From the Garden of Zen to...

The Latvian Lace Socks are now ready to mail to my Sockapalooza pal far, far away.  I'm mailing them today as they have a distance to go and I don't want them to take forever to arrive.   As soon as she receives them I'll let you know who she is.  There is little doubt that she'll love them.

The pattern is from Nancy Bush's Folk Solks and the yarn is one of my new favorite's, Twinkletoes in the color Saaalllssssa!   I loved knitting them so much that I made myself a pair using a different color of the same yarn, Sea Shell. (Jackie is doing the same sock in a different colorway of the same yarn and they look great, too!) 

It is the Year of the Sock, after all and you still have lots of year left to join the Sock It To Me Along. Look at all the socks being made all over the place! Great sock patterns abound.  You'll never guess, but the Suck grew into a SOCK!  A sock I don't care for at all.  Look at the toe...my toes are not that square.   Look at the heel...what's the wonky thing hanging there? Susan said when she knit this sock with one yarn it fit her very well. I wish that was the case...this sock just doesn't do it for me and I can't imagine any reason to knit a second one.  That means I will fail at the making all Six (pair of) Socks.  But then, as everyone has been telling me, life's too short to knit a sucky sock. Even Smith said I was crazy to go on.

How cool is this? Nancy Bush has a new sock book coming out this fall.  She adapted vintage patterns to modern yarns and techniques and they are all quite wonderful.  I had fun last summer knitting up several mates for her and will enjoy knitting every single one again when the book comes out.  You're going to love it, too!

Have a smilin' good weekend.

Comments

[Kathleenk]

Your seashell socks are lovely. As are the Salsa socks. But I am SO glad you are finally givin' it up on the Sucks! Way to go Margene. Deep breaths and all. ;)

[mrspilkington]

i just love the colours on the latvian lace socks. glad you're leaving the suck alone; there are so many enjoyable knits around for you to dig into!

[Colleen]

Wowza! You put my sock knitting to shame!! What beautiful socks, great job. I think picot edging will be my thing for spring. So pretty.

[Kim]

Your latvian socks are so lovely, in both colors. In fact, you have inspired me to pull out that lovely spring colored Lorna Laces and my copy of Folk Socks to try a pair! I finished the back of the vest, so it's reward time...

Have a GREAT weekend!

[Teresa C]

Oooh, I have been covetting Folk Socks, well most of Nancy Bush's books for awhile now. You have me hooked with those socks and I may be headed out to get one of them today.

Now-your suck-the short row heal and toe (personal favorites of mine-see my next post-whenever I get to it) can be made more or less pointy. IF you ever decide to try it again it looks like you should leave more sts between your yos or wraps (whichever you are doing) and work fewer short rows. That will make a shorter and less pointy toe and heel. Works for me anyway.

[Cassie]

New NB book...... I'm going to calm down about this. Later. Right now I'm ready to dance around the room!

Your socks are gorgeous. No wonder you do test knitting for the best out there. I might need Twinkletoes yarn ... see what you're doing to me?

[Anne]

That new book of Nancy's sounds wonderful. I love her Folk Socks - I'm sure I"ll be putting the new one on my holiday gift list this year!

Glad to hear your back is doing a bit better this week.

[Teri]

Good call turning the suck into an ankle sock; why make yourself suffer? I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the salsa socks!

[Kimi]

I wish that book had pictures! I would love to see it. I love anything vintage. Your seashell socks look great! That's too bad about the sucky sock....the colors are so great! But I agree. No sense in making life miserable over a sock you won't like in the end anyway.

[stephanie]

I had exactly the same experience with toe ups. I did two things (not that I think you should...but in case you are ever backed into a corner and forced to knit them...) I made the toe rounder by working the increases every row instead of everyother row for the first 3 rows, and I got rid of the weird heel thing by working the heel more shallowly by making that centre part of the short rowing bigger. (if I'm explaining it right). It worked, but I still like the other way better.
I'm thrilled about Nancy Bush's book. I love her stuff.

[Lynn]

Oh wow! I just dyed some yarn yesterday that is so close in color to the salsa socks. Thanks for posting it as it gives me an idea of what it'll look like knitted up. :-)

The Nancy Bush book is on the shelves here... I'll have to revisit that one I think.

[Azhar]

I love your latvian socks. I'm trying to resist casting on, at least until I finish off some things on the needles. The colors are gorgeous. How about doing another stashbuster top down the way you like to do socks with your standard toe and heel. Who said both socks have to be done the same way. That way you'll have the complete six pair for your final picture and you can give them away to charity later.

[claudia]

That Smith has a great deal of sense.

[Melissa]

Yeah, much as I like the look of them (when they're not on), that heel does nothing for you :-). Its the 5.5 Sock It to Me along!

[Jackie]

BEAUTIFUL!! Both pairs...I love this pattern, too - its' such fun! I am VERY excited that there is a new NB book coming out - just can't get enough of her designs. Thanks for the link! ;)

[Annie]

All the socks look great. And, like Jackie, I'm thrilled about the new NB book. What fun! :)

[mary]

Those are some great looking pairs of socks! As for the suck, I love the colors you chose. If knitting is all about the process, why not choose a technique you like? If you like the stripes, modify the pattern and do it the way that suits you. If you don't, then forget about them. Life's short. To heck with being a slave to a particular technique! You tried it, you don't like it, so do whatever you want. If the knit along is supposed to be a learning experience, I'd say you learned a lot. And I've learned from watching you. Which means - when I finally get around to starting mine, they will definitely be done top down - in crocus colors in honor of spring being almost here.

[Sara*]

Wonky Socks!

Margene, you just made my whole week better. I love that. And, I really love that color. I will be sad to see only one sock, but I totally get the reason. I couldn't have made it through the first sock.

CONGA-RATS to you!!!

Have a smashin' good weekend.

[chris]

Mmmmm, those socks are beautiful! I've only done plain socks so far, but am about to embark on some texture/patterning, and you have SO inspired me!

[Steph]

I'm drooling over those Salsa socks! I love the color, love the pattern, love that they didn't suck to knit. One of these days I'm going to have to invest in Nancy Bush's sock books. So many patterns, so little time.

As for the spiral sock. I'm working on my second one cuff-down then ripping out the first one (that didn't fit well). I'm sticking to cuff-down methods from now on!

Hope you have a fun weekend.

[froggy]

gorgeous socks! i gotta get that folk socks.

[Liz]

Yay Latvian lace socks! Yay Smith! Yay Margene for finally listening to all the voices of reason!

[Heather]

I love the red yarn you used with the Latvian, it makes me drool. You inspire me to work on my socks again, thanks!

[lynette]

all of your socks look gorgeous! i can't tell you had problems with Sucks at all. ;) thanks for the sock inspiration.

[Julia]

Margene, I love those Latvian socks. Oh, to be your sock pal....

[Sharon]

Now you just put that failure garbage right out of your vocabulary. You didn't fail at anything! You SUCCEEDED at knitting a sock with a new method that didn't work well. You SUCCEEDED at completing an entire sock. (And if you ever have to have one of your legs amputated, you might be very happy to have that one sock.) You SUCCEEDED at learning new things that will help you with every other thing you knit from here on. Nonsense on failing anything!!!!!

[Jenny]

Oh, what wonderful socks! Even the suck isn't all that bad. My heels did the same thing, and they were a bit too big and floppy, but I cheated and threw them in the washer and dryer - no more weird wonky pointy bits, and they fit much better now. (superwash merino, not handspun other wool, otherwise I'd be looking at some nice felted sucks for my kids). I need to get a copy of that folk socks book. Congrats!