Schleppy Socks

This project has come, been, and gone.

Or, more accurately, cast on, knit, and ends woven in.

With all the sock carnage lately I thought it might be best to knit myself a pair to take the burden off the existing pairs.

Socks were my second project after I learned to knit, so I've been knitting socks for a while now. Once I hit around 14 pairs I transitioned to wearing hand knit socks almost exclusively.

This puts a lot of wear and tear on them. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that some need repairs.

Despite all that it's been a while since I knit myself a pair of socks. According to my Ravelry notebook the last pair I knit myself was in September 2010. In fact, I haven't knit many pairs of socks in general lately.

The last pair I knit was for my sister-in-law. I started them around the time we moved last year and didn't finish them until our vacation in March. She likes them very much.

I could not tell you what caused this sock dearth recently. Although judging by my Ravelry notebook the last pair I attempted to knit myself were those Skew socks. That was traumatic and I guess put me off.

Of course, I've also had a lot going on recently. Lots of projects on the needles. Spreading myself thin knitting wise.

Still, I always seemed to have a pair of socks on the needles regardless of other projects, so being sockless is pretty odd.

Back On Track
Anyway. After all that darning I snapped and decided it was time to whip out a pair.

This pair took 3 weeks, which is a little unusual.

There is nothing exciting to report about them because they are just plain old stockinette stitch, which is a nice soothing pair of socks.
There was a brief moment of excitment when I tried to work the gusset decreases in a different place just to mix things up.

Instead of working the decreases from the point where the instep and the heel flap joined I worked them in the middle of the sock. I left two stitches in between. I thought it would make an interesting decoration on the instep.

Nope.

I guess I placed the decreases too close together because it created a tight spot on the sock. I seem to remember they were hard to put on and not comfortable at all. Unfortunatley I didn't realize that until the first sock was almost done.

Still, I did not hesitate to rip back to the heel turn and rework them in the traditional fashion.

Rhinebeck!
Actually, there is something exciting about these socks. I made them with yarn I bought at Rhinebeck.

Finally, a finished project using Rhinebeck yarn.

It's Alexandria yarn from Maple Creek Farm that I bought in 2009. I called them "Schleppy Socks" because they are the same colors as my "Schleppy Sweater."

It's nice yarn. It's a merino/nylon blend and felt quite normal while knitting. It has also softened up nicely with washing.

Of course with my little feet I have half a skein left. Guess I'll keep it on hand for any darning that might need to be done many years down the road.