Those Spring Forward Socks in Full

Ha. When I posted about my late-night sock triumph last week, I said I’d write more about them “tomorrow, or possibly the next day”. Well. I should know better than to make rash promises, is all.

Pattern: Spring Forward socks, by Linda Welch, from Knitty (summer 2008).

Yarn: Sock yarn from the Natural Dye Studio, which may or may not be Dazzle (it was bought a few years ago, so they may have changed their product since then).

Needles: 2.5mm dpns.

Ravelled: Here.

Celebrations

• Beauty! Comfort! Joy! Handknitted socks for the win.
• I really love this pattern. It’s so simple, and yet it has so many great points. One favourite detail is the way the transition between instep and sole comes out all wavy (as you see above).
• Grafting! This is only my second pair of socks, and the first pair was knitted toe-up (using this pattern). So I was dead excited (we knitters get our kicks where we can, OK?) to learn the heel-flap-and-gusset method of turning, and practice my Kitchener stitch at the toe. I’ve had mixed experiences with grafting, but this time I followed Knitty’s instructions, and found them excellent.

Lessons

• I haz big feet. I had to frog the first sock I knit, because it simply would not go over my heel. Next time, I’ll remember that the foot needs to stretch to at least 12 inches, and plan accordingly.
• But! But! But! This is not all! Because actually, it wasn’t just the needles. If you scrutinise the photo above, you’ll see a slight difference. The sock on the left is infinitesimally slouchier than the one on the right. It’s hard to see, even if you’re looking, but on my feet it’s noticeable. Now, both were knitted on the same needles, immediately after one another – and after close on thirty years at this game, I trust my tension. So I must conclude that the second skein of wool was very slightly thicker than the first. Useful to know this can happen (my first pair of socks were knit from a single ball).

All in all, though, I feel confident in declaring this project a resounding success. Yay socks!