Sylvan Socks - Sock One Done, Sock Two Cast On…and More!

These socks have been a very quick knit.  I finished up the first sock Saturday afternoon.  I have taken to working the Kitchener stitch on the toes while I am wearing the sock, that way I can pull the yarn snug and not worry about things being too tight.  It really does make that part easier, in some respects, although you do have to be flexible enough to get your knee to your chest (not something I have a problem with).  After finishing it up and weaving in all the ends I immediately cast on the second sock.  By early Sunday afternoon I had finished up the leg.

I worked the heel flap, turned the heel and started on Chart 3 Sunday evening, and finished up Chart 3 this morning.

I’ll finish up this sock in pretty short order and then I think I will do another sock (it is Socktober, after all).  I have one more sock pattern in this club to make, and even though the original yarn was destroyed by carpet beetles I did find an excellent substitute in my stash and it is all caked up and ready to go.

Pattern:  Sylvan Socks by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Abstract Fiber Mighty Sock

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)

Sylvan Socks - Cast On!…And More!

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

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)

Rosemary - Finished!

After finishing up my Purple Haze Tredegar Scarflette, I did work some on my Garnet Cassie Slipover, but I decided to finish up my Rosemary socks.  I cast these on back in June, about four months ago, and I just wanted to get them done.  I finished up the first sock back on September 25 and finished up the second sock on October 2, so one week for one sock.  Of course, these do have a lot of cabling, so they are not as quick a knit as a less ornate sock might be.

The fit is perfect and I’m very happy with how they came out.  These were one of the sock patterns from Janel Laidman’s Knitterati club, from over a decade ago.  She has since pretty much vanished from the knitting scene.  I still have two more sock patterns in this club to knit, and have the yarn caked up and in my sock project bag, and the pattern set up in knitCompanion for the next one that I’m going to do when I’m ready to cast on.

Pattern:  Rosemary by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Alpha B Yarns Elite B

Needle:  US 1 (2.25 mm)

Rosemary - Sock Two, Foot Done!

I finished up the foot this past Sunday afternoon (and am almost halfway through Chart 2 on the leg), while watching our Sunday line-up of weekly news shows.  Although I have cast on my Garnet Cassie, I decided to focus on this project and get it finished up before I really jumped in to another Cassie Slipover.  When I was working I definitely was a poly knitter, with lots of projects on my needles - typically on the order of two dozen!  Since retiring I have reduced the number of projects down to twelve, and I’m trending toward project monogamy.  That may be due, in part, to my trend towards multi-craftualism.  There is only so much creative energy to go around.  My biggest challenge is that I want to make all the things, and time is finite, even if ambition and imagination are not.  

Pattern:  Rosemary by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Alpha B Yarn Elite B

Needle:  US 1 (2.25 mm)

Rosemary - One Sock Done!

I have been focusing on this project for the past few days and last night I cast off sock number one.  I did one full repeat of chart 2 on the foot and one full repeat of chart 2 on the leg.  I thought about doing a second repeat on the leg, but given that the ribbing at the top is 24 rows, I decided not to.

The fit is pretty good.  After finishing up sock one I immediately cast on sock two (no second sock syndrome here) and I’m already past the toe increases and working chart 1.

Pattern:  Rosemary by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Alpha B Yarn Elite B

Needle:  US 1 (2.25 mm)

Rosemary - Foot Done!

I haven’t touched this project since early June, but Saturday evening I pulled it out and started working on it again.  I made it through the rest of Chart 1 and almost to the point where I needed to start the gusset increases Saturday evening, and then made it through the gusset, the heel turn and the heel flap on Sunday.  I did lifted increases for all of my increases, at this point I just need to knit the leg.  I knit all of Chart 1 and one full repeat of Chart 2 on the foot.  I have been using my Lumos neck light when working on this one as well, with the tight gauge and all the cabling it just makes seeing the stitches easier.

Pattern:  Rosemary by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Alpha B Yarn Elite B

Needle:  US 1 (2.25 mm)

Rosemary - Chart 1 Almost Done

I have been making progress on my Rosemary sock and have almost made it through chart 1.  I am enjoying the knit and the yarn is very nice to work with.  With all the cabling these will definitely be house socks, I don’t think I have any shoes that I could put these socks into.

