Yesterday was a really hairy day. I knew that the second round of trivia obstacles would be ready to go in the afternoon... and I knew that with my Split shift that I would get in Zero knitting time before I got home at 9 pm. I'm not sure why I thought I could manage a 14 hour workday and still knit half of a sock, but anyways... I digress...
I started with this: Arucania Ranco Solids in "lime" - soft squishy greeny goodness.
Late Tuesday evening, in anticipation, I had wound the skein into a ball (with the help of my one-man-pit-crew - Marky) and gathered sets of DPNs in 2 mm, 2.25 mm, and 2.75 mm just for good measure.
After a tussle with a crossword style word challenge - Team Canada was successful in earning access to the newest pattern... and oh what a pattern it is!
*Wishing for Spring by Janine Le Cras*
Looking back, I think my yarn choice was absolutely perfect for this pattern... the limey / lemonade shades of yellowish green will really complement this lace design - which features really intricate vines and leafy sections and trellis-like cables. Normally, I would reserve the knitting of such complicated patterns for a time when I can park myself at home on the sofa and not move for a few hours at a time... but in keeping with the spirit of Iron Knitter, I need to get these babies done *fast* so fast that I make it into round 3! So I've been carefully marking on the chart, trying to keep track of where I am after every 2-3 rows so I can make progress on my Breaks and Lunch. I hope I don't get lost anywhere, or there may be tears over this pair!
The pattern itself is Lovely with a capital L. The charts are well written (albeit with a quick errata pointed out by another Iron Knitter where a K2tog was in the wrong place in the leg chart) and every patterned section is clearly charted out for easy peasy following.
This sock will present a particular challenge for me in that it requires me to learn 2 new techniques!
1) Picot Cuff
- while not all that complicated, this is a first for me. The first cuff turned out great, and I can finally add these girly cute little edgings to my repertoire book.
- For those of you who are unfamiliar, the picot cuff is simply a bunch of stockinette rows, then a row of (K2tog, YO)* to the end of row, then more rows of stockinette. When you fold the whole thingamabob in half at the K2tog row, you get a row of neat tidy little picots! (see photo left)
2) Patterned Heel
- In this top-down design, even the heel is ornamented with lace. I think the only section that doesn't have some sort of patterning is the sole of the foot! I have heard gripes from other knitters that patterned heels may not last as long as the sturdy construction of a slip-stitch heel... but I hope the girly prettiness of the whole thing makes it worthwhile. Plus, it's a good excuse for me to learn how to do one ;) since this is a competition and we are supposed to be challenging ourselves... aren't we?
Here is a quick pic of my progress. I knitted like a trooper when I got home last night, and again on my lunch break today! I know it doesn't look like I made much headway, but hopefully tonight will provide more reasonable amounts of knitting time.
