Identical Twins

Yes, at last I've knit a pair that are as close to identical as I can imagine self-striping socks to ever be. To say "we are pleased" is an understatement.

I knit these straight, because I've decided that boldly self-striping yarn doesn't do any justice to a pattern at all. Why bother? Even ribbing can be too visually annoying. Problem is, I 've never gotten a pair to fit my leg very well without ribbing. So this time I stepped down to 52 stitches and knit the cuff with #2 needles, then dropped down a size to #1 on the foot. They fit loverly! I now have the formula for my own foot, and will plan on more of these socks for my idiot-proof-riding-in-the-car-holding-up-my-end-of-the-conversation projects. Hard to believe so few stitches for such a monumental foot. I must be a really loose knitter. I won't argue with results though.

Steinbach Wolle Aktiv Effekt, a typical sock yarn but slightly softer than Opal and even Trekking.

Stars and Stripes

At the risk of having you seeing stars with yet another picture of the same ol' stripes, I'm going to post a few more shots. I'm really enjoying knitting with this yarn, and part of the reason is that I can actually see the stitches. You see, I have cataracts so dark solids are a bit of a problem for me. Then today at the Socknitters Forum, someone mentioned teaching, and it occurred to me that this type of stripey yarn is a marvelous teaching aid. The student can clearly see each stitch. It's a whiz counting rows.

And will you look at the stitch definition here, where I'm picking up gusset stitches? Each stitch is a different color. I had the worst time with this part of the sock when I first learned to knit them, perhaps because I was using a gray tweed. This yarn would have been so much easier to learn on. There's something for all the teachers to consider.