so a little thing called life happened, and between midterms and a chain of dance catastrophes, i totally neglected to continue the first sock story. my apologies to those who were on the edge of their seats.
without further ado...a recap: i had decided to make a sock for one of my friends. i was using my dodgy, left-handed, self-taught knitting skills, worsted weight yarn, and size 6 needles.
so i cast on the seventy stitches the pattern recommended...worked some lovely (non-twisted) ribbing, which was a small miracle since i only ever knit through back loops, not knowing there was another way to do it...which produces twisted stitches when worked flat, but is identical to "correct" knitting when worked in the round. I then moved on to the "six to seven inch" stockinette leg. Unfortunately, I had been instructed to work twelve rounds of rib and then six to seven inches of leg. on such grossly oversized needles, i'll let you imagine what the proportions looked like.
it was about this time that i realized that my sock would only ever fit an elephant with swollen ankles, but i wasn't about to redo all that boring work when i was at the thrilling, new heel. Not to mention, I followed patterns rather slavishly at this point, not being sure enough of my skill to trust myself to make changes that wouldn't result in disaster. oddly enough, most efforts to follow a pattern also resulted in disaster, but that's beside the point.
I worked the heel flap, puzzling over why all of a sudden my stitches were twisty...also you should note that the heel flap was to be "30 rows" long. this meant that the heel flap was only slightly shorter than the leg of the sock. I managed, with great difficulty, and much patience on my grandmother's part, to turn the heel, and was ready to pick up stitches for the gusset.
Unfortunately, that is a story for another day. I promise that the next installment shall be the last for this sock. Meanwhile, as soon as i find the charger for my camera, I'll post pictures of 1)the watermelon mitts (which turned out GREAT and were well received by the recipient...i got paid with money AND soap...so there!) 2)my sister's still unfinished shopping bag...kinda ran out of steam on that one 3)my fabulous sweater-in-progress (tussie mussie from knitty...almost up to the armpits) and 4)my first serious stranded colorwork project. i say this because the watermelon mitts were stranded, but not nearly as complex as the mittens on the needles right now.
so get excited! i know i am!
