Enough with the Socks Already!

Alas, my membership in the SSLS was very, very short. I am too type-A to be leaving single socks laying around, waiting for their mate. So, another finished pair of socks to report, my first for the Summer of Socks KAL.



Pattern: Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern, from Knitting Vintage Socks, by Nancy Bush

Yarn & Needles: Tess Supersock & Baby, Twilight colorway, 2.75mm (US 2) KnitPicks circs
I love the twist and spring of this yarn, but I do not like two things: lots of pooling on the foot, and the dye the yarn left on my fingers. The pooling is somewhat masked by the shell pattern, but it pools nonetheless.

Pattern Mods: I had no intention of modifying this sock, and originally knit the first one with no modifications whatsoever. When I knit the second sock, I made the heel flap several rows too long because I wasn't paying attention to the pattern. I assume a heel flap has 30 rows, with 15 slipped chain stitches to pick up, and did this on the second sock, and proceeded to decrease for the gusset as usual, back down to 60 stitches.

The CFS calls for only 26 rows in the heel flap. I noticed my mistake when I tried on the second sock and it fit so much better across the instep with a longer flap. The foot of the first sock did some seriously ugly pooling as well, so I was happy to rip it out and lengthen the heel flap to match the better-fitting second sock.


Now, never would I question the genius that is Nancy Bush, but future CFS knitters might want to lengthen their heel flap too. I remembered Megan complaining that her CFS did not fit across her instep originally either. Megan and I have seriously different feet -- she is quite tall and has, um, substantial feet, while I am quite short, and my feet are decidedly small. Very different feet, same problem -- you do the math.

Despite this little issue, my torrid summer affair with Nancy Bush continues, with continued progress on the Gentleman's Fancy Sock, and perhaps Canal du Midi next in the queue.

I am not a Single Sock gal, but I did learn from my recent sock profligacy that I can knit multiple sock projects simultaneously and still not suffer from serious Second Sock Syndrome. Knitting only socks for weeks, though, has got me antsy for something a little meatier. For the last few months, I have knitted socks, accessories, stash-busting design projects for Rosebud and the like, but now I am hankering for some tops and sweaters for me, maybe some lace to get me through the dog days of summer.

I started one already. I'll blog about it more this week, but for now, a little preview, Fiberlicious-style!