When It All Comes Together

Despite the obsession with spinning, knitting has continued.  This handsome pair of socks made their debut at Silver Lake on Sunday. (This picture is fairly true to color.) The extreme heat of summer has gone (and hopefully will not return) and one can entertain the idea of actually wearing socks again.

Birdsong was my pal for the DyeORama sock yarn exchange and she decided to use cochineal to dye the yarn.  The idea was to produce a nice red yarn, but serendipitously, it ended up a striking red violet. It is also laced with slight variations of color that give it a 'distressed vintage' look. Together with the Little Child's Sock pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks, the yarn inspired the name 'Vintage Victorian'.

Child's First Sock is one of my favorite patterns from the book and it's one of the socks I test knit for Nancy.  The yarn was perfectly suited to the style of the sock, which starts out with a very charming cuff and then moves onto a very pretty checkerboard pattern down the leg.  A bit of shaping at the ankle, and the continued checkerboard down the instep, made knitting very  entertaining.  The patterning ends in a point just before the toe decreases begin, and the sock  ends as it began, with interesting details of design.   It's almost as if the sock goddess made sure  the stars in the universe were aliened just so the perfect yarn and pattern could come together and help me create the best socks ever.

Vintage Victorian Socks
Pattern: Little Child's Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Hand Dyed by Birdsong for DyeORama
Start: July 1, 2006
End: July 28, 2006

Comments

[Annie]

They are beautiful! What kind of shoe do you think best compliments hand-knit socks? (Besides clogs) I just finished a pair of lacy ankle socks in cotton, but can't find a pair of shoes that doesn't either hide the socks or look ridiculous with socks. (I tried Crocs--looks ridiculous!)

[Vera]

Lovely, lovely socks. The pattern, yarn, and color all come together.

[Laurie]

Beautiful! Handdyed, lovely knit, good feet.

[Dave Daniels]

Those are great. The first photo really shows the different textures so well. It looks even better than the book photo. And the color is like raspberry sherbert. (And, in this heat, that's a good thing.)

[Rachel H]

Yes. I think those are indeed the best socks ever.

[chawne]

Congratulations on makings some gorgeous socks! I've not been inclined to try that pattern, but will now that I've seen your results.

[Jackie]

Oh Margene! I love, love, love those socks!! The color, the pattern - perfect!

[Susan Wallace]

They look lovely, Margene I'll put them on my must do list.

[sandy]

Oh my GOD! That last picture is stunning! STUNNING! Great job!

[Kelly]

Wow! Those socks are beautiful. The pattern and yarn are perfect together!

[Zarah]

They look wonderful! You're right, the color and pattern match perfectly. Enjoy your cooler weather!

[Joan]

Yep, those are the best socks ever. I love the color and the pattern. You are truly an expert sock knitter. No sock weather here yet with heat indices to be 111 today.

[Lolly]

A truly beautiful pair of socks! When I saw that you were working on this pattern, I have it another look... and I added it to my list! It is very nice with that cuff! :)

[Jan]

They look so pretty among the flowers!

[Carole]

They're awesome! I especially love that last photo of the socks in the wildflowers.

[Elizabeth]

Absolutely gorgeous, Margene. Love everything about them!

[Ann]

Really beautiful socks, Margene. A lovely creation.

[Kim]

Oooh, they are lovely. I love the checkered pattern on the cuff. I flip through that book every time I go to Barnes n' Noble--one of these days my self-restraint is going to crack.

[janine]

Gorgeous as you say a perfect match of yarn and sock pattern

[Kathleen]

Love those toes!! And the color is SO you!

[Kathleen]

And I will get them on my mother's Must do for Katy list. :)

[Susan]

Wow. I really love the socks, the color, everything! They're beautiful!

[Norma]

Those are really special, because as you say, all the elements came together. Birdsong's dyeing is gorgeous and you've matched the yarn to the pattern perfectly. Lovely, lovely.

[Michelle]

They look GREAT!

