Monday, January 26, 2009

Leyburn Socks

So that evil Turtlegirl posted that the Socks that Rawk! group over on Ravelry was having a KAL for the Leyburn sock pattern.

Ever since I picked up a skein of STR Lightweight in Knitters Without Borders at Maryland Sheep & Wool, I had started looking at patterns to use with that yarn. I must be part sheep, since when I saw that the Yarn Harlot had picked the Leyburn pattern for her KWB yarn, I mentally designated that yarn for that pattern.

So why not jump in with the Knit-A-Long?

My pasty white legs … tried to get a cool snow-in-backyard shot, but I really must learn how to manually set my new camera. ::sigh::

I decided pretty quickly that this pattern would play nicely with the Riverbed Architecture from New Pathways for Sock Knitters.

“Standard Toe” complete with Judy’s Magic Cast On

Having recently finished a pair of socks in STR Lightweight, I knew I wanted a 68-stitch foot (used 31 of the 34 instep stitches to work the pattern). Of course, on the first sock, I kept waffling on whether or not I wanted to go down to 66 or 64 stitches and over-knit the toe. Tink back to where I should have started my arch increases and start moving forward again.

Standard New Pathways heels

I soldiered on and got to the leg. And once again realized that I needed to read the pattern more carefully. Tink back again, increase up to the suggested 72 stitches and fire away.

And away we go!!

I finally got the first sock finished at the end of last week and cast on for the second sock live from the big ketchup bottle while waiting for the start of the AFC Championship Game. I was not able to have a regular seat for this game, so I successfully hid in a corner and knit away on my sock toe, since I was well out of the sightline of Guy I Don’t Like (the one who decided it’s inappropriate for me to knit).

It all worked out just fine and Sock #2 went much faster than its predecessor. This is the reason I prefer to knit socks one at a time. The second sock flies compared to the first one, and it makes me feel smart!


Leyburn Socks

Pattern: Leyburn Socks by MintyFresh
Yarn: Socks that Rock Lightweight
Color: Knitters Without Borders
Source: The Fold (Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival)
Needles: US 1.5/2.5mm Addi Lace 40” (magic loop)
Sock Size: US Women’s 8.5 (8.5” circumference/9.5” length)
Started: 4 January 2009
Finished: 25 January 2009
Mods: Plugged stitch pattern and suggested leg/cuff stitch counts into Riverbed Architecture from New Pathways for Sock Knitters

10 comments:

pdxknitterati/MicheleLB said...

Beautiful! Your Leyburns look great. I'm closing in on the home stretch, and I agree, I like to knit socks singly because the second one flies!

Bezzie said...

I've never seen that color of STR. Very cool. I've decided to cast on a similar pattern for some non STR yarn. They'll be knock offs for sure.

turtlegirl76 said...

They look great! I think yours turned out better than the YH. She had some stripey weird pooling going on with hers if I remember right. Looks like your sockitechture took care of that!

I've updated the spreadsheet. =)

Sarah said...

Those are great! I think I will have to try this pattern with one of my busier sock colorways.

Margy said...

Those are so beautiful! I must get brave and try socks...

Heather said...

be.u.t.ful
isn't it great to be able to use all of our favorite pieces of patterns and make the best socks ever, every time?!?!?
missed you friday.

Dee said...

Wow! It's great to see these up close. I printed the pattern off pepperknits website but the pictures weren't the best to see the actual design. They look great!

Donna Lee said...

Those are a beautiful pair of socks. The colors really fit the pattern well. I saw the harlot's pair and thought they were ok but I like your colors better.

Molly Bee said...

These are gorgeous! I'm gonna have to look up that KAL. Beautiful!

PS I appreciate the LL Bean shot in the last photo even if it isn't the Freeport one. Reminds me of home!

Anonymous said...

The color is really different for that style. Nice too.