222 days until xmas

Have you started your holiday knitting yet? Well, why not?!? I have one gift finished, a pair of what I call boot socks for my son-in-law.

Pattern: Sock Recipe, by Stephanie Pearl-McFee
Yarn: ONline Supersocke 6-ply, 1615 colorway
Needles: US3
Modifications: cast on 60 stitches for the top, decreased to 56 for the foot, my own avoid-the-gusset-gap trickery. (For detailed instructions, see Ravelry post.)

My new resolution re socks is to try to get them to match. I almost made it this time - you can't tell from the photos, but the tips of the toes betray me. If asked, I will say that the difference is so the wearer can tell his right foot from his left.

Or wabi sabi.

Medium foot socks, and how to avoid the dreaded gusset gap

These socks were meant to be big foot socks for my big foot son, but my gauge was off - achieved 7 stitches per inch instead of 6 - so now these are going to my SO. I blame my gauge problems on the switch to lever knitting (a.k.a. Irish cottage knitting). I even upped the needle size from my usual US2 to US3 for this DK yarn. AND I knit a swatch! Sometime it just doesn't matter what you do.

Matchy match!

Pattern: Sock Recipe: A Good Plain Sock, by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Yarn: Online Supersocke 6-ply, in 1621 colorway
Needles: US3
Modifications: ribbed top, flap heel, rounded toe, plus details below

I'm a little bit excited about a detail I invented to avoid the dreaded gusset gap. Noticing that the circumference of one's calf just below the calf muscle is about an inch larger than the girth of the ball of one's foot, I cast on extra stitches for the sock top - 60 in this case. Then I worked the heel flap over 28 stitches. While picking up stitches for the gusset, I slipped 2 stitches from each end of the instep needle to each of the gusset needles. Those extra stitches get worked into the gusset and the gussets are decreased to 28 stitches on each side. The foot is then 56 stitches around. This produces a great fitting sock AND no futzing around to fix the gusset gap. Huzzah!

Has anyone read of a similar solution? I can't recall seeing this idea anywhere else, so I am hereby declaring it to be my very own creation. Patent pending.

Another pair of practice socks

I changed my mind about the second pair of socks for my granddaughter and knit them in 2x2 ribbing instead of reverse stockinette. Despite my efforts to knit looser, they are still too small for her. Lever knitting has changed the gauge I usually knit at, so I must make adjustments, either cast on more stitches or use larger needles.

Pattern: Sock Recipe by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, with a short row heel and rounded toe
Yarn: S.R. Kertzer On Your Toes 4-ply with aloe vera, in colorway 3824
Needles: US1 DPNs (round)

Granddaughter still likes them.