The Knitting Olympics Part 4

So they are over for another four years.

My challenge was to knit a pair of socks in a lacy/holey pattern during a very busy fortnight.

It went down to the wire. I started Sunday morning with the first sock completed and the second sock knitted down to the ankle which meant I still had the heel flap, the turn, the gusset and a whole foot to knit – and I am not one of the world’s fastest knitters.

I knitted the heelflap and began the turn while listening to The Archers and eating mushrooms on toast in the morning, and then things got a little tricky and one way and another I didn’t get back to the needles until about eight o’clock in the evening. I don’t think I have ever knitted with such determination, ever. Each pattern repeat was polished off with a triumphant “only two and a half repeats to go”,  and “just eight more rows and I can start the toe”…

I even managed to retrieve a rather odd mistake in which I discovered that I had somehow purled two stitches in the centre of the stocking stitch sole of the sock for no reason fourteen rows previously. In times past I would have given up for the night, but no, the Closing Ceremony was beckoning and out came the crochet hook.

I finished them just as the snowboarders were making a Canadian Maple Leaf with their red and white snowboards… and at that point I went to bed, so the photos were taken this morning.

I decided to knit a normal wedge toe. These are for someone else and she lives several thousand miles away so I didn’t want to start experimenting with something unusual when I couldn’t fix the problem if the toes don’t fit properly.

I knitted them on a long addi circular and magic-looped. I’m not sure this was the best way because of the slight looseness in the knit-to-purl changeover which forms the reverse stocking stitch frame for the leaves. You can see it on the left sock between the stocking stitch sole and the reverse st st border, if you look hard. I kind of anticipated this so I moved the pattern round one motif to make sure the central section was in the middle of the needle rather than at the edge.

I have no idea really, why the instructions ask you to cut the yarn after the heel turn and then rejoin it, so I didn’t bother. Yes it meant a small fudge later but better a fudge and continuous yarn, I think.

Stats? Embossed Leaves Socks designed by Mona Schmidt from the book Favorite Knitted Socks by Interweave Press.

46g of 100% merino 8 ply Yarn Yard Clan, per sock. Knitted on 2.75mm addi circulars.

So, all in all a success.

I discovered that I can read a chart.

I discovered that I quite like a pattern which makes me want to knit another whole repeat before I stop.

I think I would like to claim my gold medal now please.