- Pattern: by Mari Muinonen for Vogue Winter 08/09
- Yarn: Valley Yarn Northampton, dark green heather, 287 yards
- Size/Needles/Gauge: as written to fit size 8.5, 5.5 st/” on US 5’s
- Time to knit: 9 days in March 2012
My first socks! I never really wanted to knit socks before (I prefer going barefoot, and when socks are required, I prefer the utilitarian), but these serve a paticular purpose….
The pattern is great, concise and perfectly suitable for a novice sock knitter (as long as you are comfortable with cables). I wondered about the directions for the heel flap/gusset, but followed along and it turned out fine. One issue: the pattern gauge (4 st/”) is nonsense. How would you get that with a size 5 needle and worsted weight yarn? You need about 5.5 st/” to get the 9.5″ foot circumference over 52 stitches after gusset shaping. The socks knit up quickly with relatively thick yarn and big needles. They are a bit thick to fit into shoes, but I knit these as bed socks. I wanted a pair of wool socks to wear in my sleeping bag when I go camping this spring, but didn’t feel spending money for them when I have so much wool lying around around the house.
The yarn is Valley Yarn Northampton, 100% wool in a light worsted weight. The pattern calls for Cascade 220, but I had this yarn leftover from a sweater project. I really love Northampton; I expounded upon that recently. These socks are warm, cozy, and super comfortable for padding around the house, but they are wicked slippery on wood floors!
I am quite pleased with these socks, but still, I don’t think I’ll be knitting socks on a regular basis. Never say never I suppose!
OhSewCrafty Blog 
Leave a comment