Lets Talk About Socks, Baby

The sock knitting continues.

I finished the pair for Mr Knitty.  They are a bit big, but they were made, and received, with love.  He has a higher internal temperature than I do, so wanted to wait until the weather was a bit cooler, before he wore them.  Yesterday was their maiden voyage.  He showed them to a couple of people, but told me that neither of the people he really thought would appreciate them were working that shift.

Me: Why do you think they would particularly appreciate them?
Him: Well, they've both mentioned yarn...

Regia Pairfect - Granite colourway

I knit them using the Time Traveler Socks pattern by Liz Sedmak.  As a relatively new sock knitter, this is my current go-to pattern.  This was the first time that I'd used the Regia Pairfect yarn.  For those who don't know, the yarn is provided as two separate, matching sections, divided by a length of yellow yarn.  The idea being that you can knit two socks which are guaranteed to match.  Youtube has a couple of videos which explain.  The German one is here and a Scandinavian one (I'd guess Danish) is here.

Instep of the birthday socks

The yarn is set up to knit cuff down.  As I knit my socks toe-up and knit both socks separately and at the same time, I had to prep the yarn first by unwinding it and re-winding it in the opposite direction and getting rid of the yellow yarn between the two balls.  I've heard criticism that there's not really enough of the main yarn, due to an excess yellow yarn.  As Mr Knitty doesn't like long legs on his socks, I did have yarn left over - so can't comment either way on this one. 

He didn't get them on his birthday, which wasn't a problem.  Of course, I had it in mind that he'd worked out that I was knitting him socks (although he denied it when asked).  So, one morning when he was up earlier than expected I said (without thinking) "normally this is the time that I'd be knitting your socks".  Oops.  Cat well and truly out of the bag. 

The advantage of that, is that I could take it with us when we went out for dinner to celebrate, at a local Chinese restaurant.  Apparently knitting and tea just have to go together - and who am I to argue? 

The rules of tea and knitting still apply when going out for dinner

Once completed, we were able to do an assessment on what worked and what didn't.  The pattern is available with either a 60 stitch or a 64 stitch width, and has a ribbed pattern.  We worked out that a better fit for Mr Knitty would either be 60 stitches with ribbing, or 64 without.  

64 stitches plus ribbing is a bit too comfortable

But they're finished and all properly woven in and have been broken in - so it all counts as a knitting win. 

Why yes, my husband was happy to pose in his socks on the doorstep.  When I say 'happy', I probably mean bemused.  He's known me long enough to be used to my quirks.  No face, but please may I draw your attention to the hairy legs; he was very keen that they should be included.  

What has your knitting week brought you, quirky or otherwise?