Tuesday, April 21, 2009

I Thought I’d Never Finish

I started knitting these socks in another lifetime. Roughly when softball season started. Now my work stuff is kicking into high gear in honor of the end of the season. I start to travel next month for Championships.

But at least these socks are finally finished.

Thicker cedar blockers used b/c they made the ribbing spread out

This is the Rockin’ Sock Club kit from September, 2008. I opened the package took one quick look at the Cloning Anemones pattern and said “That’s an Upstream.” After my class with Cat back in November, I suddenly had all the confidence I needed to translate published patterns into Cat’s New Pathways.

Just for Turtlegirl … toe pic!

The pattern was written top-down, but I wanted to knit toe-up. So I started with Judy’s Magic Cast On and started zipping along until my toe box was completed. When it was time to start the arch increases, I got to work.

Master Reinforced Heel from New Pathways

With four stitches in the middle of the instep to start the arch increases, I was able to start the cable chart right away. It’s a 1x1 cable, every four rows. It drained my soul for nearly three full months.

As I increased within the center “V” two stitches every three rounds, I was easily able to incorporate those added stitches into the pattern as they appeared. It’s an easy pattern to “see,” so the only hard part was owning up to the fact that every few rounds, I had to cable more stitches.

But it’s so pretty!

By the time I got to the end of the leg of the first sock, I realized I was in trouble. But I seem to have whatever the opposite of “Second Sock Syndrome” is, meaning that I’m too damn stubborn to leave the pair unfinished. So I soldiered on.

Please excuse my pasty white legs

Cloning Anemone Socks

Pattern: Cloning Anemone Rib by Team Blue Moon
Source: Rockin’ Sock Club, September 2008
Yarn: BMFA Socks that Rock Lightweight
Color: Tide Pooling (RSC 9/08)
Needles: US 1.5/2.5mm, Addi Lace, Magic Loop
Started: 5 Feb 2009
Finished: 19 April 2009 (note: first sock was finished 2/21/09)
Mods: Knit toe-up into the Upstream architecture from New Pathways for Sock Knitters
Ravelry project link

8 comments:

pdxknitterati/MicheleLB said...

Those are so very cool; I love the way the color stripes in the leg look, and how they're so different than the color stripes in the foot. And it's really brilliant that you took this pattern and inserted it into the Upstream architecture. Looks great, and looks like it fits well, too. I'm going to have to get back to that book, soon...

Bezzie said...

Very nice--and no pooling!

Sarah said...

They look great -- congrats on making it through to finish both!

Jenn said...

Nice!

Amanda said...

Very pretty! And funny - I just finished knitting up that yarn, too...although I did Leyburns with it instead. ;)

turtlegirl76 said...

When I do these, I'm going to take a tip from you (as per usual these days) and plug it into the Upstream architecture. They're so pretty! Totally worth it.

Donna Lee said...

They are gorgeous, pasty white legs and all! I've had that book for awhile but have yet to make any socks from it.

mrsdenise424 said...

These are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!