Socks!

The second ball of yarn I indulged in from Morris and Sons in Melbourne was a ball of Noro Taiko Sock Yarn - 50% cotton, 17% wool, 17% nylon and 16% silk. I thought it time I knitted Jim a pair of socks.

I looked at a lot of patterns before settling on the basic pattern from I Can't Believe I'm Knitting Socks. The yarn is variegated, so didn't need much to make it look good and the explanation and measurements for the basic sock shape are good.

It took me a couple of goes to get the tension right. I ended up varying my needle size quite a bit. I used 3.5 mm for the top of the band, to make sure it wasn't constricting, went down to 2.25 mm for the rest of the leg to keep if from falling down, then used 4 mm for the foot.

Actually, I finished the foot in 2.25 as well, discovered it didn't fit, so  unravelled to the gusset and redid it in 4 mm.






When the first sock was finished (no. 2 finish, that is) it looked like a proper sock, and the colours had come out quite well.

I weighed the remaining wool to be sure I had enough, then wound it on a little to begin at about the same colour  change as I had with the first one.

terrible photo of the two socks - bad idea to place on knitted blanket!

The colours didn't align exactly,- there was more blue in the second part of the ball- but it was near enough to be recognisably a pair.



I had a bit of trouble with a line in the space between the needles. In the second sock I managed to keep my tension a bit firmer at the needle transition, but you can still pick where the needles connected.

I thought I might use a round needle for the second foot, but didn't have one small enough. In her Country Crafting blog, Karyn suggests knitting a couple of stitches into the next needle at each join - I'll try that next time.

The yarn is not soft to knit and it twisted quite a bit, but I think it will wear well and be comfortable.

They fit well and look good. What more can a girl ask?