Winning and Losing, Part II

I win! The SKS Beaded Rib Socks are done:


The beaded rib socks are almost knee socks since I wanted to use up all the yarn I had. I used some mystery yarn from days gone by, and part of it began life as this sock/impromptu wrist warmer. I suspect the yarn is an alpaca-synthetic mix, since it fairly fuzzy and seems very similar to the yarn I made socks for my roommate many moons ago, and she has washed and dried those in machines! They are toe-up, the first (completed) ones of this type that I have ever done. (Oriel are also toe up, but were until yesterday in a semi-permanent stall.) Since I do not own a ball-winder or a yarn scale, I needed an alternative method. As such I maximized yarn usage as follows:

Knit as far as I could with one skein

Knit as far as I could with the other skein (this was a different length)

Reclaim the maroon yarn from the old sock/impromptu wrist warmer

Wash said yarn (it was really kinky from being knitted for like, I don't know, 8 years or so)

Do not wind newly washed yarn into a ball, but lay carefully over the arm of the sofa

Knit on shorter sock until the two socks are the same length

Count the number of loops left in the "skein"

Divide by 2

Subtract a few for good measure

Keep track of the number of loops I am unlooping as I knit

When the halfway point (of loops) is reached, bind off first sock

Wind the rest into a ball

Knit the other sock to the same number of rows as the first

End up with about 8 yards extra

That's it! I was so impressed with the economy of it all. I had to incorporate some increases since, as you can clearly see, the socks go halfway up my calves. I cleverly hid them in the purl spaces of the ribs, such that the purl spaces get wider but the knit spaces to not. They are topped off with about 1/2 inch of regular ribbing (I would have done much more but I didn't realize how close I was to the end of the first sock, and I was not going to rip 20 or 30 rows of perfectly good sock since it is ribbed already anyway.)


On with the Specs:
Yarn: Who the heck knows? Possibly an alpaca/synthetic blend (see above)
Needles: 5 US size 2 Empress wooden dpns
Size: CO 50 stitches for a slightly narrow size 7 1/2 (US) shoe
Started: 02 January 2007
Finished: 22 January 2007
Mods: Increased in purl spaces for sort-of knee socks (somewhat haphazardly but luckily hidden by the fuzzy nature of the socks). Did the short-row heel as proscribed and find I like it much better in a sock that actually fits my foot (refer to the Sixth Sense Socks for more details about that).


So why do I lose? I think I am allergic to alpaca.

I loved my clever way of dividing a single skein of sock yarn into two that I decided to do the same thing with my new Socks That Rock yarn. Unfortunately I was a tad enthusiastic and forgot about my Big Plan until after this happened:

How will I divide up my precious Scottish Highlands now? (No, I am not winding it by hand back into a skein only to unwind it again.)

Speaking of Scottish Highlands, Leah asked if I had any particular plans for this yarn... It is so lovely and I really don't I don't know what kind of pattern would look good with a variegated yarn like this. The color transitions are pretty close together. Any suggestions?

posted by Carrie @ 4:05 PM