Swatchless

Last year at this time I was madly knitting. This was the WORST case of second sock syndrome that I had ever experienced. The pattern is Rhiannon Socks [Ravelink] by Cookie A. They are wonderfully intricate knee high cabled socks with fold over cuffs. As soon as I saw them I thought they’d be perfect for kilt socks! Who would want to cover up these beauties?!

This entire project was also my first real experience in stealth knitting. Although I saw the recipient weekly, I didn’t know them well enough to know their shoe size. It’s also a little awkward to casually work in calf circumference in day to day conversation. I tried to give the measurement mission to their family, but that was unsuccessful. I tried several times to line up my feet with theirs during a quick conversation to gauge how my foot would compare. In the end, without proper measurements, I was left to
pass the sock in progress around to all my male relatives for them to try on guess.

thanks mysterious sock model #1

The first sock was completed in the summer. I thought that I’d have plenty of time to finish the other one in the fall, but….somehow miles and miles of knitting cables on tiny needles just didn’t seem all that appealing. November came and went (why does October always disappear so fast?). Suddenly it was December, I had only one sock and a cuff of another. I was determined to finish that second sock to present to the recipient on Christmas day. This may have involved an all-nighter or three, and I may still have been finishing knitting them while opening my stocking on Christmas morning, but these socks were ready to be presented that afternoon!

I didn’t let them out of my sight without a full photo shoot, of the front….

thanks mysterious sock model #2

and the back…

thanks mysterious sock model #2

And this is the first time that the recipient wore them with the kilt. These must be the hottest ankles in town. The wool itself [Knit Picks Bare Fingering Yarn] is not thick, but the cables do add bulk which does tend to trap heat. I really appreciate that the socks were worn on such an important occasion. It means so much when a knitter’s hard work gets displayed!

super stealth sock photo

This was one of the biggest, craziest gifts I’ve ever made. I’m sticking to smaller projects this year!

Tags: best of 2009, choir, FO, knitting, socks

This entry was posted on Friday, December 25th, 2009 at 10:00 am and is filed under Best of 2009 Blog Challenge, knitting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.