Radio silence broken

Sorry for the dearth of posts - my laptop was "busy" with some background thing that was affecting browser speed. I removed a couple of IE add-ons and now things are much smoother.

I finished the Dublin Bay socks.



Pattern: Dublin Bay Socks from Mossy Cottage
Yarn: Online Supersocke 100
Colorway: 1054
Needles: US 1
Pattern modifications: none to speak of

The pattern was well-written and easy to follow, and easy to knit. I needed something simple to knit, and this filled the bill, but by the time I finished, I was tired of stockinette.

If I had paid attention to the gauge, I would have dropped a needle size, as these came out kind of big. But I have big feet, so no problem.

I did add a couple of gusset stitches to eliminate any gapping, plus I have a fetish about making the heel flap the exact number of rows to match the stitches to be picked up for the gusset.

I particularly like how the "eye of partridge" heel stitch compliments the trellis lace.



As much as I liked the pattern, the yarn was a different matter. I'm not a fan of wool/polyamid - it feels thin to me - but most of my unhappiness springs from the splices. By the time I finished, sock #2 had THREE splices, which totally threw off my attempts to match stripes. I bought the yarn on sale, and now I am wondering if the manufacturer was where the sale price originated; if so, the yarn should have been marked "irregular" or something.

Meanwhile, the February Lady sweater marches on, and I started a new pair of socks, Spring Forward from knitty. To make up for the big Dublin Bay socks, these are knitting up kind of tight, but I think it is just me.