Tulip Socks

Becky sent me the Tulip and Gingham socks kit back in March. I've started one of them and so far, not too bad.

General thoughts: Wow! I didn't realize Fair Isle projects would come out thicker than normal. So I won't get to wear these socks any time soon. Yeah I know summer is coming but I even wear my other hand-knit socks in the summer. These, however, not gonna happen. What's sad is that by the time it's cold enough to wear socks this thick it'll be too cold to wear a skirt! I'm not into pantyhose and I'd need something under my skirt. How else am I going to show off the pattern on the cuff!?

The heel: I'd been told the heel gives people problems, and that I should just ignore the heel instructions. I did and put in my own short row heel. I use a heel with wraps, turns, and double wraps on the way back out. This leaves me with a little gap between the end of the wraps and the rest of the stitches. I had to add 4 stitches in each gap which meant there would be a few extra rows between the heel and the beginning of the chart repeats. The original pattern would have you go straight into the chart right after finishing the heel.

Fair Isle: Ouch. Way too many ends to weave in. Not used to doing that much weaving in on socks. I know I could have weaved in as I went but my mind can only work on maybe two different knitting instructions at once. Throw in the fact that I was carrying the unused colors up the side of the sock, and we're talking Tangle City. Every so often I have to stop and untangle the freakin yarns! But the design is beautiful and so worth it.

Knitting: I started out with a 2.5mm needle on these socks. After significant puckering, and a little snugness around the ankle I went up to a 3.0mm. It's much better now. I'm trying to keep the floats as loose as possible without making them too loose. And the burgundy yarn at the top of the cuff? That's waste yarn. The pattern calls for ribbing. I did ribbing once before but I'd screwed up the chart pattern. I had to rip out after I couldn't get the needles in the right places to just rip back to the base of the ribbing. Then I said I ain't doin the freakin ribbing again right now; I want to get into the pattern. so I put the stitches on waste yarn and will go back to the ribbing later.

For once I can't wait for it to get cold again so I can wear these socks! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE