Sock Madness

Are you ready? Have you collected all those random scraps of sock yarn from all of their hiding places?  Ok, then here’s the sock for the final round of Sock Madness 2. Before you all go nuts - it’s a lot simpler than it looks. Just take a deep breath or 2 and it’ll be fine. If you look at the sock for a minute you can see that it’s really pretty simple once you get the strips of triangles made and put together.

The other thing about this sock that I should mention right up front is that it’s not the usual fit. The leg part is not going to be snug on most of us but, due to the construction, it’s not slouchy at all. It stands up and it looks great. The foot on the other hand it a classic sock fit. It’s unusual but it works really well and it’s totally cool.

In this post you can see two versions of the sock. Mine used 2 variegated yarns - one more colorful than the other. I think it works really well. The designer used a solid for most of the sock and made the triangles of many different yarns for a patchwork effect. Very differnt from my version and also totally fun.

Speaking of the designer for this round - it’s another returnee from Sock Madness One. Tricia Weatherston is actually the designer who gave us the cuffed sock from last year. That’s the sock that inspired Mtn. Mom’s Godmother Socks. Isn’t it neat the way that worked out?

Here are a few words from Tricia on the inspiration for this sock pattern.

I don’t know how other folk come up with designs for socks or other garments, but for me finished socks come unbidden into my mind. Some I sort out in my head and they never need to get knit. Having a ton of leftover sock yarns, this one needed to be knit. Having a clear picture in my head doesn’t always help once I pick up needles. I had been doing a lot of mitred/modular knitting, and I knew that I should be able to flip triangles back and forth to create a strip. I also knew, having knit some of the captivating modular designs of Red Bird Knits that a sock doesn’t have to be cast on and always knit in a tube. Flat things can be made into tubes, and with a little picking up and knitting, 3 needle bind offs and a wee seam you have a tube to build the rest of your sock. 

My first effort to accomplish this was truly awful. It was a mitred triangle but there was no way I was going to be able to coherently write it down and noone in their right mind or even their SM mind would want to knit it. If I didn’t have this sock in my head taunting me and the desire to submit a design to SM, I would have called it quits at this point. Instead, I hunted out my Module Magic book and sure enough what I wanted were equilateral triangles. Once I knew what kind of triangles, I could work out how many to fit around my leg and what the ideal size of triangle was. Originally the triangles were going to be much smaller but fortunately for you, even my love of fiddly knitting refused to make the triangles smaller. Even in SM knitting there are limits. Through all of this I kept thinking just because I can doesn’t mean I should. It became a discouraging mantra. I mean seriously, why would anyone want to knit these socks. One day , this past November I was reading the yarn harlot and her words leapt out at me”Doing something in a beguiling or particularly graceful way matters too.” If beguiling matters, or devilish as some of you are fond of saying, then I needed to finish the sock and submit it to SM. Lots of things got in my way family, Christmas, other deadlines, but in the end I submitted them the day before the much extended deadline for SM.

Thank you Carole and Hillary for your patience and such a great idea to start with.

Enjoy!

Tricia (Zemy on ravelry)

The schedule announced in the last post has been revised slightly in order to accomodate the schedules of the 4 finalists. The next and last pattern will be released on May 29th instead of the 22nd. We hope that it will be an exciting round.
In the meantime we will continue wrapping up outstanding business from previous rounds. The poll for the Hippy Ripply Retro Socks will go up over the weekend so there is still time to post and submit great pictures.

Here’s the sock for round 6. Let me start by saying that I’m not a cuffed sock person. At all. I love these socks though because of the details and the meticulous way that this pattern is written which made it such a joy to knit.

This toe up sock starts out simple with a rib but the thoughtful little details start just after the heel where the rib starts gradually. Nifty. Of course the true beauty is the cuff which is knit right on to the sock and works out so perfectly that after the last stitches are grafted you’ll be left with a perfect sock that needs nothing more than to have the ends woven in (or not).

I didn’t block these at all but I’m curious to see what they would look like if I did. If that lace cuff opened up a bit I’m sure it would be fantastic.  My only real advice to you all as you start this sock is to take the time to read the instructions and take advantage of all of the resources Deborah has collected for you. She even provided videos!
And now, a few words from Deborah, the designer of the sock for round 6.

Greetings, Sock Madness competitors and spectators!  Deborah “Mt. Mom” Swift here.
 
