Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Snowy Evergreen Socks


The yarn (merino/angora blend -- yum!) & pattern for these socks came from Susan's Spinning Bunny. She started a subscription sock club last fall, and I managed to snag the last full-year subscription. I don't even remember how I found her website, but when I saw these socks, I just had to join! I started them right after the kit arrived, but was in the middle of Christmas gift knitting, so I put them aside about 4 rows into the tip of the trees on the first sock leg. A few days ago, I picked the sock up and switched from 14" straight needles to a 24" circular, working back & forth. Much more comfortable! After I finished the first sock leg, I decided to do the 2nd, then put them on a long circular needle to work both of the feet at the same time.
Finishing involved several more yarn ends to weave than I usually have for socks, and the seam up the back of the leg. I did that with mattress stitch, 1/2 stitch in from the edge, giving me an invisible seam on the outside:


and what appears to be a single stitch column down the inside. Gotta love that. Mattress stitch isn't the easiest thing in the world to learn, but it's definitely a technique that is worthwhile to have in your arsenal.