I finished my Garnet Cassie on October 16 - it is now blocking - so I decided to knit the next Janel Laidman sock pattern in my unofficial queue - the Sylvan Socks. I had the yarn already caked up and in my sock project bag, along with needles of the correct size, so it was all ready to go. Full disclosure, I actually cast on back on October 8 because I had finished the bodice of the Garnet Cassie and wanted to take photos before moving on to the body, but it was too late for photos, but not too late for more knitting. The yarn is the original club yarn - Abstract Fibers Might Sock - and is 50% superwash merino and 50% tencel, which is probably what saved it from the predation of the carpet beetles that destroyed much of the other club yarns. I have only found two thin spots that I had to break and rejoin so far (keeping fingers crossed that my luck continues to hold). I will confess that I had my doubts about the yarn, but it has grown on me. I do like the shine, and the very subtle coloring. The above photo was actually taken on the morning of October 10, and that was all that I did on this project until I had cast off my Garnet Cassie.
After finishing one repeat of Chart 1, I took a quick picture this past Thursday (October 16), my Garnet Cassie having been finished and laid out for blocking.
I finished up the leg that evening.
Friday morning found me working the heel flap and turning the heel while catching up on my Long Thread Media podcasts, although I redid the pick up of the stitches along the heel flap later that afternoon.
By Friday evening I had finished up Chart 3 (Chart 2 being the rib pattern for the heel flap). Chart 3 presented the first issue. As you can see the gusset decreases are actually on the top of the foot, and are part of Chart 3, which has you decrease at the beginning and end of every other row, but the first row requires 35 stitches, and you only have 33. I just omitted the decreases on that first row, and everything worked out fine after that. At some point I shifted stitches from the bottom of the foot needle to the top of the foot needle so that all of my bottom of the foot stitches were knit stitches, and the ribbed portion was on the top of the foot needle. For the last 6 rows of Chart 3, you start working lifted increases on the sole of the foot, as the decreases on the top of the foot are taking you below the starting stitch count for the sock. The pattern does not indicate which lifted increase (left or right) to use before and after the 3 stitches that you do them on either side of, and for those three increases I did them on the first and last of the 3 stitches. When I got to Chart 4 I changed that to the stitches before and after the 3 stitches, which looks better, but I did not go back and fix those first increases. I will do them consistently on sock two.
Chart 4 presented the next challenge because there were several errors. For Chart 4 you continue decreasing 2 stitches on the top of the foot, and increasing 2 stitches on the bottom of the foot, and yet Chart 4 has a constant stitch count, and the stitch count is 33 stitches. The only way to do that is if you keep slipping stitches from the bottom of the sock to the top of the sock, and who wants to do that every other row? The pattern does not include any instructions to that effect, either, although you can infer that something is going on by the fact that when you get done with Chart 4 the instructions tell you to slip 1 stitch from the top of the sock to the sole so that you have 32 stitches on each needle. In any case, I did not do any slipping of stitches until I had finished Chart 4, which I finished up this morning. In knitCompanion I un-highlighted the extra knit stitches in Chart 4 so that I had a consistent 7 knit stitches before and after the patterning. I also kept the central double decrease in knit (there are two rows where it looks to be purled), so that entire line of stitches is knit stitches. The purl columns from the heel flap are gradually consumed in Chart 4 until only 2 purl columns remain.
And here is the sock after Chart 4 is completed. I have to say, the fit is really good.
And here is a look at the patterning on the top of the foot. All I need to do now are the rounds until I get to the toe decreases.
Pattern: Sylvan Socks by Janel Laidman
Yarn: Abstract Fibers Might Sock
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