Sock it TWO you!

Well, I'm still alive in Sock Wars, but I'm not exactly sure where I stand. Are socks on the way to me? Did my target kill her target before I killed her, or what? The mail has been delivered today, and no sock or sock related items were in the box, so my stint in Sock Wars limbo continues at least until Monday.

This is not all bad news--in the meantime, I've been working on a few different projects to kill time while I wait . . . to be killed dead with killer deadly kill socks. This morning I finished the non-lethal socks I started for the two socks at once class at Renaissance Yarns:

Don't the sock blockers make these look nice and smooth? I love that.

The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd's Worsted Merino Superwash, I used one skein and US7 Addi Turbo needles. This yarn is deliciously soft, it would make a great sweater but is a little too pricey to contemplate multiple skeins.

The key to two socks at once is a long circular, 47" in this case. I love Addis in general, but would have liked a pointier tip for these. The pattern is a nice, basic sock with an eye-of-the-partridge heel flap, and was great for learning the two socks technique. The photo to the right shows the flap, which may look short here but really fits fine. Considering that there was no swatching, and that the cuff seemed tiny while knitting, the fit is surprisingly good on these socks. At the same time, they are too thick to wear with shoes, at least not in the mild-wintered Pacific Northwest.

I'm not 100% behind the garter stitch pattern at the edge of the flap--next time, I'll probably modify. But overall, the heel looks pretty nice. The yarn is hand-dyed, so even though it's only one color there is a little variation.

One thing about socks and puppies, is that the two combined usually leads to some fussin' and a feudin'. Generally, the sock and the sock wearer do not win the argument. Although the dogs have learned that they cannot chew on knitting projects (unless we leave them out when not at home), they do like to play with socks, either on the foot or lying around. Not that I've ever left socks lying around, right? Anyway, the fiercest socks battle had ended before I could get to the camera (it's hard to walk with both dogs biting your feet), but Frieda was still interested in a little nibble. Note here that the grafting on the toes looks pretty good--better than my previous efforts, I think, thanks to a tip from Lara900 on the Sockwars Forum, which now that I re-read it, I did wrong, so I won't describe what I did. But it still looks better than the Deadly Kill Socks that I knit last week, and evidently they are very tasty.