Happy Pink Socks!

Yes, I'm knitting socks again.  These socks are made of an unknown yarn in a lovely happy pink and purple coloring.  By the color splash, they have to be some kind of handpainted yarn, which is good by me because I love it.  I bought this yarn somewhere around a year ago, and I've been hanging on to it.  I kept telling myself I hadn't found the right project yet.  I suppose I've learned my lesson on storing my yarn.  I lost the tag, and I have no idea what shop I even bought it in!

Of course, this photo does it absolutely no justice!  It's a beautiful yarn, but it looks so much less beautiful.  I love natural sunlight for photos, but when it comes to yarn, sometimes it just shines too much and the colors come out far more neon than they actually are.  That being said the yarn is definitely bright and happy.  I've been wanting to knit happy lately, so I got what I wanted.  Of course, this makes absolutely no sense against the beautiful fall colors of the season.  It would be far better suited to spring, but when you're poor, you work with what you've got.  Right now, I don't have a lot of options.

After much searching, I finally found the pattern I wanted to use.  It's called Dunharrow Socks.  There aren't many projects listed for it in Ravelry, which is really the way I most like to go with these things.  I prefer to stick to projects that haven't been knit by everyone, but sometimes they're not made popular for a reason.  In a way, I think this is one of them, though the idea of the sock truly is lovely.

I cast on to knit, and as I sat there, computer on my lap as I attempted to figure out where the pattern was going before I got there, my Little Bear came up and started burying me with toys.  Apparently I needed a train track.  That would help me.  He cheerily added trains to that track.  Next thing you know I had a space shuttle landing there.  I guess these are essential tools for knitting.  It's too bad I didn't know this sooner!  I would have started including them long ago!  I guess this is what my three year old thinks of what I do.  At least he's trying to help and not destroying everything I make!

The first cast on got me thinking.  That leg was going to be insanely wide.  With a stretchy ribbing, that sock could be huge.  Plus, all of the colors were pooling, so one side had this beautiful striping, but the other was boring and dark.  I really didn't want to rip it all out and start over, but I couldn't stand the pooling.  I decided it had to go.  Since I found the socks so loose, I decided to cast on with eight fewer stitches.  I suppose I could have taken it even smaller if I wanted to, but I didn't want to get excessive.  It turns out that it's about the perfect amount.  I probably could have still hacked off eight more, but I like them the way they are now, so this is what I'm sticking with.  I figured it was a slight modification for fit.  Modifications are a good thing, right?

I'm still not fully comfortable with this whole modification thing.  I don't necessarily think a pattern needs to be knit out of the yarn it calls for, nor do I think changing things up is a problem.  I've been known to throw a short row heel on just about anything to avoid knitting a flap, but I've never really gone so far as to remove stitches and make things narrower.  This was new and intimidating territory.

In an effort to lighten the mood (read, get myself to loosen up a bit!) I decided it was time to do something a little fun.  I kept threatening Little Bear that if he didn't take care of his baby, I would put that baby to work!  He thought I was kidding, but I've been saying it for days.  I just got a wild thought to do it already and get over it!  I sat the baby down, threw my knitting in it's hands (which was much harder than it looks) and snapped a picture.  Little Bear thinks it's funny that I have a picture of his baby, slaving away to make Mama some socks.

Once the fun was over, it was time to start a serious discussion about the heel.  If you're following along (and I assume if you are, you may have just read the last post and that's it) you know I hate knitting heel flaps.  Picking up stitches is something I despise.  I will avoid a traditional heel flap at all costs.  Instead, I opt for other choices.  This often means doing math, or at the very least I have to make some adjustments.  I decided to go back to my standard fall back, now that I no longer have my other precious books.  I pulled out New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One, and away I went.  I opted to place the gussets on the side and keep the pattern going through the heel.  I only added ten stitches this time, so hopefully this will make for a better fit.  I've opted to use the reinforced heel, which means being a bit fiddly and trying to get one extra stitch slipped in there somehow.  I'll figure it out, I'm sure!

Since it was such a lovely day out, my knitting time got to be enjoyed in the fresh air today too.  I packed up the kids and went to the park.  I was sitting there enjoying the surprisingly warm air, when I noticed something funny about my knitting.  I was coordinated today!  My knitting matched my shoes!  How often does that ever happen?  I couldn't help but laugh.  Only I would be so coordinated to match the socks I was knitting to my shoes.

I'm about ready for the heel turn now.  I've learned my lesson about knitting when tired, so I'm not going to tackle these heels right away.  One day sitting on the needles isn't going to hurt anyone.  It might make me a little sad, because I can't wait to them, but my knitting will survive.

At the end of it all, I'm finding I really like this pattern more than I thought I would.  It may not look at it, but it's basic ribbing.  The ribbed portions are just adjusted one stitch to the side every other row, giving it this really funky textured look.  The pattern was so easy to memorize that I'd picked it up within a couple of rows.  I was afraid I'd find it boring, but I'm really enjoying it.  The colors are a wonderful blend for it too.  I'm thinking this may have to be my go-to pattern for sock knitting in the future.  It's simple enough to modify for the kids.  It's complex enough that they won't complain about yet another pair of plain vanilla socks.  Everybody wins with this pattern!