Monday, November 06, 2006

A Step Above!

This sock is called "A Step Above" and it really is. After first reading about it on Bogie's blog, I was a little apprehensive to start it at all. She was ready to burn it, after she was done. Which would have been a shame, I love the color she chose. You can read all about it in her Friday, September 22, 2oo6 entry. After reading all her tips and modifications, I thought, I would never be able to make this interesting sock. But, as you can see, the first one is done. It takes a lot longer to make these socks, than the usual socks I've made so far. The leg is long too, just a couple of inches beneath my knee.

I found another pair on Debi's blog. It's the Friday, October 06, 2006 entry. She's started another pair as well.

On the left you can see the fully finished first sock of the pair. You are making an afterthought heel (a first for me). This method is very fiddly and takes some patience. The toe part is made the same way. I had to graft two times with one sock. Heaven help me. I've got to practice grafting a bit more. It's not perfect, but it will do.

The entrelac itself is easy to knit, which surprised me. I've only done Dave's "garterlac" dishcloth which is not quite the same, since this entrelac is ribbed. All the other entrelac tries I had to rip out again until I lost interest.

Here's the heel. Can you see a difference in the colors? This pattern needs more yarn. I knew that, so I had to order a third skein, which, after several month, was not the same dye lot. No surprise. I've used it on the heel and the toe, so there's some symmetry there. Can't do anything else about it.

For the cuff, leg and heel I've used 2.25mm needles and after the first round of rectangles after the heel, I switched to 2mm needles for the foot. As it turns out, a wise choice, because the sock fits perfectly.

I'm really happy with the outcome. I was almost afraid to tackle it. I had yarn and pattern sitting on my desk for a while now. I did a false start and waited a little longer. And all that for nothing. It was easy, but time consuming. The only thing what bothers me is, that now I have to make a second one. I've started it already. Even David thought the color and pattern are interesting. One more thing. Normally you'll knit the heel after you are done, but I had to see if the sock fit at all, so I did it as seen above.

Now, for you who would like to know more, here's the information:

yarn: sweetgeorgia yarns, superwash sock, 100% Superwash Merino Wool, fingering weight, handpainted, colorway "Angel"

needles: 2.25mm and 2.00mm (steel and bamboo)

pattern: (now we are talking): Knitter's Magazine, Summer 2004 K75, " A Step Above" by Kathleen Power Johnson

By the way, Sam is going to have surgery on Thursday, October 09th, 10 AM.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hallo Monika,
superklasse Deine Socke! Ich habe schon seit längerem eine Anleitung davon hier liegen, habe mich aber noch nicht getraut zu starten. Dein Ergebnis macht Mut!
Kuschel Sam ganz besonders von mir. Ich habe gerade einmal nachgeschlagen der wird ja operiert!!
Ich drücke die Daumen, dass das glatt läuft.

LG Heike

Dave said...

Absolutely fantastic socks. Those have been on my "to-do" list forever. I just need to find six months to make them. :-)

Violiknit said...

Beautiful socks! I would never have the patience to knit those, but I see the outcome is totally worth it. Good luck with Sam's surgery; I hope he gets well soon!

Anonymous said...

Those are such cool socks - I'm quite impressed!
Wishing good luck to Sam on Thursday.

Martina said...

Yowser! The sock is fabulous!
ican't believe how good it looks! You'll have to make sure you don't cover up your legs when you are wearing them!

judith said...

Wow, die sieht ja klasse aus!!!!

Anonymous said...

Hallo Monika,
die Socken sind supertoll geworden.
Einfach klasse.
LG Petra

hakucho said...

Those socks are fabulous...you are such a skilled knitter!
Happy knitting :)

Beverly said...

Fabulous socks. It is great to seem them made up. I've checked them out several times.

Carol said...

Impressive socks! I noticed the colour variation on the heel and toe, but figured it was due to the smaller striping since it IS a heel and toe. So, not worries. About the sock, anyway. Am sending good karma your way for Sam.

wollsocke said...

....die sind ja wohl obercool..ich dachte erst die werden sehr weit, aber die sind ja optimal...super gemacht und die ferse sieht ja interessant aus...viel shcöner als die bumerang....

Debi said...

Your sock looks GREAT Monika! Don't you hate picking up stitches for that heel tho! I did mine tonight, ick!

Thanks for the linkage :)

Anonymous said...

How very beautiful this entrelac sock is - definitely one of the most interesting patterns I've seen for long. And I love the colors you chose for it, they go along so well together!

pat said...

I'm not a sock knitter but I just love the look of these.