[Cara]

Beautiful socks, yarn, pictures! Fabulous!

[Judy]

Wonderful socks. I'd probably want to frame them. lol

[Kim]

Seeing the "feet in flowers" photo makes me laugh, thinking of Smith saying, "Don't hurt the flowers!" and you replying, "You can't kill asters! I want to make sure you can see the SOCKS!" Too funny.

They're beautiful!
xoxo

[Paula]

Those are beautimous, Margene. I enjoyed seeing all the photos, especially in the flowers.

[Cassie]

You just might get me back to sock knitting - those look gorgeous. And cochineal dyed yarn... mmm... bugs. ;-)

[Vicki]

Those are lovely, Margene. Are you tip-toeing through the asters in that last photo?

[Sarah HB]

That was the perfect pattern for that yarn!

[Wanda]

Lovely, lovely socks. The color is so delicate and beautiful and the sock design is very interesting. Not one I would normally choose, but with the sock yarn it is perfect. Great job as usual!

[Liz K.]

Wait! Did you just say "the best socks ever?" A perfect combination of yarn and pattern? Margene, you have stumbled upon the Holy Grail of sock knitters! This is a momentous occasion worthy of worldwide celebration!

Somehow, I knew it would be you who finally did it, although Cara was real close this winter!

[LJ]

Wow those are luscious! What a beautiful colour. I have to get that book, I have seen so many great socks knit from it.

[Roxie]

So did you ggrow the pink asters to match the socks? Everything else has come together so BEAUTIFULLY that it wouldn't surprise me. You should give us yearly update photos of the Vintage Victorians so we can see how they are loved into holes, darned, maybe get the feet re-knit in another color . . . These are heirlooms!

[Cheryl]

I think you're right; those may well be the best socks ever!

[AmyP]

Those socks are absolutely wonderful - just the right amount of detail and a really lovely colour of yarn.

[Brenda]

All I can say is WOW! They are truly so gorgeous that I am speechless.

[Kelly]

how great do they look?? I love the colour the yarn turned out to be, I think it matches the Victorian name perfectly!

[Laura]

It's no surprise to me! I've been wanting to steal those socks since the moment you got the yarn from Birdsong! Do you know what base yarn she used for dyeing? You picked the perfect pattern to compliment the color Margene. Just beautiful. And of course (like everyone else has already said and you'll probably get fifty more comments saying so) the picture in the Asters is wonderful. Like it should be the pattern photo. Nancy needs to mention not only your name but also your blog for photo references in her acknowledgements! :)

[monica]

So so pretty! It's one of those socks I didn't like in the book and didn't want to knit until I saw yours!

[regina]

Those are just stunning. Lovely yarn, amazing pattern.

[Christine]

They are so beautiful!

[Martha]

Those are gorgeous! The pattern didn't really do anything for me in the book, but seeing the detail in yours (in your great photos) makes me want to knit a pair myself.

[Teyani]

those are spectacular! Congrats on the perfect combo of yarn and pattern - they fit like tea and honey.
Part of me agrees with Martha's commment (directly above this) that they look so much more gorgeous on someone's feet than just laying there in the book ~ hah.
Now I just need to find the perfect yarn also :-)

[Julia]

They ARE the best socks ever! I have three pair on the needles and I am not impired by any of them. I want to start new ones, but I am out of needles. Guess I'll have to finish something. Yours are inspiration.

[Jennifer]

Gorgeous! That yarn was meant to be those socks! Just lovely.

[amanda]

Wonderful photos! I think those are officially my favorite pair of socks in all of blogland.

[peg]

Wonderful combo of pattern and yarn. They look like they are on an adult's foot. Did you adjust the pattern?

[valoree]

Yes, they are truly lovely (this from one who said she'd never knit socks...never say never). Anyhow, I looked in vain for that fascinating pattern in my book, until I went page by page. For other anal readers, the pattern is actually Little Child's Sock on page 97.