Pattern Notes: Old Rose Stockings

I photographed these lovley stockings last week, but when I looked at the pictures again, I just didn't feel that I had done them proper justice. These are beautiful socks. The pattern is wonderful, the yarn is wonderful, and since I'm giving them away, I want to have pictures that truly capture their spirit. So, I pulled them out this morning, and took a little stroll down the brick pathway in the rose garden of my friend's house.

Those of you who do most of your own blogtography can envision the position I had to get in to take this picture!

Old Rose Stockings (aka Diagonal Rib Socks)
Interweave Knits Subscriber Only Pattern,* by Ann Budd
Knit with one skein (370 yards**/skein) of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock(100% Superwash Merino) in Old Rose, in a gauge of about 7 sts per inch in Stst on size US2 Clover bamboo DPNs.

Size: 7-8.

The Pattern
I love love love this pattern and intend to make it at least one more time for myself. I want to experiment with some other sock patterns, so I may not opt to make it obsessively (cough::Cara::cough), but I could definitely see this becoming my gift sock pattern of choice, since the results are so lovely.

The stitch pattern gives the sock a lot of resilience and memory, so it ends up being the type of pattern that has some sizing flexibility. If you make it too large, it will cling. If you make it too small, it will stretch. I don't know that I'd classify it as a beginner sock pattern, because the pattern takes a bit to set up, but if you feel like you just can't quite get your sizing dead on and you're an advanced beginner sock knitter, this is the sock for you. (Compare this to Crusoe, a pattern which I love and wear all the time, but which requires that you get the fit right.)

Modifications:
I changed the yarn and therefore the gauge is a little different. Other than that, not a one!

Impressions of Cherry Tree Hill's Supersock:
LOVE IT. This is KPPPM's twin. Same fiber content, same machine washability, and slightly higher lustre. There are really only three ways to tell Supersock from Koigu. Supersock is shinier and has a little less texture (maybe that's why it's shinier?), and the colorways seem to have fewer component colors. Otherwise almost an identical yarn. Although I know some die-hard sock knitters who think this type of yarn is a little delicate, I personally prefer it to some of the scratchier (and more durable) alternatives out there. A single skein was enough to get two socks that were 7" in length prior to the heel flap, with leftovers. Cherry Tree Hill is now making it's skeins in 420 yard lengths (mine was 370 yards), so you can easily get a pair of ample socks out of them.

Possible substitute yarns:
KPPPM. See above.

Tips for Making Diagonal Rib Socks:
Patience. There are 65 stitches in this pattern, so it gets to be a loooong haul. Just remember its worth the effort!

Gratuitous Sock Photos:

*For this issue, IK is giving access to the subscrber only portion of its website to all who purchase the magazine. Check your issue for the password and then hightail it to the sock section - it's great!

**This is the old yardage for this yarn - it's now sold in a hank that has 420 yards, so you get even more bang for your buck.

We've Hit Toe!

Just a few decreases and we're on to sock #2:

I'm knitting slowly so that everyone has time to give a little.

Where there is a Shirley, there is a Laverne. As in "Laverne & Shirley" or "Sultry & Silly" as I like to call them:

You can guess who is who.

The Sock Progresses

Slowly but surely....

So keep giving

Katrina Aftermath: Two Ways to Help

Margene and Susan have kindly started a running tally for knitters donating to the Red Cross. There will be prizes along the way. Personally, I've decided to donate the socks I wrote about earlier today in the entry below. They're the most beautiful socks I've made to date in a lovely yarn, so I hope that will be some wee incentive to you. Click the button below for details on how to participate.

Additionally, I just got this news on my e-mail system at work. It sounds like a great way to make your money go even further toward the relief effort:

If any of you are considering making a donation to the Red Cross for hurricane relief efforts, you may be interested to know that most of the major airlines are providing air mile bonuses of 500 miles for donations of $50 or more when you fax them your receipt. These air miles can then be donated back to the Red Cross as well (some airlines require a minimum 1000-mile donation), which uses them to provide travel assistance due to medical or personal emergencies that arise during the course of disaster relief. Some airlines offer a choice of organizations to which you can donate.