This pattern had its roots in last year’s competition.  I began with a basic toe-up sock,using wide-ish 3×1 ribs to stretch but look more elegantly smooth than 2×2.  The cuff idea came from Sock Madness 2007 round 3, “Painted Madness” by Tricia Weatherston (to get that pattern, e-mail Tricia at  twistedtreasures@verizon.net , or her LYS, Mountain Knits and Pearls, at  twistedtreasures@verizon.net — addresses current as of April 2007.).  That sock had a turn-down cuff which began with sideways garter stitch “points”.  (Any of y’all remember the beads I added to it last year?) I ended up being knocked out in that round, but those socks were my favorite of the competition.  I’m wearing them now, as I write!  In the post-round musings on Flickr, CelticMemory Jo waxed poetic about making boot socks with a lace flounce spilling out over the tops, and that image stuck with me.  That’s not exactly where I ended up, but it’s where I began.  Instead of starting with the cuff first, as Tricia did, I added it on last as if the sock were a lace shawl needing a non-binding edge.  After all, socks need to stretch at the top too!
 
I have loaded videos onto YouTube demonstrating several of the trickier steps in the pattern.  Links are below. 
 
You have the pattern, you have the technology — now get knitting!!!
 
Short Row Heel with YOs:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ttSoJoa4nU  (starting & turning)
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZCtOPmi204  (middle, more turning)
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjwvMu2TN3A  (completing)
 
Crochet Provisional Cast-On
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqWfea8oOH8
 
Godmother’s Socks:  Starting the Lace Cuff
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKUQrnSOj9Q
 
Godmother’s Socks:  Finishing the Lace Cuff
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxEec2W6UcI

Let the flogging commence (preferably with nothing more lethal than a wet noodle). I deserve it. I nearly forgot to post the Round 6 specs today. Perhaps it was the fiber fumes. The incredible amount of touring. The wine. I don’t know but here I am with a small peace offering. I have the specs for you AND a little something extra.

The next sock will be the sock formerly known as “E” and it requires:
Yarn: 340 yards fingering weight - Some Assembly Required “Wool Socks for Summer” in Tonal Apricot / Socks That Rock in Cobalt Bloom

Needles: US Size 1.5 (2.5 mm)

Gauge: 8.5 st /in

You’ll also need about 12″ of smooth scrap yarn in fingering weight and a crochet hook of an appropriate size (2-2.5mm) for a provisional cast on.  Those of you who, like me, use the magic loop, may also want to have a few dpns on hand. (same size as your circ)

Oh, and y’all are in luck.  Carole and I have been having so much fun we decided that there will indeed be a SM3.  I hope that this little tibit redeems me for my tardinees a bit.

Here is your pattern for the optional round.  The name of this pattern is Woven Cable Eyelt Socks but I think of them as Under the Porch because they remind me of the lattice found sheathing a porch on a country house.

It’s different from earlier rounds for a few reasons but mostly because it’s been highly modified since it was first submitted. Originally, it was written for dk weight yarn and larger needles.  I knit the test sock (seen here in red) and it just didn’t work for me.  The holes opened up too much and looked like they were straining, the heel was too snug and tricky to get on and… a DK yarn over US 5 needles would make these wayyyy too fast a knit for Sock Madness.

I loved the idea of a cabled sock and I really wanted it to work after all of the effort it took for the designer to get it submitted to us.  You just have no idea how many emails we got.  They came from home and from Kinkos etc. It came in pieces and different file sizes. 

After getting the designer’s ok, I started to modify this pattern for fingering weight yarn and changed ALL the numbers.  Since the pattern is mirrored on these socks that was a super tedious task but the resulting socks work much better. The cables are finer and more plentiful in this new version of the sock.   The eyelets look more delicate and the sock appears a bit more refined and less as if my foot may burst out of it.  Most importantly, the heel is easier to get on although I’d still watch the gauge around the heel.

The cables concerned me a little though.  For me, these socks are perfect with Crocs or for walking around the house.  In a shoe, I’m not sure how the cables would feel so we weren’t comfortable making these a required pattern.  With this in mind - the optional round was born.

Feel free to play with this pattern as you please.  In this round only, speed is not an issue so you may add, delete, amend and adjust as you wish.  The only requirement is that the cable pattern appear on the sock around the leg.  It doesn’t have to remain an anklet and the pattern need not run up the whole leg.

The designer chose to use a “princess foot” because the knit side of the fabric is more comfortable for some sensitive feet but you don’t have to.

This round is for any player who wants to give it a go.  It is NOT limited to the remaining twelve players whio are still in the competition.  We’d love to see what you come up with.

Because of the way this pattern developed (I didn’t complete the number revisions until last night) we have no designer bio for this round.  Hello Technoknitter!

This pair of socks was a Sock Madness first for me - the first test sock to become a pair.  Can you believe that?  I guess it was because my daughter laid claim to them as soon as she saw them on the needles.   I actually finished then a while ago and, as you can see - they’ve been around.  Here they are enjoying the sand and surf in Virginia Beach.  They’ve also been to a Girl Scout cookie sale where my daughter showed them off to everyone she saw.

