I finished up 2009 by knitting up a pair of socks done in Briggs & Little Durasport, a blend of 80% wool & 20% nylon. The colour is a most beautiful shade of a dark green & an ivory colour for contrasting toes, heels, & some stripes.
I started these socks with the intention of doing them the Queen Kahuna way (Crazy Toes & Heels fame) then changed to a pattern from 'Folk Socks' by Nancy Bush then to inspiration from 'Simple Socks' by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts.
This means I did them toe up with the cast on by Mary Ann Beattie (aka Queen Kahuna), did the increases (incorrectly) then as I was knitting up the foot I was side tracked by 'Simple Socks' (which I was reading while I was knitting) before I did the heel.
'Simple Socks' is a book I got in 2009, I think, and since it was still early in my sock knitting learning curve when I got it, I put it away to concentrate on 'Crazy Toes & Heels' by Mary Ann Beattie.
Anyway, the idea of trying a short row heel interested me & I thought I would give it a try on these. So I did & the first one wasn't so great, so I tried again on the second sock (because I do 2 at a time) & it really pleased me. So then I went back to the first sock, took out the heel & did it over. This time it was good. I like this method - even if just for a change, but I wanted to learn something new.
I don't like doing things the same way all of the time - I need variety in everything. I started with Knit Picks circulars in 2.25mm & when I got to the heel I did one on circs & the other with dpn's.
As I was knitting, I was also reading the socknitter's list where someone introduced me to the 'Fibronacci sequence'. This is a method of planning pleasing stripes. Since I had planned on putting a stripe of ivory near the top of the cuff, I decided to include Fibonacci sequence stripes.
I'm going to wear them today!!!