Pattern:  Rosemary by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Alpha B Yarn Elite B

Needle:  US 1 (2.25 mm)

Rosemary - Cast On!

One of the skeins in Box F1, which I am working my way through (more or less) is this luscious red skein of Alpha B Yarn by Elite B.  It is 80% Superwash Merino, 10% Cashmere, 10% Nylon, and came to me as part of Janel Laidman’s Knitterati club, so it is a two-fer.  It continues my knitting up of the Knitterati club patterns (at least the sock patterns), and helps me knit up the yarn in Box F1.

As can be seen in the picture, it is knit toe-up, which is a sock construction method that I truly enjoy, although I am not doing any special shaping on the toe.  I used Judy Becker’s magic cast on, as slightly modified by the Sockmatician.  This design has lots of cables.

Pattern:  Rosemary by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Alpha B Yarn by Elite B

Needle:  US 1 (2.25 mm)

 

Taliesin Socks - Finished!

And they are done!  The second sock went quickly, although I did have a couple of tinking episodes.  My pick up on the gusset on the right hand side wasn’t right, but I didn’t realize it until I had worked a couple of rows, so I had to tink that back and do it over.  The second issue was during the toe graft when my back needle slipped and I dropped a stitch and didn’t realize it right away and the stitch dropped down two rows before I caught it, but I did catch it.  I got out my neck lamp, undid the entire graft (which admittedly was only 13 stitches) and redid it.

Pattern:  Taliesin Sock by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Madelinetosh Tosh Sock

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)

Taliesin Sock - One Sock Done!

Once I got to the foot, things went quickly.  I did not do the foot as it was designed in the pattern - there was some unusual shaping and I just didn’t want to deal with it.  Plus, when I’m knitting cuff down I like to shape my toes so that they actually match the shape of my real toes, which for a left foot involves doing most of my decreases on the left side as you might be able to see in the picture below.  When I get to the end of the foot I just keep trying on the sock as I go and making decreases as needed, recording what I’m doing (in this case on my Ravelry project page).  When I get to the end of the toe I graft the stitches while the sock is on my foot, so I can pull the stitches snug without worrying about them being too tight.   While it may be a tad awkward to do, when I do it this way my toe grafts always come out great.

I did discover that my gauge is not as tight as the gauge called for in the pattern.  I had already discovered that my row gauge was different when I was working the heel flap, as I only worked 26 rows instead of 32 as called for in the pattern.  I had my suspicions regarding the stitch gauge, but I needed a stretch of stockinette to get a decent stitch gauge measurement.  Once my suspicion was confirmed, I put in one of my afterthought lifelines and ripped back to the last gusset decrease and did an extra set of decreases on the top and bottom of the foot to take the stitch count down to 64 from 68 (I was making the medium size).

I do love working the heel turn and gusset, they still seem like magic to me.

This was probably the try on that led me to rip back.  I had only knit four or so rounds after the last gusset decrease.

Pattern:  Taliesin Sock by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Madelinetosh Tosh Sock

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)

Taliesin Sock - Two Legs Done!

Last night I finished up the leg on sock two.  This one went a bit faster as I mostly avoided the mistake I kept making on the first leg (starting the next round half way round the sock).  The pattern on the bottom half of the leg is mostly the same, just a little four row stitch pattern on the long column of stitches, and it was hard to read (dark yarn, tiny stitches).  I only had to tink back once on the second leg.  The progress keeper attached to the sock near the end of the round definitely helped keep me on track.  On to the heel flap.

Pattern:  Taliesin Sock by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Madelinetosh Tosh Sock

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)

Taliesin Sock - One Leg, and One Cuff Finished!

Finally, I’ve finished the leg of one sock.  Dark yarn, and a stitch pattern that I kept messing up despite its apparent simplicity, even after I added a progress keeper as another visual queue for the beginning of the round, in addition to the yarn tail that I typically use.  Now I will work the leg on the other sock, having already worked the cuff and the Latvian braid on that one.  Hopefully I will not make as many mistakes on that one, and it will go quicker.

