Beaded Rib Socks
These are the socks that have been my subway knitting for the last month or so. They are also the first socks I've ever made for myself, and I may never take them off. I now know why people become addicts for these babies. Warm, but not too warm. Soft, but not squishy or slippery. So very, very yummy. They fit really well too; I've been wearing them for several hours with and without shoes and they are staying up without slipping or binding. Desperate for the sock yarn (still in Secaucus) to arrive so I can make more. I've been trying to convince my husband for months that he needs homemade socks, and he's finally given in and is letting me make him some. So if I'm feeling generous I'll make these. But what I really want to do next are these; I'm looking for a challenge!
Pattern:
Beaded Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch . Knit exactly as pattern; toe up with a short row toe and heel. I love this book; I tend to mess with my patterns a lot, and she provides basic formulas, gives you a bunch of stitch patterns, and lets you have at it.
Yarn & Needles:
Wildfoote, color Mums, 2 skeins with quite a bit left over. It's a beautiful color; 1 ply each of rust, black, beige and coral. I'm not sure if I would use it again; it's beautiful, but not terrifically soft. It's better on the stockinette sole than on the patterned bits though. The yarn is also pretty thing; I compared to most sock yarns; I compared it to Trekking the other day, and it was about the same or a little thinner. It's very easy to knit with. The plies seemed pretty loosely twisted, so I was worried it would split a lot. To my surprise, it didn't at all, despite having to tink and reknit the bindoff 4 times. I used size 0 DPN's for the foot, and size 1's for the leg so I'd have a bit more room.
If I could do it over:
I would keep the toe-up construction (perfect when using a new yarn), the short row toe and the short row heel. I love the look; heel flaps seem chunky to me on plainer socks. The rib pattern works really well with this yarn; there's just enough going on with each that they don't compete with each other. I had actually swatched a cable pattern and it was pretty invisible for the effort, so I went with this.
I would make the foot about 1/2" longer before starting the heel. I thought the heel would be deeper than it is, so it doesn't quite cup the heel. That makes the heel is a little short too; the pattern starts up again underneath the top of my shoe. None of this seems to bother me as far as fit, it's just little details that keep them from being perfect.
