Sock Madness 2 - round 4

Finished.

But not in time...out for round 5.
(thank goodness!)

Round 4 Sock Madness designer is from Maine! I teased her by renaming her Something's Shady to The Kitchen Sink Socks because every technique she could think up was thrown in there. I used up a new skein of Opal - no color name - just the the number 1430. Must mean Big ass random ugly stripes in German.

NOT a fan of after thought heels. Are you kidding me? Pick up 64 stitches off waste yarn at 4 in the morning? Took me an hour just to get stitches picked up and turned around facing the right way. At least 3 got away and had to be rescued with a crochet hook. Feels too much like leaving the hard part until last and I would rather get the hard part out of the way first!!

I looked at the Sock Madness website when I got up at 2am - there was only 2 spots filled. So I knit on. I didn't look at Flicker entries or I would have known the last spot was being filled just as I was getting back at it. I still had a repeat of the foot pattern, 2 toe pattern sections & 2 heels left to do. I knew it was pretty hopeless that I would go on.

I was good with that this year. Last years Sock Madness sent me into a funk and I put knitting them away for a while. I had made just 4 pair in the year since.

The time was right. So in between each round, starting a few days before Sock Madness was to begin, I started knitting socks again.
I finished my 8th pair since March 10th. I have my next pattern all picked out and ready to cast on another pair.

Remaining Sock Madness designs will have to fabulous if I'm to be coaxed into another crazy knit along. Next pattern comes out Sunday.

We'll see if I can resist!

Sock Madness Round 3 Complete

Finished in time... Moving on to Round 4!

So I've equaled last years effort at Sock Madness if I finish this pair even if I miss out on going on. Only 6 of 12 in each group go on, but at least it's a Monday MORNING pattern delivery. Last pattern came after 8 pm and I was just too tired to work on it before taking a nap.

Round 3 pattern: Slippin' Stripin Socks, designed by Tina Lorin.

Yarn was a combination 2 strands of lace weight held together.
I used Brown Sheep Co. Alpine Violet Nature Spun wool (slightly thicker than the second strand) and Done Roving Farm Periwinkle Angora/lamb.

I would knit myself some 100 % angora socks if I could be carried around and not let them touch the floor! So soft. I would knit the leg portion again so long as I didn't have to cut a strand off every 10 rows again. Too many stripes.

And too many ends to weave in!

Took the picture of 4 balls of yarn and the 2 sock progress report in the cake pan I was using to keep the balls from rolling all over the place.
Creative photo submission caption:
Place Sock Madness ingredients in cake pan and knit until done!

(So I made Steph stand in the cake pan for the final shot when they were done :)

My Sock Pattern

Pretty in Pink socks

Materials Used:

Yarn: Bernat Sox - Pink Hot

Patons Kroy - Winter Eclipse

Needles: 4-5 DPN’s - 1.25

Cast on 64 stitches using pink. (20-24-20)

k2, p2 rib for 15 rows (or length desired)

Rearrange stitches (16-32-16)

Knit 3 rows

Begin 2-color design using chart.

(at row 9 of chart I rearranged stitches to 16-16-16-16; returned to 16-32-16 on row 22)

(Optional 1 or 2 stitches could be added between each repeat for more give around the ankle. This pair done without yellow or orange squares shown on the chart.)

Cut design yarn after row 29, leaving a tail to weave in later.

With Pink -

Knit 5 rows and then begin heel Flap:

Knit 16 sts on needle 1.

Rearrange stitches from needle 1 & 3 together for heel flap - joins between rounds will be in center of heel. Divide stitches on needle 2 in half for now.

Turn for heel flap starting on purl side:

1. Knit 3, purl across row.

2. Purl 3 * sl 1, k1 * to last 3 stitches, k3.

3. Knit 3, purl across row.

4. Purl 3 * k1,sl 1 * to last 3 stitches, k3.

Repeat these 4 rows for 30 rows (or desired length.) Ending with a row 2 or knit side - begin heel turn:

Purl half plus 2 (18 sts). P2tog, p1, turn.

(11 stitches were left undone.)

Knit to 1 before gap (14 left) ssk, k1. Turn. Continue back and forth on heel flap to 1 before the gap - P2tog, p1 on purl side. SSK, k1 on knit side until 18 sts remain. You’ll end on a knit side so there’ll be no need to knit back across to begin gusset!

Pick up and knit 16 stitches

Knit across front (32 stitches are back on needle 2.)