The yarn I used was Dancing Leaf Farm Sock Hop in a color called Carnival.  Normally I wouldn’t go for a yarn like this but the colors were gorgeous and sucked me in.  It’s a wildly colored yarn and this pattern broke it up in such a way that it became even more interesting.  If there’s a lesson to be learned it’s that we should all take chances every now and again.

The pattern itself isn’t terribly difficult and we thought that it would be a nice change of pace.  It’s not always about difficult - sometimes it’s about the flow.  This is a toe up sock and it does use the Japanese short row heel.  Try it - you might like it.  In my socks I found that this method produced some of the nicest heels I’ve ever made.  Pefection!  Is it worth the fiddliness of using all those safety pins?  You be the judge.

Here are a few words from this round’s designer, Helen Darmara:

Hello Fellow Sock Knitters!
Like many of you, I love knitting socks. Partly it’s because my socks change size and shape less than the rest of me, partly it’s because I used to live in Houston, Texas where the only knitting I wanted to do or wear were socks. It’s so hot there that when people want a fire in the fireplace, they turn the air conditioning up!
Anyway, now I live on the coast of Maine and need the socks to keep my feet warm, so that’s what I do, I knit socks. I knit the occasional sweater, but that’s partly to use up the stash so I can buy new sock yarn.
I finally built up a stock of plain, quick to knit, no nonsense socks for the winter and decided to try something new. I had some Knit Picks Felici yarn, in a colorway that reminded me of my high school bed cover. The bed cover had big gold, orange and brown flowers, rather muted, but amazingly, exactly matched by the Felicia, with its very hippy retro shades of brown, orange, red and gold.
I wanted to design a pattern to break up the stripes. I’ve used slip stitch texture patterns before with painted yarns and liked the effect. This time, I used a slip stitch and lace combination that in the striped version reminds me of children’s jackets from the 50s with patterned fronts and plain knit collars. So, I named the pattern Hippy Ripply Retro Socks. I prefer a slip stitch or peasant heel when I knit with a striped yarn; it gives that nifty chevron at the heel. I confuse myself with the yarn over short rows, my picked up wraps are really out of scale, so I tried the Japanese short row technique. I hope you like the result.

Have fun!

In the interest of being able to start a round on a weekend for a change, we’re giving you all the specs for round 5 on the same day that round 4 was complete.  We’ve got a few other updates for you too.

It was always our intent to allow a bit more time for those not on the fast track to complete their socks and stage them creatively.  That got lost a bit in all of the SM2 frenzy.   In an effort to get that back on track and foment creativity we are stretching out the time for submitting creative entries.  For round 4 you have until 8pm on May 1 to post your pictures and let us all know about them.  We hope that gives all of you interested in using the dyeing technique the time to try it out.

The voting for round 3 will be posted on Friday so if you still have pictures to post – have at it.  Yes, the deadline passed but a few of you mentioned ideas that you didn’t have time to execute and we want to see them.

The Round 5 Specs

The next sock was listed as sock F on the supply list.  The designer used KP Felici yarn and I used Dancing Leaf Sock Hop.  The Sock Hop yarn comes in skeins with about 373yds and I had plenty of it left over.

The gauge is 8 st/12 rows per inch using US 1 (2.25mm) needles.  You’ll also need 20 safety pins per sock – yup, this is your Japanese short row heel.

Expect to see this pattern between about 7 and 10am on Sunday.

ETA - The magic number this round is 3.  Three knitters from each division will get thru.

Round 3 sure did go fast, didn’t it? We’re still working out what to do about the opening in Tennessee but we’ll let you know as soon as we’ve decided. In the meantime, we know you’re all anxious to end the suspense about Round 4. We’re going to start this one on Monday due to the upcoming Passover holiday this weekend. So, specs today and the pattern on Monday between 6 am and 10 am our time.

Here’s what you need to know:

Yarn: approx. 360 yards fingering weight sock yarn, white or other light color such as Louet Gems Merino White, 185 yards/50 grams per skein)

Needles: Size 1 circular, or size needed to obtain gauge (written for 1 or two circ method, easily adapted for DPNs)

Gauge: 8.5 stitches per inch

Additional supplies: Couple yards of smooth, contrasting waste yarn for heel.

Optional supplies: Wilton, Easter egg or other dyes appropriate for fiber content.

This pattern is written for a plain colored yarn with directions for dip-dyeing the sock when it’s finished. The test sock was knit with Claudia’s Handpaint and was not dyed at the end. We are leaving the dyeing portion of this pattern entirely up to you. Your socks will be considered finished when they are knit and you can dye them later if you choose to do that.