Pattern:  Taliesin Sock by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Madelinetosh Tosh Sock

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)

Taliesin Socks - Cast On!

Actually I cast on these socks over a year ago (best guess - November of 2023), knit 9 rows of the ribbing and then just sort of forgot about them.  I discovered them when I was setting up my project box for Tessellation Nation.  The project was hiding in a Harris Tweed project bag that I had purchased from The Woolly Thistle.  When I had stashed it in the project bag I had failed to stash the yarn label with the yarn, so the first thing I did was hunt that down.  I have a large zip lock bag that has the Janel Laidman patterns along with yarn and that is where I found the yarn label, although I did go down a rabbit hole because there was a yarn label that had Taliesin Sock on it.  That yarn was used for the Damselfly Socks.  This yarn is Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in the Flashdance colorway.  The original skein was a total loss due to evil bugs, so it was pitched.  Fortunately I was able to procure another one.  The yarn does not match what is in the photo, but some sleuthing on Ravelry (looking at project pages for the pattern) allowed me to make the match.

I did not work the Latvian braid as she called for in the pattern (and in the video link she provided), with a second strand of yarn.  I worked a Latvian braid the way I learned how, where you make a stitch, put it back on the left hand needle, then knit into the back of the second stitch, and the front of the first stitch and drop them both off the left hand needle.  Then you transfer the first stitch on the right hand needle to the left hand needle as if to knit and repeat.  A video by Romi showed me how to join when I got to the end of the round.  You do end up with an extra stitch, so I did a decrease at the beginning of my second needle (I work on two circulars).  I also changed out the beads as I wasn’t crazy about the ones that were provided with the pattern.  Fortunately I have an excellent bead stash.

Pattern:  Taliesin Sock by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Madelinetosh Tosh Sock

Needle:  US 1 (2.25 mm0

Mackintosh Socks - Finished!

I finished up the second sock on Halloween, while we were watching The Abominable Dr. Phibes with Vincent Price.  It is a very campy movie, but I love Vincent Price.  I haven’t cast on my next pair of socks, but I do have the yarn caked up and I have the pattern mostly set up in knitCompanion.

Pattern:  Mackintosh by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Cascade Yarns Heritage Sock

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)

 

Mackintosh Socks - Take Two - One Sock Done!

The first sock worked up pretty quickly.  I took this project to work with me, and used knitCompanion on my phone.  It actually worked quite well, and I will probably continue to take my sock projects to work.  They are small and easy to work on at my desk.  Because of the patterning they don’t make good mindless knitting for reading documents, but they work great during meetings.  The pattern calls for a plain stockinette stitch heel.  I think if I were to do these over again I would work a slip stitch heel, but overall I am very pleased with how they came out.  They are very comfortable and fit well.

Pattern:  Mackintosh by Janel Laidman

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)

Yarn:  Cascade Yarns Heritage Sock

Mackintosh Socks - Take Two

I was working on the cuff of the second sock when I decided to give up.  Really, I should have known better.  As you may recall, this skein of yarn had taken bug damage (carpet beetles), but I thought I had enough to make it worth while to try to use it.  I had one join in the first sock, but when I got to the eighth join on the second sock (two in the foot, three in the heel, two already in the cuff) I decided enough was enough.  I wasn’t sure what yarn I would pick from my stash to replace the club yarn (Alisha Goes Around Tracks of Bison Fingering), but as I was cataloging (relatively) recent stash acquisitions, I came across this lonely skein of Cascade Yarns Heritage in this lovely blue.  It is knitting up at a slightly tighter gauge than the club yarn, so I added two more increases to bring the stitch count up to 64 (splitting the difference between the small at 60 stitches and the large at 68).  I am working an asymmetrical toe, so it actually mirrors the shape of my foot.  So far I am happy with the fit and it feels much nicer than the club yarn, and is easier to knit with.

Pattern:  Mackintosh by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Cascade Yarns Heritage

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)

Mackintosh Sock - One Sock Done!

I finished up the first sock yesterday afternoon.  The cuff is not super long, so there were no issues with the fit - it never got up to my muscular calf.  Overall I’m very pleased with the fit.  I think the reason the yarn feels different from other sock yarns I’ve used is the fact that it does not have any nylon, it just feels springier.

