Osborn Fiber Studio

Hey look, June happened! Did it ever. The beginning was a whirlwind of class and more class, and the rest of it has been a slow and steady recovery, wherein we find that even with almost nothing to do, we still don’t have enough time. At least the things that we now don’t have enough time for are just things like cleaning the bathroom, and not enjoying one another’s company and sleeping. I’ve actually cooked a few times, and somewhere in there, I knit June’s socks: Huron Mountain from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush.

The pattern is based on the plumage of the Loon, and as soon as I saw the picture of the sock in the book I recognized the patterning from the images in the Usborne Book of Knowledge that I grew up reading to pieces. Here’s a picture for your benefit. Pretty bril, eh?

Pattern Review: With the changing fair isle patterns down the sock, this pattern is fast-moving and entertaining. When it comes to fair isle socks, the gusset can get a bit complicated, at least for the designer to describe it in a way that can be followed without just winging it (no pun intended). This pattern gets around that by having you pick up for the gusset the exact number of stitches you need for the rest of the foot – no decreases required! Very clever, and somehow they still fit. My only complaint is that the directions for how long to continue the fair isle patterning on the foot are rather vague. I was pretty sick of fair isle by the time I got that far, so I did the minimum and just kept going in black stockinette.

I will say that (once again) the gauge on this sock made no sense to me unless you are a very wide-ankled person. So I adapted the pattern to be on 66 stitches, decreasing to 64 stitches right after the part in blocks. As is my wont, I also made the spiral toes symmetrical – doing SSKs on one and K2togs (as directed) on the other. I made one more adaptation that was quite unintentional – I didn’t realize until the second sock was nearly done that I had somehow picked up an insufficient number of stitches for the foot, and was one full fair isle pattern repeat (four stitches) narrower down the whole second foot. Rather than rip (who has time to re-knit things with a baby? I got stuff to do), I just figured out which one of my feet is a little smaller.

The “knit a matching pair of socks for Naomi” part of the project is rapidly devolving into “knit something for Naomi out of the leftovers. Despite the pattern’s being quite enjoyable, I had had enough fair isle, so I decided to make Naomi some baby leggings.

I used a simple little quatrefoil lace pattern, subtly increasing in pattern 2/3 of the way up to make room for her chunky baby thighs, and anointed each end with a thick turned hem of 2×1 ribbing. I also may have bought an outfit for her just to go with them (it was on sale…)

Yarn review: The white is the same base I use for my wool/nylon socks, so nothing new to say there, but the black was the first Knitpicks yarns I think I have ever used. I have used their needles for years, but have never lacked the ability to buy yarn in person (and I’ve always been a little put off by Knitpick’s tendency to copy and undercut other yarns). But when you just need something plain and cheap, Knitpicks is a totally legit place to go for it. This is their “stroll fingering,” and it’s utterly unobjectionable – quite soft even. We’ll see how it holds up.

So it’s the middle of the summer now, and I didn’t really think about that, since these leggies just fit Naomi now. I’ll have to take her to very air conditioned places this summer, and then get her to reuse them as arm warmers in future. Which would probably just be an effective way to get her to turn her arms into teethers.

Oh yeah, did I mention teething?