What Happens When You Don't Even Try

The knitting and chatting in the Indie Gift Along on Ravelry are still going strong!  So far, over 700 finished objects have been posted in the finishers thread, ten thousand posts in the general chit chat thread, and in the first week about 4,800 people  purchased 19,327 patterns!!

That is a lot of crafting!

So far, I have two finished objects for this game! I talked about the vest last week, so this week, so this week it is the socks turn!

One of the challenges that I set myself for this knit along was to knit patterns from designers that I haven't "met" before.  It is so easy to fall into the rut of only knitting the things that designers I know have written patterns for.

Annina Paivarinta is the second designer that I picked to knit from.  She has 71 designs available, ranging from accessories to garments.  She also has a bundle set up of Quick and Easy Gifts, if you have noticed that the clock is ticking down towards a particular gifting day!

I chose to knit Run You Clever Boy socks, and realized (after I had the pattern) that they were actually designed for one of the few yarn weights I didn't have in an appropriate sock yarn! (Sport, which would make them going really quickly.)  As the pattern page said that it would be easy to adjust them for a different weight (namely fingering) I went ahead and cast on with some Knit Picks Felici in Dark Side -

and called the sock project Run to the Dark Side.

As I was using a finer weight yarn, and smaller needles I did make a couple of modifications, the first being I knit through the cable chart twice before starting to follow the instructions to pull the cables across from the side of the leg to the top of the foot. 

The cable design became very intuative after the first repeat which meant I could carry the partially knit sock around with me and put a few rows in here, and a few rows in there...I love how the cables stand out, even in the darker stripe of the yarn!

I then changed the heel to the one that fits me (and TDQ) best, which is why in my sock patterns very often I will tell you that if you have a favorite heel or toe to go ahead and use them!  (If you want a quick recipe for different heel types check out this e-book from Knotions.)

It wasn't long before I had one finished sock, the perfect fit. (Unfortunately, I wish I had made them too big for those feet and then I could keep them in my own sock drawer!)

Mirroring the cables for the second sock was simply a case of starting the chart half way through and putting them on the other side.

Now, those who know me, know that I am a very "matchy matchy" kind of gal.  If I am wearing stripy socks the stripes have to match!  But, TDQ is not so regimented, so rather than fiddling around matching the starting point on the second ball of yarn, I just threw it and my needles in my project bag and took it away with me to cast on during down time.  I didn't have the first sock to match to, so I wouldn't be tempted to match it.

But look what happens when you are not trying to match self striping yarns, well sometimes at least.

A darn near perfect match!

The socks are comfy, cozy and fit ever so well.  I know that TDQ will be very happy when it is finally Christmas and she can wear them. (She has already tried stealing them once!)

Check out more pictures on my Instagram (@maryerosedesigns) or on Ravelry.

Now to get a little more knitting done on my third new to me designer project!

How do you feel about stripey socks?  Do they have to match or is fraternal ok?  Leave a comment letting me know!

~M