Sidewinder Socks

Evidently I was terribly mistaken and let the computer confuse me. I can indeed take photos off my camera, edit, and upload them. Guess I've been a fool these past weeks. But now there's no stopping me!

Without further ado, let's ring in the new incarnation of the blog with a bright and sassy FO.

Sidewinder2

These are my new Sidewinder socks.

I'm not sure if it was the novelty of the project or what, but when I sat down to knit these they seemed to go very quickly. Even the 100+ stitches of grafting weren't that bad (but it does help if there's a movie in the background).

Sidewinder3

The stats:
Pattern: nonaKnits' Sidewinders, which were put up serially in her blog starting here.
Yarn: 2 skeins Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Bittersweet (see notes).
Needles: #2 circulars
Modifications: I couldn't get the recommended gauge on #2 needles for my size and didn't like the thinner fabric on #3s, so I made the largest size in length and fudged the width to be wider than medium but not really wide. The socks ended up fitting pretty well, although my fudging was inexact and caused some problems on the short horizontal graft.
Notes: I think the increases look awful because I didn't knit them loosely enough. If I were to make these again, I would not use the raised bar increase but probably something that doesn't take extra yarn out of surrounding stitches, something like Elizabeth Zimmermann's M1, which is just twisting an extra wrap onto the right hand needle to make a new stitch without the YO hole. I think that would take care of any distortion. Also, the pattern is accurate -- these use very little yarn! One ball of the Lorna's Laces went all the way through the first sock and more than halfway through the second, even for the largest size. I have lots of yarn left over.

And I never thought I'd say it, but I love love love this fine-gauge garter stitch. Beautiful!

Sidewinder4

This (above) is also probably the best photo for color.

Sidewinders

I love the colors, I love the vertical striping, I love the smoothness of the fabric. Would I make them again (keeping in mind I almost never make anything twice)? Probably not. It's a fabulous novelty and they were fun but they don't fit as well, particularly in the heel, as I would like. But I have wide feet and high arches and heels are always kind of a pain to fit properly.

What's next? Possibly the evil swatch of doom, or maybe some new socks, or maybe I'll get off my butt and sew up that sweater once and for all. Today's about the last day I want a lap full of sweater, though. Maybe I'll just lay here and hope someone brings me some nice cold lemonade....

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