These are the socks I made for my Mom for Mother's Day. She says that they fit really well.
I used the same skein for both - pulling from each end since I did two at a time, magic loop - but they look like they came from two different skeins. You can see the left sock is a lot darker than the right sock.
Either way, I really love this colorway. Fleece Artist Basic Merino Sock is one of my favorite yarns. This is my second time using it and I find that it creates a nice sturdy, but soft sock when knitting the right gauge.
I love the reinforced heel used in this pattern. The texture looks so rich in person.
And the whirlpool toes are really pretty as well.
But, my absolute favorite part of the socks are the Jeweled Steps. Little jewels are created by wrapping a few stitches together and they trail all the way up the sock. They really stand out in person and look like jewels. Because I used a variagated yarn mine stand out really well. The jewels are solid since just a little bit of the yarn shows. As you knit it is interesting to see what color or tone in this case will be shown on the next jewel.
- Jeweled Steps by Cat Bordhi - New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One
- Fleece Artist Basic Merino Sock - Grass
- US 1 2.25mm KP Circ (32")
- Took about 1 month start to finish
- Ravelry Link
These are definitely my favorite socks that I've ever knit. I've had the Cat Bordhi book for a while, but was a little intimidated by Cat's language and instructions. These took me a bit because I needed to really get the hang of her methods. Once I got past the interpretation though the knitting flew by.
Cat's method involves creating a custom fit with various measurements of the foot. I didn't really believe it would work until I was finished. My Mom's foot is longer than mine, but the rest of our measurements are the same so I was able to see how these fit on my own feet (the photos above show the socks on me). I have to say that I can't wait to make my own because the fit is amazing. The arch expansion that Cat uses is genius and I'm not sure why I'd want to knit a sock without it ever again! I have really high arches and love tight socks so this custom fit approach is really appealing to me.
In other knitting news...I have a few rows left on my Noro sock yarn Clapotis as well as some seaming to do on my niece's cardigan (which she now won't be able to wear until fall since it's about 95* back home!). I also have started a Rusted Root, but put it down a couple of months ago so I could finish the Mother's Day socks. Maybe I'll pick that up again.
