monkey sock

monkey sock
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

for about a week, i was mulling over whether the needle and yarn combination on the elegant ribbed stockings from interweave's 25 favorite socks was going to work well. the pattern calls for a sport weight yarn, which for some reason, i was having difficulty finding at the various lys.

i picked up some blue sky melange, made of 100% baby alpaca and recommended by anne at amano, for the pattern, but anne had thought the size 7 needles that were specified for the top portion of the calf and leg seemed large. not sure if it was the mere suggestion or my own paranoia, but i was trudging through the cables (my first time working cables), and finding them to be "holey."

i asked two of my fellow knitsibs at the web night snb meeting what they thought, to which they asked if i knitted a gauge swatch. i didn't. they gave me a look that made me start to worry. they suggested i go down to size 6, which was specified for the bottom part of the leg. the pattern does not decrease, but instead uses 3 different needle sizes to change the size of the sock. i tried to go down, but goofed on some of the needles such that part of a row was knit in 6 and part in 7, so when i got home, i frogged the whole thing and knitted up a gauge swatch. turns out i was on the money as far as sts per in, so i started the sock over, but didn't get into the cabling portion before putting the sock away. i'm still not confident about knitting with the size 7 needles with the yarn.

after all that, i didn't want to think about it, so i started a different sock pattern, which went on quite smoothly and quickly. i'm digging the new pattern and and the colors in the yarn--lorna's laces sheperd sock yarn in colorway red rover.

tomorrow is my birthday, so i decided to take advantage of the birthday discount they have at my lys--alamitos bay yarn company--and went and bought a bunch of sock yarn--more lorna's laces, in vera, envy, mineshaft and more red rover--and some lace weight merino yarn. the lace style book i ordered arrived today, and i'm keen on doing a shawl from it.