Pattern:  Mackintosh by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Alisha Goes Around Tracks of the Bison Fingering

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)

Mackintosh Socks - One Foot Done!

I finished up the foot of my right sock last night.  There is an error in the pattern on the heel turn, as it states to “Continue in this manner, decreasing the number of stitches worked before the M1 on each row until you p8 (12) M1p,” but on the purl rows you’re working an odd number of stitches, and you have to go until you p7 (11) if you want to get the required stitch count of 30 stitches between the markers.  Initially I was working wraps on my turns, and when I started working the last rows where you work the wraps I tried an experiment where I worked the wrap with the next stitch, instead of the stitch that it wraps, which often looks messy on the wrong side.  I did like the look better on the wrong side, but then I had that last wrapped stitch before the marker and I couldn’t figure out what to do with that one.  So I ripped back to the start of the heel turn and did German Short Rows instead.  I found the double stitches easier to see than the wraps and they work in beautifully.  I also did lifted increases for all of my make ones, working them on the stitch before the stitch that I turned on.

I have been neglecting some of my other projects, apparently socks can make me an (almost) monogamous knitter.  I have a nice little collection of hand knit socks, and for a while a vanilla self-striping sock project was my work project, but I haven’t been wearing them much, until lately.  I like having colorful, unusual socks to wear, and it is getting harder to find what are now called novelty socks that aren’t mostly synthetic fibers, and I really don’t like wearing synthetic fibers (they irritate my skin), so I have been wearing more of my hand knit socks.  I had forgotten how comfortable they are.  I see a lot more socks in my future, which is good, because I have a lot of sock yarn, and a lot of sock patterns (there was a time when I was joining a lot of sock clubs).

Pattern:  Mackintosh Socks by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Alisha Goes Around Tracks of Bison Fingering

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)

 

Mackintosh Socks - Cast On!

This one took a couple of tries to get a result that I was happy with.  This is another pattern from the Art &  Sole Sock club by Janel Laidman.  As can be seen, it is knit from the toe up, and it comes in two sizes small (8” circumference) and large (10” circumference).  I started out working as per the pattern, with a symmetrical toe, casting on 24 stitches (12 on each needle), and working the increases to get to the stitch count of the large size (based on my experience with the Damselfly socks).

But when I started working the foot after completing all of the increases I was just not happy with how it was fitting.  This yarn is a bit different from other sock yarns that I have worked with.  It is Alisha Goes Around Tracks of Bison Fingering, and it contains no nylon.  It is 90% Merino, 10% Bison, and it just behaves a bit differently.   So I frogged and started over.  This time I decided that I would tackle the asymmetrical toe shaping, so I pulled out my notes from Damselfly and cast on on 34 stitches (17 on each needle) and then worked two sets of increases where I increased on both ends, and then continued with increasing only on the right, as this will be for my right foot.  When I got to 30 stitches on each needle I stopped working any increases, having determined that for my foot (at least) the small size was going to fit me perfectly.  I will see what happens when I get to the cuff, I may need to do some increases there, but fortunately the cuff charts make it easy for me to do that.

This is the club yarn that came with the pattern, and it did take some damage from bugs, but I decided to cake it up and see how bad the damage was.  It turned out to not be too bad.  I have two good sized cakes (40 grams & 30 grams), plus some smaller balls.  Given how much yarn a typical sock takes, and the fact that this pattern is toe up, I decided to use the yarn.

Pattern:  Mackintosh by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Alisha Goes Around Tracks of Bison Fingering

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)

Damselfly Socks - FInished!

The second sock went quickly and I am very happy with how they came out.  I reversed the shaping on the first sock for the second sock, so there is a left and right sock and the fit is perfect.  Because the toes are asymmetrical, blocking is a bit odd - the toes don’t quite fit on the blocker but it is close enough.  It turns out that I was mistaken and that I did get a digital copy of the pattern, it just was not provided as a standalone file, it was in the Art & Sole Patterns file that contained three other patterns as well.

Pattern:  Damselfly by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Kelpie Fibers Taliesin MCN Sock

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)