Dumbledore's Christmas Socks

Holy Wow! Two knitting posts in a row! I am on a role. Plus, I'm too broke to buy fabric, but I have plenty of stashed yarn, which may also be a contributing factor. :)

So, in my last sock post I said it might be a while before I did any more socks because it took me so long to finish that last pair. Yeah, I totally cast on another pair of socks, like, that same night. I was re-reading Harry Potter for the millionth time and Dumbledore's line about a good pair of wool socks being a great Christmas present got me wanting more socks, and I already had the pattern Dumbledore's Christmas Stockings by Erica Lueder all qued up, and I had some left over Madelintosh yarn from a sweater I made years ago. I was reasonably sure I didn't have enough in either color to make two socks, but between the two leftover bits I could get some nicely coordinated but not matching socks.

When I first wrote this post sock number one was done and number two I had gotten as far as the heel turn, but before this reached it's scheduled post date I finished the second sock. 

I'm very pleased with how they turned out. The sock pattern has two different charts that you can mix and match. I used chart A for sock one and chart B for sock two. They were a fun knit, and the yarn was great to work with. Merry Christmas to me! And now I really need to get started on other people's gifts. 

The Finally Finished Socks

At the beginning of this year I made a list of sewing and knitting goals. I wanted (and still want) to create a wardrobe of handmade items right down to basics like socks and underwear. I told myself I was going to knit a pair of socks a month.

Yeah, that totally didn't happen. So far in 2015 I have successfully finished two pairs of socks. It's November. Somehow I don't think I'm going to knit 10 more pairs of socks in two months.

But I am happy to say that I finished the pair I talked about in Block Sock Block back in August, the pair that I originally cast on in February.

As I mentioned in that post, I think the biggest problem I was running into was that I didn't like the yarn. I still have another skein of it somewhere, but I think I'm just going to throw it into the stash and forget about it for a while.

I'm not sure you can really tell in these photos, but I changed the pattern of blocks for the second sock. The original pattern is Patchwork Weasely Socks by Erica Lueder. I adore her sock patterns, but I also wanted to honor the spirit of Dobby with my Harry Potter inspired socks so I decided to not make them a perfect match, but still have them go together like Harry's socks with broomsticks on one and snitches on the other.

The really funny thing about finally finishing these socks was that I was immediately inspired to cast on a new pair. So now I'm working on Dumbledore's Christmas Stockings, also by Erica Lueder, and they are going much more quickly. 

Block Sock Block

Oh Second Sock Syndrome, why must you torment me so?

I had a goal at the beginning of the year to knit a new pair of socks a month. I did great in January. I made my socks Tea. Early Grey. Hot so named because the Yarn Harlot named the pattern Earl Grey after the sock yarn color, but, of course, the name made me think of Star Trek.

I used Knit Picks Stroll to knit the socks. I liked the color, and the socks are soft and comfy. But. This yarn doesn't have very good recovery. By the end of the day it almost feels like the socks have melted, they just don't stay up well. And it's not just a matter of not enough ribbing holding them up my legs, its like the entire sock just becomes floppy and loose. The rest of my wool socks I can wear for two days before they start to feel loose, and I've done other socks that were mostly stockinette stitch without them feeling so loose. So I'm forced to conclude that it must be the yarn. 

Which is a bummer because in February before I decided that I didn't like the yarn I decided that I had enough of it for one more pair of socks, so I cast on Patchwork Weasley Socks by Erica Lueder. I've knit other of her socks before and I love the patterns. I especially love the Harry Potter based inspiration (are you seeing a nerd theme to by socks? because it's not an accident). The pattern was fun, but knowing that I wasn't going to like the yarn in the finished project made me kind of reluctant to work on them.

That's why it took be from February until mid June to finish this one lowly sock. 

When I'm really working at it I can do a pair of socks in a work week. I feel like I had second sock syndrome with this sock, and it was still the first sock. Now I'm faced with actually knitting the second sock and I don't really want to. But having just one sock does me no good. So I'm making it my goal for the week to make the second sock. And I'm never buying this yarn again.