Opal Socks



I did in fact finish the Opal socks yesterday, as you can see. Since it was my first time using this yarn, and I only had one skein (I knew that one skein is supposed to make a pair of socks), I just didn't know how long to make the first sock and have enough yarn left for the second to match. Although I worked from the toe, up, I didn't have circular needles in a small enough gauge, so couldn't use the two circs method. *Add to wish list - circular needles in sizes 0 and 1.* I could have actually worked on both socks, since I was using the size 1 needles I inherited from my grandmother, and she had 8 of them, but then I would have had to work from both ends of the skein. Regia sock yarn comes in skeins of half the amount, so one skein makes one sock. Maybe that way is better. I generally prefer longer socks, but I'm okay with these as they are.

These socks have the same Middle Eastern style toe as my spiral tube socks. I tried short-row heels, which I had never done before, and it's a good option for toe-up socks. It would work fine for top-down socks too, but there are other heels I like better that work well from the top down. Actually, I have in the past done heel flaps when working from the toe up, and maybe the heel is upside down, but it still works. I have done short rows before, but not in a heel, and I just made it up as I went along. Unfortunately, I forgot about wrapping the end stitches, and wound up with involuntary eyelets on the first sock, which looked fine but I was worried about how it would wear, so after the sock was done I used duplicate stitch (or something like it) and closed the eyelets. Then I looked up some instructions for knitting short row heels and eliminated the eyelet problem on the second sock. Bet you can't tell the difference! I can, but I know my creations.

I decided that I like working with sock weight yarn, but I just don't like the self-patterning thing as much as I thought. I'd rather just work with various colors and have control of the designs. The patterns don't quite match up and don't look very neat, and I got tired of it and went to a pattern stitch once past the heels, then ended with a row of eyelets and a picot edge. I think that the leftover yarn might be enough to make some socks for my 5-year-old.

Need some patterns for socks with short-row heels?
I found some that look nice:

• Knitting a Short Row Heel (more heel instructions and a picture of a really cool looking sock)
  
• Garter Stitch Heels (more really cool socks)
  
• Wool Works Craft (a discussion of the various heel options)
  
• knittingfun (lots of stuff here, including free sock patterns)
  
• Wendy's Knitting Blog (of course Wendy J. discussed the whole short row heel issue, well over a year ago)

If I have time tomorrow I'll explain how I'm doing the toes. I have a big test tomorrow though as well as homework due, so we'll see.

Celtic Knots



My scanner isn't working right now, and it would have done a better job, but here you can see some of my doodling. I have fun with these. Sometimes I cut them out and use them for bookmarkers.