FO Friday: Bluerose Socks

I feel like I stared these socks forever ago but they really only took me a couple months to make.  

I fell in love with Knitty's Blackrose Socks and set this yarn aside for them as soon as I bought it.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize the pattern was written cuff down.  I. Hate. Cuff. Down.

Now that I've finally figured out how to make socks that fit me great, I really refuse to do them any other way if I can help it.  Toe up socks with a gusset, slightly increasing over the ball of my foot and decreasing extra after the heel turn.  I was lazy with these ones and figured I'd just work the chart rows 8 to 1 instead of 1 to 8 and see how it came out.  It does not come out the same.  But I'm ok with that.


Someday I'll have to knit them again, either working the chart in the right direction but from the toe up, or rewriting it to work out backwards.  I feel like I'll be doing a lot of that in the future.

I also knit these with the purl bottoms, just like my Open Hands Socks.  Two pairs done and I don't need to do a third to understand two things:  1- I don't like working on these socks when they have the purl bottom. It makes me hate them the whole way through, even after I've turned the heel.  2- The purl bottoms don't feel any different than a regular knit sock.

Conclusion:  It's not worth the hassle.  It was worth a shot though.

Pattern:  Blackrose Socks

Project Page:  Bluerose Socks

Yarn:  Sanguine Gryphon Little Traveller

Needles:  US 0

Mods:  Many!  Worked toe-up with a heel gusset, following the chart rows backwards from written directions.  Sole of the sock worked in reverse stockinette stitch.

Open Hands Socks

Forever and ever ago, I heard an interview of Barbara Walker by the Knitmore Girls on their podcast and she mentioned that she always worked the bottom of her socks in purl stitches (purls on the right side, knit fabric on the inside of the sock).  I was intrigued and recently decided to try this out.

I used some leftover Stroll from my Geometry Shawl and a simple stitch pattern out of Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume Five: Lace Knitting.  And attempted to do what Barbara does...

I really hated knitting these socks.  At first I thought it was because of the needles.  I started on a pair of KnitPicks metal size 0s and the join was terrible.  Absolutely the worst.  But then I switched to my Chiaogoo's and I still hated working on them.

I definitely hated having to do all the purling.  It was no fun.  But I really didn't like the stitch pattern much either.  Now I knew it wasn't the best choice for this yarn, but I just wanted something simple so it wasn't a plain stockinette sock.  But the pattern really wasn't memorize-able and that I think was the real problem for me.

I would definitely try this again.  It really was pretty cushy under my feet.  But I wouldn't do the WHOLE half of the sock in purls.  I'd do at least a couple knits on either end of the needle.

I even did the heel in purl but the gusset in knits.

I'll keep you updated on how they hold up!