which_chick | Socktoberfest #1

On the very, very off chance that anyone stopped by to see what I'm doing with Socktoberfest, a KAL for socks in, y'know, October, this post is for you. Normal and regular readers can proceed to roll eyes and yawn as this is the start of a month worth of boring knitting content that I will clearly and helpfully lable with subject titles so that you can avoid or steer towards the sock content, as suits.

The sock project I'm doing for Socktoberfest is from Meg Swanson's Knitting, the Blue and Cream Stockings from near the end of the book. I'll be doing them in Lorna's Laces, colors of Bold Red and Charcoal on size 1 needles. (For a reason whose explanation would take way too long and only confuse normal knitterly people, the socks have been re-christened Hooves of Hot Iron, abbreviated HoHI. Probably it's best just to nod and smile over that, okay? You don't really want to hear about me trampling the unrighteous, anyway.) I'll be working both of the HoHI at the same time, from the top down, using bamboo DPNs and one big circular. (It turns out that if I do one sock at a time, I get bored at one and three-quarters of a sock. If I do them both at the same time, I manage to get two socks done and wearable. Do not ask how many tries at socks it took me to figure this out.) There will be pictures of my entirely unlovely method of making the socks at the same time using a munged system that would probably destroy gauge for anyone but me.

I may finish the socks before retirement but I don't know that I'll get them done before Socktoberfest ends. I also don't think that they have a hope of actually fitting my rather pudgy calves at 82 sts because I've already done knee socks in Mountain Colors Bearfoot and those, at 110 sts (top-down) fit my calves just dandy. The Lorna's Laces seems like a thinner, smaller yarn that looks like it would take more than 82 stitches to actually fit me. For this reason, I'm currently swatching in pattern (for practice at reading the chart and for better reliability of the swatch). There will very likely be redesigning of the chart once I'm done swatching. Since I have Lizbeth Upitis's Latvian Mittens, the odds are quite good that any other motifs I might need are going to be lifted wholesale from that handy volume. As for generating the charts, well, I have a computer. It'll be fine.

I am not a magical and immensely-talented knitter like Grumperina or Eunny. I am an average knitter who has trouble following patterns as written. This is my first charted colorwork pattern but I do know how to knit with one color in each hand. The Blue and Cream Stocking pattern is at the upper end of my skill set, but it's not out of reach.

Be warned that I don't write with the heartwarming goodfellowship of Ann and Kay at MasonDixon Knitting or Steph at Yarn Harlot. I'm quite competent at surly, though. :) I also spend quite a bit of my blogging NOT talking about my knitting, so those of you who are here for the knitting content can skim for the Socktoberfest subject lines and thereby avoid the F-word-laden posts wherein I talk about non-knitterly things in a very unkind and unheartwarming way.