Osborn Fiber Studio

For everyone who did the math, whether algebraically or geometrically or logically or intuitively, you were right. I did not have enough white. It would have been obvious if I’d admitted it to myself, but deep down I sort of wanted my socks to look the same. I didn’t think of myself as an advocate of homogeneity, but there it is. But truly, I am not at all displeased with the results.

These little socks only took 12 days to complete, but I think it snowed every one of those 12 days. Maybe they were channeling the weather of their native Finland into Ambridge, PA; if so, I hope they will not earn the animosity of their new neighbors. But this means they have no one but themselves to blame for being photographed indoors. After huffing and puffing my way home through the cheek-reddening wind, I am not going outside for any sock pictures, no matter how longingly they pout at me with their big brown stitches.

Yarn review: Reynolds is one of those classic old yarn companies, or at least that’s the impression I’ve gotten. Their workhorse yarns – Lopi, Lopi lite, and Candide, among others, are known for hardiness and extreme warmth; you would never put them anywhere near the neck of anyone you liked. When I chose Reynolds “Soft Sea Wool” for this project, it was because it was the only yarn I could find at the gauge specified that I thought would work for socks. And I chose brown and white because they were more or less the only colors available! But I was pleasantly surprised by this yarn. It is indeed very soft and exceedingly “sprongy,” as Jolene likes to say. Not machine washable, but I’m willing to go old-school with some of these handmade socks. (And by “old school” I mean “Dryel.” I have yet to handwash a handknit, though I’ve got a growing pile of non-machine-washable things that need some laundering that involves actual water and soap.)

My legs are so pasty! My ceiling sort of looks like snow, but I didn’t think anyone would be fooled.

Pattern review: “Finnish Socks” is the first pair in Folk Socks that is at a genuinely non-fingering-weight gauge. This means that they were shockingly fast to knit – I turned the heel of the second sock yesterday morning and was casting them off last night without even really paying attention, despite having to re-knit half of the foot. They did have a good 50 stitches around most of their circumference, but add a long row gauge as well and you’re cutting your knitting time at least in half with these babies. This makes me a little woozy when I think about how fast worsted weight socks would go. They almost make me want to try knitting a pair or two as Christmas presents.

The only alteration I made, aside from the obvious color switch, was to make the spiral ribbing go in the other direction on the second sock. Oh, and Cathy (manager @YU) thought the shapes on the legs looked like “fleur de lis.” As I had been previously calling them “funky diamond blobs,” her description is both more charitable and refined. So yes. They are absolutely fleur de lis, and they would look like them if I could take a picture of my own feet right-side-up.

We leave for home in eight days, and I have written such a shocking amount of papers and projects in the past week and a half that I am feeling very good about the possibility of my surviving to Christmas. Only 13-25 pages to go! Maybe then I will start knitting something else that I can show you before Christmas.