The title of this post is the reason I started knitting the subject of this post…because. Maybe because the yarn was pretty and it kept calling to me. And because I was waiting for the additional yarn for the Log Cabin Baby Blanket to arrive, I was finished with CeCe, and I didn’t feel like working on any of my other sock projects. Also because I happened to be in a bad mood and decided that starting a new project was what I needed to help make myself feel better.
So even though I had 2 other socks started (the first Swirl sock and the second Bellatrix sock) I started knitting the Embossed Leaves Socks from the book Favorite Socks. The yarn is the Collinette Jitterbug in the Marble colorway I purchased at Ewenique Yarns last month. I picked up two size 2 16″ circular needles from A.C. Moore to give the “one sock on 2 circulars” method a try. I like it a lot, and I think I might be a convert. It took a bit of getting used to (once or twice I managed to knit all of the stitches onto one needle) but this technique makes it much easier to try on top-down socks, since the two circulars stretch over your heel more easily than DPNs. This trying-on ability allowed me to realize that the pattern as-written was a bit tight on me. So to adjust, I added an extra purl stitch in each of the purl sections of the pattern repeat for the leg, and then decreased them away for the foot, once I got past the gusset.
The other adjustment I made was making the ribbing at the top a bit shorter and leaving out 1/2 of a pattern repeat before starting the heel. The Jitterbug is only 292 yards per skein, and I was a bit paranoid about running out, so I figured those changes would definitely be enough to get me through.
I took the sock with me to visit my sister this past weekend and managed to finish the first of the pair. Once I got an understanding of how the YOs fall in the pattern, it was pretty easy to memorize and went pretty fast. The fact that there is patterning on every round seems to keep me interested. Once I finish the Log Cabin Baby Blanket (hopefully before the weekend!) I plan to start the second sock.
