Socks!

A confession - I have not been working on my lever knitting as I had planned. Although I originally stuck with it, I was having a very hard time with the tensioning. I cannot seem to get used to having yarn wrapped around one of my fingers. The yarn becomes too tight around my finger, it doesn't glide, my knitting is too tight, and I am constantly fussing with the yarn, ultimately slowing me down. I am playing with other methods of tensioning, but haven't had too much time to play with lever knitting. Since October, I have been frantically knitting Christmas presents, and have reverted back to throwing so that I can get it all done on time. So far, two sets of mittens and three hats are done... Now just two pairs of socks to get done in the next month. Hopefully, once the season is over, I can revisit lever knitting and really get better at it.

But speaking of socks, I will make another confession. I love sock knitting, even though I haven't made all that many yet. I have made three pairs, only two of which are wearable, although I have also helped my little sister make a couple pairs too. I was therefore beyond thrilled when back in September I got into the Yarn Harlot (Stephanie Pearl-McFee)'s "Grok the Sock" workshop at the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival. The whole workshop was dedicated to learning the basics of sock construction. I won't go into specifics because I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't gotten to take a class with her, but I will say that she does an amazing job teaching. I feel fairly confident that I can now knit a basic sock without a pattern. I'd like to think that one day I could design my own socks, but I'm not certain I'll ever have the confidence for that.

In addition to learning the basic rules of sock construction, though, I have been left convinced that top-down socks really are the way to go. I figure if Cookie A, the Yarn Harlot, and numerous other sock designers and fiber celebrities have a preference for top-down socks, there must be good reason. 

The Yarn Harlot said that the true weaknesses of toe-up socks are that they suffer from a lack of customization and the heels are not as strong as a heel flap. The advantages, however, are that toe-up socks use less yarn, are quicker, and do not affect the pattern of self-striping yarn. Another advantage for toe-up socks identified by the Harlot was that you can use a contrasting yarn color for the heels, but I have found on Ravelry pictures of socks made by people who used a contrasting color with heel flaps as well, so I am not convinced that this is necessarily a good reason for going toe-up. My reasons for also preferring top-down are that I have found it is easier to do pretty yet stretchy cast-ons over bind-offs (if anyone knows of some pretty bind-offs, though, please feel free to comment!) and I really just like the appearance of heel flaps. I also don't like wrapping, turning, and picking up the wraps - I would much rather pick up stitches and make a gusset.

Besides, as I mentioned, almost every sock pattern I love and want to make are top-down, which means I will likely have little reason to make a toe-up sock. The three books I am currently dedicated to knitting my way through are Sock Innovation (Cookie A), Knit. Sock. Love. (Cookie A), and Socktopus (Alice Yu), as well as hopefully getting to join the 2014 Cookie A Sock Club. So far, I have only completed Eunice and Wanida from Sock Innovation, and one of my current WIP is Pointelle from Knit. Sock. Love. I don't have any pictures of the Wanida socks, but below are Eunice. I'll be sure to share Pointelle when they are done. 

Eunice (Sock Innovation, Cookie A)

Eunice (Sock Innovation, Cookie A)

Eunice (Sock Innovation, Cookie A)