which can sometimes be a bear to get on.

Other than following the pattern for the heel section, I took liberties with most of the pattern:: I lengthened the cable repeats, spreading them over more rows than the original pattern because I wanted a longer cable repeat rather than a short and squat one. I also didn't do any of the ribbing where suggested on the heal and up the leg. And finally, I lengthened the leg ~ the pattern is not for knee socks. Once at the top of the leg, I knit and extra-long 1x1 rib {knitting the knit stitches through the back of the loop to keep the ribbing stretchy ~ a little tip I learned from the EZ videos!}
I was worried about them staying up, and I don't know how it happened, but these puppies are perfect ~ they are snug without being tight, and there's no chance that they're going to end up around my ankles like Olive Oil {yes, even though I love the olive oil style, mom}.

Continuing with the black and white motif, my schedule continues to keep me in front of the computer most days, so I'm back to night foliage, but I really can't complain::The magnolia's in Boston are in full bloom!

And finally, a bit of grey, for the aficionado in our house:: pants {jcrew}, shoes {aldo}, location {my favorite bathroom}

Have a great day*

2 comments:

the Lady said...

Those are some really nice socks! Firestarter is in my queue.

sarah said...

Great post Kate! I haven't ventured to your blog in a bit, the header is great too! I love your aldo shoes also, I need to get me some of those.