It's finally Spring here and that means we are all racing outdoors to get our gardens in shape quickly. We have a very short season here in Minnesota - so we really have to get our plants in as quickly as we can so they can have some grow time. I have decided not to grow veggies this year - and instead we are turning into more fruit growing. This is largely because we have a good farmer's market locally where I can get large quantities of wonderful veggies inexpensively.
We have a lot of projects to do here over the summer - and I find myself already looking at the calendar and frowning about how we are going to fit all the projects in we want to fit in and OH yeah - enjoy the summer too!
Part of my summer wish list is to clean up my WIP piles with my knitting. I have a LOT of projects that are half baked, so I really want to get those finished or frogged. I have been kind of obsessing over socks a lot lately - I think because I find myself buying more and more sock yarn and frankly - I have ENOUGH hats and scarves. You can ALWAYS use more socks. And the one's my mom makes me every year for my birthday I just love and they are so warm. It's like wearing a hug on your feet. So I would love to start making socks.
So about two months ago I purchased 9728 Beginner Socks (Cuff Down) sock pattern by Diane Soucy on Patternfish. (The pattern is on Ravelry but it redirects you to Patternfish for the pattern.) I thought for a first time out - starting on a worsted weight yarn would be less intimidating, so even though the pattern was $7.00 (ouch!) I went ahead thinking I would make a fleet of socks with this pattern and it would pay for itself with all the use I got out of it.
Sadly this is not the case. The pattern is two pages long and there really is not detailed instruction. To me a beginner pattern should really spell out the process and direct you. I found myself flailing about a lot and feeling frustrated. So after I made it through my first heal turning, I put it back in it's project bag and there it sat for two months.
Yesterday I picked the bag back up and finished Sock #1.
I ♥love♥ the yarn (Classic Elite Yarns Liberty Wool - color 7869) but the pattern itself is just lacking. I know this is my first sock - and I wanted to make a classic sock - with heal flap construction - cuff down.... so I could really work my way through my first pair of socks in a classic fashion. But I am really dreading that second sock. It's the heal construction. I don't like my execution of it and I don't like the actual pattern of it.
This is where I feel my execution failed - the stitches I picked up are a little too much like lace work. I am not thrilled with that - but find it livable. It's my first sock after all - there IS a learning curve.
It's a little hard to see in the photo - but there is a ridge line under my heal. To me that means I will get blisters or at least be uncomfortable if I ever try and wear these socks out in shoes. Bummer!
So I will dutifully cast on for sock number 2, but boy am I not excited about it! I am going to pay very close attention to the heal construction this time - and try to understand it better. I am thinking ahead to "NEXT" and I think two at a time toe up construction - perhaps with an afterthought heal?!?! Sound pretty good!
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