Pastel Madness

This one started with a whole different plan.  You see, there had been some confirmation that this cabled sock would be “appropriate for a man” so I had dug out some sock yarn I’d bought with my husband in mind and swatched.  Then Monday night the pattern dropped, I took one look at it and made a snap decision – these were not husband socks.  Thankfully I had a different colourway of the same yarn!

All Felici is good Felici!  I heart Knit Picks!

So, the pattern was a beauty, a sock wrapped in a crossing cable inspired by a braided river in New Zealand called Waimakriri by Sonya Newstead.  It had another fascinating start (though not nearly as challenging as the last one) and I got to use the toothpicks I had sanded down to be cable needles extensively.

Everything was sailing along smoothly (and quickly!) by Wednesday afternoon, when I was reaching the end of the first sock.  And quickly realizing…there’s not enough stripes here to make this happen with this ball…oh the sad faces.

I got about 4 rows further than this…which left me with about 4 more rows to go…

Sock Madness has a few rules, so I consulted with the moderators on what to do.  I was advised to put that sock on waste yarn and knit the second one in case the second ball was heavier.  If only you could have seen my face.  Why would the second 50g ball of yarn be heavier?  I was skeptical, but confident these people have seen a lot more socks knit than I have, so I went forward.

Last time, we talked about how I knit all my socks on double points.  This time, you get to hear about how when I finish my first sock, I put it on and wear one sock for a while while I start the second.  I was so sad that I couldn’t do that…or could I???

I wore that incomplete sock for the next two days when ever I was in the house.  It was my good luck charm.  

So, onwards and upwards to the second sock, possibly pulling extra tight on that yarn, asking everyone I would think of to pray to the yarn chicken for me…AND I MADE IT!  WOOOOOOOO!  ….and then I discovered an error!

What??? Yup.  I missed a repeat on the cuff.  I missed knitting 7 rows on each cuff.  ACK.  But.  Unbelievably, there was was still some yarn left.  It was gonna be close, but within the realm of possibility.  So, I pushed forward.  I might have fixed one of those in the middle of the night to be sure it could be done.  I’ll never confirm that though.  I will tell you this: pulling out Jenny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind off from size zero needles is not for the faint of heart.  But then, I MADE IT AGAIN.  I finished fifth on my team, because I’d been going so fast racing the yarn chicken.

So much drama.  Such pretty socks. 

Now I have the prettiest socks I’ve ever knit.  And I’m never taking them off.  I’ve seen hundreds of these socks on the boards now, and I’m amazed with how well they take a variety of patterned yarns – solids, stripes, variegates – it just works.  Definitely recommend you check this one out when its available to the public in June or so!