Retro Rib Socks
Despite everything else that happened this month, I still managed to meet my Southern Summer of Socks goal of one pair per month. This pattern is “Retro Rib Socks” from Interweave’s Favorite Socks. (More photos are on Flickr.) I’ve now made FOUR pairs from this book; I love it. What I didn’t love was the yarn: TOFUtsies. It’s a blend of wool, cotton, “soysilk,” and chitin. (Yes, ground up crustaceans.) Sounds interesting, right? I had a hell of a time getting it to behave.

My first problem was that I tried casting on from the center of the ball, thinking I’d do my usual “knit two at once” trick. Right away I ran into difficulty. This yarn is so loosely spun and apt to split that I just couldn’t make any headway with it. A single strand would always be pulled loose from the rest and I just couldn’t get it to sit properly. I tried about three different patterns before giving up and going to the outside of the ball. That worked a lot better. (Of course, it also meant I had to knit them one at a time, so I had to battle a little Second Sock Syndrome.) Also, as the yarn has very little stretch, I had to cast on over two needles to get it loose enough to go over my leg, even though I’d already gone up to my usual 2.75mm needles.

Okay, so that’s all the negatives. In the positive column, it certainly feels very nice to wear. I even made the Snook try them on to gauge the prickliness factor, and whether I could use the fiber for him. (He likes them better than pure wool but still finds them itchy. Weirdo.) The other nice thing is the meterage. I had heaps of this yarn left over, and I didn’t make them deliberately short or anything. You’d defiitely get a man’s pair out of a single 100g ball.

Next up: Jaywalkers! I’ve finally given in to the temptation, seeing as how everybody else in the known universe has knitted them.

Vinnland Socks
In order to clear the decks for the Southern Summer of Socks, I took along my half-completed Vinnlands to knitting camp last weekend with the aim of finishing them off. And I did! The pattern is free from The AntiCraft. They’re knitted toe-up utilising a short-row heel and toe (but one that doesn’t involve wrapping!). My weird sizing issues turned out to be not such a big deal; the poochiness at the toe disappears when it’s stretched across my foot. I used one skein of Colinette Jitterbug in “Velvet Olive,” and I’m thrilled to say that I had less than 12 inches left over at the end. (Toe-up socks = ECONOMY, baby!) They’re meant to have a tubular cast-off at the top, but I was drinking too much red wine to bother with such niceties. I just did a regular old ribbed cast-off, and they look fine. Oh, and I used 2.75mm needles to counteract my usual propensity towards overly tight knitting. I wore them in Sunday night’s “Fashion Show” and there was such a response that I ended up teaching an impromptu “socks on circulars” workshop Monday morning!

Monkey Socks
Well, I finally caved to peer pressure* and knitted the damn Monkey Socks. They turned out pretty well! The yarn is the Lang Jawoll Cotton I got at the Craft Show earlier this year. (I forgot to use the matching thread to reinforce the heels and toes. D’OH!) I did them on 2.75mm needles to compensate for being such a tight knitter, and they still only just fit over my ankle. The combination of the lace stitch and the cotton yarn doesn’t make for a very elastic sock, but they’re still quite wearable. The only change I made to the pattern was to adapt them for knitting on two circs (so I could knit both at once).

* More than 1300 people have already knit this pattern and posted it to Ravelry, and 700 more have it in their queues. I don’t get the popularity. It’s a nice pattern, but 2000 people? That’s NUTS.

Max’s Socks
Hooray! I’ve been counting down the minutes til Max got home from his trip and found the birthday package I sent him. I’ve been reading Max’s site for nearly seven years now, from way back when he still had the old “Mr. Plow” domain. (I think this is the first official w-g mention.) Though we’ve never met in person, I’ve come to think of him as a really good friend. He’s always been super supportive of my schemes and ideas, and he’s introduced me to some great dance music. So I decided it was time to thank him! I sent off a secret e-mail to TheRealTimShady and luckily he was a fan of the idea. With his help (surreptitiously getting someone’s shoe size from overseas isn’t easy!), I cracked open Knitting Vintage Socks and whipped up a pair of “Gentleman’s Socks with Lozenge Pattern.” I used two balls of Sirdar Town & Country (with very little left over). Then I packed them into a box with a packet of Tim Tams and a selection of weird Australian candy bars. Unfortunately I was a bit off with my timing; the box made it to Atlanta before Max’s birthday, but he’d already left on a trip to New Mexico! So I had to keep mum about it til he got home. (Which – ask the Snook – isn’t easy. I’m terrible about surprises.) Today brought the happy news that Max is home, he got the package, and the socks fit him perfectly. So hooray! Happy belated birthday, Max.

Waving Lace Socks
Well, these took a while! I started these socks not long after I arrived back in Sydney last month. The pattern is called “Waving Lace” and it’s the second one I’ve done from Interweave’s Favorite Socks book. (In fact, it’s the one on the cover.) The yarn is, of course, the Koigu KPM that I got at Wildfiber in Santa Monica. (I scoured yarn shops in three states to find this stuff.) It was interesting to finally knit with this much-hyped yarn. It’s very tightly spun, and it didn’t seem to fuzz up at all even when I had to frog a few inches. I really think it was the perfect yarn for this pattern, as the depth of colour and crispness of the stitches really show off the details. (Here’s a close-up.) Knitting nerds may be interested to learn that these are the first socks I’ve knitted using the Addi Turbo 12″ circs I picked up in the States. These tiny, tiny circulars are actually short enough to knit a sock, courtesy of an almost 90° bend in each tip. They did take some getting used to though, and I think I went much slower than I would have using the two circulars method. I just couldn’t resist the novelty of the needles. Next on my list: a pair of “Uptown Boot Socks” from the same book for my Secret Pal…

Undulating Rib Socks
Upon further reflection, I’ve decided to keep these socks for myself instead of gifting them to my Secret Pal. I used 3.25mm needles, and I think they’re just a bit too stretchy (and rough on the sole) for a present. The yarn is lovely to work with though. It’s called Austermann Step, and it’s actually impregnated with aloe vera and jojoba oil. I got it at Ewe-Nique Knits in Goshen, Indiana, and I pretty much had them finished by the time we got home. The pattern is from Interweave’s Favorite Socks book and it was fairly fun to knit. I’m not sure I like the way the self-striping competes with the intricate pattern, but that’s the problem with these new-fangled sock yarns. My next socks are going to be solid-colored, that’s for sure.