Summertime Orangy Socks

I finished up the orange pair of socks that I started knitting in Houston while visiting my dad. They are a cotton/wool blend and don’t seem to fuzz up as much in the wash as the wool ones do. It was knit using the basic sock pattern in the Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook. I highly recommend this book. It’s a bit intimidating at times, but it is a wealth of knowledge about everything from dyeing to spinning and knitting yarn.

My socks were knit with a self-striping yarn from Lana Grossa. (45% Cotton, 42% wool, 13% Polyamid) You can get the sock pattern in the book. It’s pretty basic. I knit these on two circulars, since that is my preferred method. In this case they were US size 1 Addis. There is a 1x1 rib for a cuff, and the toes were grafted closed with the Kitchener stitch. It still amazes me ever time I graft to watch the fabric close seamlessly.

On of the best parts of the sock was also from the book. It is the super-stretchy cast-on method. You cast on twice as many stitches as you intend to knit, and then in the first row decrease down to the correct number. This allows the edge of the sock to stretch as much as any other part, and eliminates the potential for calf strangulation. This is my 3^rd pair of of socks knit with actual “sock yarn” and it’s the first pair that are actually the same size! Hooray for learning how to make things match!