Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Dublin Bay Socks

Finished! These socks were a self-imposed challenge: Work the stripes in a way I liked. See here for part one of the saga.

Pattern: Dublin Bay socks by Ryan Morrissey of Mossy Cottage Knits.

Yarn: Knitpicks Essential Multi Tuscany Special.

Needles: Knitpicks Harmony Double pointeds, US size 1.5 (2.5mm)

Pattern Review: The socks are knit cuff down with a lace panel, an eye of the partridge heel, and a grafted toe.

Knitting from the pattern was easy, the directions were clear. I basically followed the instructions as written with one change...

Modifications: I continued the lace design down both sides of the foot. Making the firestarter socks recently gave me the idea that the action on a sock can happen along the sides and I plan on experimenting with this concept more in the future.

Yarn Review: What can one say about Knitpicks yarn that hasn't been said already? I feel like this yarn is a great value, though I am not in love with the cranberry and evergreen Christmas colors. (personal preference - you do your thing and rock the Christmas if you want to)

Overall: Great socks! They were fun to knit, they fit well, and I'm proud of my first eye of the partridge heel. There is one problem, but not with the yarn or the pattern. Do you see it? Perhaps not, thanks to my creative posing. Clue: top photo.

The socks are not identical twins. I always seem to knit that second sock at a different gauge. I was bothered by this at first and kept trying to knit tighter or looser to see if it would help. Bad idea. This only made my gauge more inconsistent, which shows in the striping. I accept now that they are fraternal, and their bright colors make them look enough alike.

I don't know if you have noticed or why I am actually pointing this out to you, but the edge of my foot appears to have a level of whiteness my teeth would envy. Seeing my bright foot through the lace makes me want to put self tanning lotion along the sides of each foot immediately.

In conclusion, I love these socks!

3 comments:

Jenny said...

Oooh fancy heels :) I didn't even notice the striping until you pointed it out. I'm actually a fan of "mismatched" socks my self. As for the white skin, I'm totally feelin' ya. I'm in Alaska for the year and I'm getting whiter everyday. lol
Great socks!

Anonymous said...

I love this pattern. I did it mine in Trekking, stuck 100% to the pattern. Love how you approached it :)

Anonymous said...

Really like your take on these and I want to flatter you ("imitation...blah, blah, blah").

I have the same issue with gauge from one sock to the other and am really going to try to knit both socks at the same time...whether on the same needle (I ML) or on seperate ones. Anyhoo.

Great socks!