Last FO of 2006!

Last night we were lame, and in spite of numerous invitations we stayed in and watched “Angel.” Marc rebuilt the swift for the lego yarnwinder, and I finished my rib and cable socks!

Pattern: Rib and Cable socks by Nancy Bush (Interweave Knits Fall 2005)

Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Redtail Hawk

Needles: US1 Clover Bamboo DPNs

Notes: I have somewhat mixed emotions about these socks. I think they look really nice now that they’re finished, but they were kind of a pain. I learned how to cable without a cable needle for these, because there’s no way I would have finished otherwise. I found it a little bit terrifying to have stitches dangling, but I survived. There’s a good tutorial here. I did one fewer cable repeat on the leg than called for because I don’t like long socks and was worried about my yarn amount. This was my first time with the short row heel, and while it turned out ok I think heel flaps fit me better. I actively disliked the toes here – I think they start way too soon and decrease too slowly, resulting in a more pointy sock – ok since I have pointy toes, but still. I also would rather kitchener than pull the yarn through. The only real issue I had on these socks was with the last toe, where I apparently didn’t pull tightly enough before weaving the ends in. It may be a little rigged now, but I think it will hold. My favorite thing is the doubled cast on (use a long-tail cast on with yarn doubled.) It results in a really stretchy top edge, which makes me happy. I plan to use it regularly now.

I love the Bearfoot yarn and now have 3 more skeins to knit from in the future. I like that it’s a bit thicker, and knitting on size 1s produces a dense fabric that feels like it will wear well. Only downside? It’s a bit splitty. I didn’t like doing the cables because it seemed impossible not to split the yarn.  It also ran like mad in the wash.  I washed and rinsed 4 times before giving up – it was still bleeding yellow tinted dye.  It remains to be seen whether my feet will turn yellow, but I sort of doubt it since it didn’t come off at all while knitting.

I think my next socks will be with the Austermann Step in some sort of chevron pattern – perhaps the welt fantastic from Sensational knitted socks.

The Jess sweater is coming along – I worked on it a little after Marc went to bed, and I’m almost done with the back. The more I work on it the more I love how the basketweave is working up.

Our big New Years plans… aren’t. Well, there are parties, but they mostly involve eating lasagna and playing board games. OK with me – I’m not much of a New Years person (or a party person, truth be told.)

Happy 2007 to all!