I broke down and bought Ann Budd's 'Sock Knitting Master Class' when I opened it up and saw the 'Stealth Argyles' designed by Eunny Jang. I'd been wanting to do a pair of Argyles for my brother, but when I saw these, I thought 'Perfect!' only two colors to deal with and no bobbins..and being constructed by shadow knitting the pattern vanishes depending on viewpoint and becomes a simple pair of striped socks. Brilliant! Rather quick to knit as I wanted to see how it was going to work out!
Next I tried Cat Bordhi's 'Pussy Willow Stockings', also a very fun knit, although I felt that I was in danger of breaking my dpn when I got to the slip stitch part of the heel..the stitches are slipped purlwise through the back loop, and it took me awhile to settle down with it. Another thing it revealed to me is something you can see better in the close-up:
Look at the difference in the size of the eyelets from one sock to the other. The sock on the right is for the right foot and the eyelet is nice and loose; in contrast the eyelet on the left sock is smaller and tighter. The only thing I can figure out is that on the looser eyelet, a m1 increase is performed before the yo, and in the tighter version it is performed after the yo. I believe this operation tightened the eyelet, and I'm thinking that I should have tried a different increase. Any ideas? Suggestions?
I went rummaging around in my sock yarn stash and found this partially knit sock (which in the meantime has been re-knit). This is a Classic Elite sock kit from many many moons ago using Fox Fibre Naturally Colored Cotton, in a simple lace rib pattern. I had cast on more stitches than called for to make it for me, but I have decided to make it for someone else with smaller feet who won't wear wool. Hence, ripping out and casting on fewer stitches. Almost to the heel flap.I do want to return to Ann Budd's book as there are several other sock patterns in there that are attracting my attention, including two that allow you to totally reknit the sole when necessary without reknitting the whole sock or even the instep again. I do recommend the book as worth perusing for beyond the ordinary socks, not to mention that it is accompanied by a DVD that demonstrates some of the techniques used.
My fingers were itching to do something other than socks for a little bit of a break, plus I had this skein of Colinette's dyed roving that I had spun up just sitting there begging to be put to use. So I went looking for a shawl pattern and came across this one in 'Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders' edited by Judith Durant. It is the 'Petal Shawlette' by Bonnie Evans, who explains that this is an adaption of an old tablecloth design from 'The First Book of Modern Lace Knitting'. One of the things I really like about the pattern is that the center line of eyelets that usually adorn the middle of top down triangular shawls is joined by many other lines of eyelets and so seems more a part of the shawl and not just a line on which to fold the shawl when storing. I know some who consider that an eyesore.