Pick up and knit 16 stitches and then knit 9 of the stitches from the heel turn. Put remaining 9 sts on needle 1. (25-32-25)

1. Knit to last 3 sts on needle 1, ktog, k1

Knit 32 sts on needle 2 (front of foot)

Knit 1, ssk, knit remaining sts. (24-32-24)

2. Knit 1 round.

Repeat 1 & 2, decreasing every other row until 16 stitches remain on needles 1 & 3. (16-32-16)

Knit desired length - 1 ½” from end of toe.

Begin decreases:

Needle 1. knit to last 3, k2tog, k1

Needle 2. k1, ssk, knit to 3 remaining, k2tog, k1.

Needle 3. k1, ssk, knit remaining stitches.

Knit next round.

Continue decreases every other row until 24 sts remain.

(6-12-6). Combine stitches so there are 12 stitches on front, 12 on back and Kitchener the close.

(REPEAT immediately to avoid 2nd sock syndrome!)

Email me if you would like the Word or PDF file.

lwalton521 @ gmail.com (without the spaces)

Socks given away freely

...can be cast-on again.

Deciding what to knit before the next round of Sock Madness took a couple of false starts. I finally settled on a remake of the Pretty in Pink pattern I made up as I went along at the end of 2006. They were given away to Sara's boyfriend's mom for Christmas. I'm making another pair!

Cuffs were knit and ripped out for several different patterns before deciding on this one. I tried a Mystery sock with clues being given out one at a time on Ravelry. None of my yarn choices made me happy and it's a cuff being knit inside side out.

At least 5 attempts were ripped out like they never happened before I gave up.
Lots of backwards knitting. PURLS. All over the place.
I need a break from that after Reversai!

I also tried a couple of Spring lace sock patterns but the YO's kept disappearing in the next row. I kept coming up missing stitches every other needle. This does not bode well if the next Sock Madness pattern is lace.

Just Because I'm MAD

Madness lives here.

So I'm joining in conversation on Ravelry's Sock Madness forum and mention my over cautious weaving of yarn after the Kitchner close of Reversai (Sock Madness pattern 2) is the only give away to which side is which of my reversible socks.

And someone comments "There's no Kitchnering in this pattern - it's a round toe."

GULP. It would seem that if you read pattern directions in the middle of the night and then you look at the picture and see it has a garter toe...no problem. All of the carefully written directions (that must be followed) blur into whatever you want it to say.

When it's the middle of the night....
You've been in a cave knitting for 2 days.
You just want them to be done...both of them.

So after the discovery....
Denial.
Defeated dejectedness.
Confession to host of the discovery of failure to follow directions.

YOU DO THEM OVER.

I cut the toes open, unravelled and reknit them.
Using the actual directions.
All afternoon. And a good portion of the evening.

(SciFi was doing a Battlestar Galactica marathon. It took about 4 episodes of Season 3 to knit both toes. Again.)

AND if you turn a reversible sock inside out to cut the toe open. (And forget)
Don't ask why the yarn is going the wrong way after you pick up 72 itty bitty stitches and put them back on the needles.

Stupid.
Or just MAD....
SHUT UP!

Is there an Ethical Award, maybe...

Steph muttered something about suicide watch as I trotted off to my room with a pair of scissors. Judges said it was an honest mistake and knitting 3 repeats of the chart was more work than needed in the first place. So no short cuts had been taken.

I had already cut open the toes and offered to be eliminated if I couldn't finish before the 20th person.
There's 17 finished in my group now.
I'm in for round 3. Again.

SHUT UP!

Sock Madness Still

Pattern 2 complete.

Ouch!

For 2 and a half days I've purled as many stitches as I knit. The pattern is called Reversai by Le Cras Designs, specially invented to challenge this years Sock Madness participants.

The words "I QUIT" actually flew from my mouth after a couple of hours attempting my 2nd ever short row heel. I swore I would never do a short row heel again.

FREE WILL, that is.

(leaving some wiggle room if one were forced upon us by evil Sock Madness designers!)

I thought I must be the slowest Purler in the history of Sock Madness but this pattern seems to be taking its toll on everyone. Not just my imagination: This one was hard!

(Picture was after lunch on April 2nd; finished socks after midnight so technically it was April 3. Finished photo shot was picture of socks shoved onto sleeping kid on a couch. She never woke up. Fully. Didn't come out all that well. And the puppy holding the last of my Claudia Handpaint is cuter!)

I can't imagine what's in store for us for Round 3.