Elegant ribbed stockings

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I’m well into the leg of the first elegant ribbed stocking, and it’s lots of fun (plus going really quickly because it’s knit on quite large needles – 4.5mm, 4mm and 3.75mm). I’m halfway through the fourth cable turn section, and am expecting to hit the 10″ required for my next needle change at the end of the pattern repeat, which will make it neat and easy to replicate on the second.

I bought fancy sillk hand-dyed ribbon for these, since the pictures in the book include a ribbon tie around the top, but I think it will look silly – these are going to be thick, chunky socks (not at all well named, although the stitch pattern is quite elegant, I suppose), and a ribbon would strike a bum note. But all is not lost! I’ve just been looking at the pictures of Clessidra (which may be my next sock project), and that – more delicate pattern, finer gauge, etc – would be a much better home for the pretty ribbon.

I’m loving the Cascade 220, by the way, and am trying to resist the urge to plan something else to knit with it, requiring the purchase of more. It seems a crazily thick yarn for socks, but it’s the same weight as the yarn mentioned in the book, and I’ve already said I’m probably not planning to wear these socks out and about – strictly lazing-around-the-house socks – so it’s no big deal. And I meant it when I said it was going really quickly :-) I’m cabling sans cable needle, which is helping, too, although I doubt I’d be brave enough to do it for cables wider than two stitches.

One final picture, the last photo of the Ally Pally haul: the very bright red and pink sock yarn of which Frax and I have joint custody. Well, she’s the resident parent, but I’m hoping for visiting rights! Thanks to Frax for the photo.

There are so many pairs of socks in my immediate knitting future it’s quite scary, but now the weather is being seriously cold, I’ve taken the unusual step of wearing socks indoors! And they’re mostly my currently-meagre supply of handknitted socks, because they’re so much warmer than bought socks, because it means I get to wear them without worrying about wearing them out too quickly, and because it’s the only time I wear socks without boots, so I get to admire the pretty (I’m wearing Baudelaires as I type). So I’m looking forward to expanding my hand-knitted sock wardrobe and having many pairs of beautiful red and purple socks to choose from.

In not-news unrelated to socks, I’ve got photos of the nearly-completed Urban Rustic gloves that I keep meaning to (a) write about, and (b) weave in the damned ends, but I can never quite summon the energy to do either. I hate weaving in ends, and I’m worried that these will sit in my WIPs pile forever, although they’re actually really nice gloves, and I’m pleased with my mods: the double-sided dual-yarn effect, and the added multi-directional cuffs. The pics are in my Vox library and on Flickr, anyway.

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