Finished: Spring Socks

I've finally, finally!, completed the Spring Socks I began roughly one year ago. This is the first pair of socks I've knit myself. While I love the colorway & pattern I chose for them, there are a few issues with them. Wouldn't it figure that the first pair of socks I actually make for myself turn out to also be the first pair that don't fit their owner as well as hoped for.

Right from the start I begain my first toe-up socks with a new (on a sock) technique: the short row toe. I decided to begin these socks with a temporary cast-on & short row toe. I can't recall if I double wrapped on the toe or not because that part was done last year.

Towards the middle came my first short row heel. These were double-wrapped (once on the way in & once on the way out again). The holes/stitches are still too large for my liking & the heel is also too pointy for my tastes (note to next time complete fewer wraps per side).

In the end I became rather tired of knitting the pattern over & over & just wanted my first pair of socks for myself to be complete. These thus became rather short socks (for my own personal taste) with a picot (sewn down) edge. Notice the curl where it was sewn to the inside of the sock.

All in all, I really love my Spring Socks. (Butterfly toward the toe with the flower below (actually above it on the physical sock which makes the butterfly here upside-down).)

Charts for Spring Socks

These are the flower (left) & butterfly (below) charts that I'll be using on my Spring Socks. I'm still working out the placement & repeats, but I've finally decided on how to create the motifs I was aiming for.

\ = skp
/ = k2tog
O = yo

From Opal Petticoat to Spring Socks

This is my gauge swatch for Opal yarn in Petticoat 1290 on 2.25mm needles. Even though the socks I'm knitting are in the round, I knit the swatch flat. Early on I learned that my gauge is the same with both methods. (Well, perhaps a slight difference in rows/inch, but that's not a big deal to me.) I'd forgotten this yarn & was pleasantly surprised to find something so Spring-like amongst my stash.

I decided to branch out & try a toe-up sock with a short row toe & heel. My toe's short row pick-up row looks, imho, rather ugly. Perhaps I'll try a different wrap or wrap pick-up on the heel to see if the results improve. Presently, I'm attempting to decide what type of pattern to use on it. My favorites thus far lean towards yo flowers & wrapped bow/butterflies. I've spent too much time trying different types of decreases for the flowers. Whether to do them directly next to the yos or further away as a vertical row. Then, what type of decreases? The normal skp & k2tog or twisted versions? What type of twisted (both stitches at once, both stitches one at a time, or top stitch twisted only)? arg. I really wasn't planning on it taking this long to decide on a pattern stitch.