Even if you can't donate $50, remember that every little bit counts!

Socks are the short stories of knitting

Alternately Titled: Why I Am Not Really A Sock Knitter

The cutest short row heel ever

My knitting life closely parallels my reading life (and, for that matter, the rest of my life, but that's another post). My favorite kind of fiction is epic in scope - a huge honking tome of a book (or even better, series of books) that you can really get lost in. There is nothing that makes me happier than a book that takes a really long time to read and makes me feel empty afterward because I miss the world that it has created. The Lord of the Rings trilogy springs to mind. So does John Hersey's The Wall. (That's why I'm waiting with such anticipation for Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell to come out in paperback next month.)

The knitting equivalent of these books is an Alice Starmore sweater, a really complicated lace, or anything a bit clever that I have to work out for myself. These are my absolute favorite knits. And when they're done, even if they turn out wonderfully (so wonderfully that I have to get up in the middle of the night and look to make sure they're really as fabulous as I imagine), I miss them when they're over. Because honestly, after a knit like that, where is there to go?

However, there are large swathes of time, "seasons" as I refer to them, when no matter how much I would like to, I just can't manage a book (or knit) of this scope.

I have, mmmm..... completion issues.

Sound familiar?

At that point I usually have to turn to a short story to get me through. I love short stories, but at heart, I'm a girl who reads novels. The short stories just allow me to keep reading when the little brain is feeling littler, and can only concentrate on small chunks.*

For me, socks have come to serve the same function. They keep me entertained and generally interested in the medium. They are complex and satisfying in a very contained way. I've knit a lot of socks this year. This is my fifth pair. Still, they'll never be novels for me.

Which is why I'm not a sock-knitter.**

Though I do knit socks.

*I just finished Vintage Murakami - it's a wonderful series of short pieces that will launch you right back into novels again. Murakami novels in particular.

**Real sock-knitters are those people like my comments buddy Mary. These stalwart devotees never leave a knit shop without a skein or two of sock yarn, continually have multiple socks on the needles in various states of completion, and can happily knit socks for years without so much as a glance at a sweater. This, despite the fact that many of the intricate stockings they produce contain as many stitches as an afghan. Now that's a sock-knitter!

Do I lead with the sock or the mountain?

With you knitters, it's hard to know! I know it's risky, since I'm quite sure that you'd rather see the sock, but I'm going to lead with the mountain.

I'm hoping the waterfall will be considered a mitigating factor...

The scene above is Nevada Falls in Yosemite National Park, where I went on a rather lengthy hike to Half Dome this weekend. (Let's just say that stairs are not my friend today!) I plan to put together a little slideshow of my Half Dome Hike and my previous adventures in Utah on the cross country trip, but I'm still a bit hampered in the tech department (I don't have access to my hard drive!!), so for now you just get a little taste. I had never been to Yosemite before, and I was completely wowwed by the entire journey - all 20 miles of it. For me, this scenery is rivalled only by the red rocks of Utah and my beloved Lake George. Even the Grand Canyon falls a little (tiny bit) short. The air is clean and the water runs cold and clear. It's gorgeous. You must go.

In other news, I am still knitting, as you may know by checking out the sidebar. Some of the gift projects cannot be shown until they arrive safely with their recipients, out of fear that they might be glimpsed by said recipients in advance. So for now, I offer you a really beautiful sock:

Click here for a close-up. You know you want to...

The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, and the pattern is one of the subscriber-only freebies on Interweave Knits. It's a wonderful pattern and the yarn is luscious. I would recommend subscribing to Interweave if you get it on a regular basis anyway, because this is only one of many very nice free patterns that you get as a bonus. It's well worth the $20.

Finally, here's one of my new little partners in knitting crime:

Shirley. Of Laverne and Shirley, the two host kitties that I have temporarily inherited while I am subletting in LA and waiting for Moxie, the animal menagerie, and all of our furniture to arrive later this fall. She's pretty cute, and she's definitely interested in the knitting (or at least the yarn!) and the photo shoot.