The first 6 finishers in each division will advance to the next round.

Here it is – the long awaited and much anticipated Laceweight sock pattern. Be prepared because it’s like no other sock you’ve knit. Actually, I think it’s better described as a sweater for the foot. You’ll see what I mean. This is one very light and cushy sock.

This pattern was one of a batch submitted for last year’s games by Tina, who gave us the Mad Weave and the Batik sock. As I said when we released the Mad For Fair Isle Batik Style pattern, Tina’s ideas totally freaked us out when she first submitted them - not unlike the way the idea of a laceweight sock is freaking you all out – but they totally worked. When I saw the pictures of this sock, I loved it and really wanted to try it but I’m one of those who felts socks just by wearing them so, unless I could find superwash laceweight, I just couldn’t even consider it. It did stick in my mind though and when I saw that Tess had the perfect yarn in those gorgeous colors I instantly thought of this sock.
This pattern seems really simple and it is. The pattern repeat is easy to remember and there are no crazy techniques to learn. The tricky thing is keeping the 2 strands together – especially when you add a slipped stitch to the mix. It’s way too easy to mistakenly knit the slipped stitch together with one next to it as I did. (see picture) Sadly I didn’t notice until it was too late.
The fun is in watching the colors change. As I knit this sock I wondered what would happen if I added a third color or even a fourth to the mix. How fun would that be? Best of all, because the yarn is laceweight, when it was time to change colors I simply broke the yarn being discontinued (leaving a 2-2 inch tail and knit it in with the 2 from the new combination. It’s so thin that it broke easily and is barely noticeable. I should add that although it broke easily it never broke unless I wanted it to.
As usual, here are a few words from Tina. I know that she’s looking forward to seeing how your socks emerge and I am too.

I am so grateful the organizers took a chance on me, a new designer, and chose 2 of my sock designs for last year’s Sock Madness: Mad Color Weave and Mad for Fair Isle Batik Style.
I’m back for Sock Madness II and designed your next challenge, Slippin’ Stripin’ socks. I had no idea there would be so many discussions on the laceweight needed for this pattern – and I can’t tell you how much I wanted to jump in on them! – but I hope you’ll find this pattern worth it. Besides didn’t it enhance the suspense?
Some guessed early on and correctly that the laceweight is doubled, colors change, and even that it incorporates slip stitches. There aren’t any new techniques in this pattern but maybe you’ll enjoy the blending and changing of colors as much as I did. This pattern should work for men and women; the colors you choose will decide the character of your sock. I’m looking forward to what you all come up with!
Happy Knitting!
Tina Lorin
Ravelry: daydreamknitter
Blog: Knit Tenacity (http://woolgatheringandmore.blogspot.com)

P.S. Tina submitted great pictures of her version of the sock but I am a dork and due to my computer issues, I lost them. Trust me, her version looked great.

Sorry to keep you all needlessly in suspense.  It certainly wasn’t intentional.  It turns out that Emeraldcutie submitted her email exactly per the instructions and, somehow the X failed to get posted although we did reply to the email. Our best guess would be that WordPress ate it.  Stuff happens but I suppose that the moral of this story is that you should always make sure that your completed socks are properly noted. 

 Moving right along to the next socks.  They will be the laceweight socks and the specs are:

 US 2 / 2.75mm needles

35 stitches/53 rounds over 4 inches in (s1, k3) slip-stitch pattern worked in the round on 2.75mm

needles

 Knit Picks Shadow [100% merino wool; laceweight; 400 yd per 50 gram hank]

Colors:

A - Campfire 23659 (heathered orange), 1 hank;

B - Sunset 23661 (heathered red), 1 hank;

OR

2 colors of any lace weight yarn, at least 400 yards of each

 As I mentioned the other day, I checked my leftover Tess the other day and these were the results. Each skein of Tess is about 50g when full. Weighing the 2 leftover balls I found that one had about 16g, the other 20g.

 This sock will not be super difficult – the pattern repeats are easy to remember once you get going.  The tough thing is maintaining the 2 strand pairings.  It gets especially tricky when you factor in the slipped stitches and there are a lot of slipped stitches.

 The number for this round will be 12 per division and the pattern will be sent out on Thursday between 8pm and midnight my time.  It ought to allow for good weekend knitting for all.

 For those of you who are feeling creative, the deadline for artsy (or just plain weird) shots will be 6pn Thursday and the voting will open on Friday.  As far as what you can submit for the creative shots – whatever you want.  Just keep it clean.  If you have a great idea for showing of your half completed socks then feel free.  The only requirement is that the pattern of the round, Reversai, should be featured. 

 More on the creative stuff tomorrow.