The Pain & The Joy

I honestly don't know what I was thinking when my uncle asked me to make him knee socks, and I said yes.  Where was my brain?  He's 6'1" tall and wears a size 12 shoe.  I didn't realize how tall the leg had to be, or how long the foot had to be and that all of my knitting dreams would be put on hold.

In the beginning I was so enthusiastic because I love knitting socks and it seemed such a challenge. I dug around in my stash figuring that one skein of yarn wouldn't cover the job.  I was glad to find two colors that (sort of) go together.  Creatively Dyed Yarn in the ancient colorway, and Austermann Step in color #23.

Using a US #2 needle and doing two socks at a time made the knitting go slowly, so when I got to the heels I switched out to double points which changed my whole attitude towards these socks.  I finished the foot on one sock and half the other in one evening:

And then they were done!  The socks are much larger than my large sock blockers, but how is that a problem?

The Austermann Step had two knots in it, and the pick up after the knot picked up the striping pattern in reverse.  I was too tired of the socks to care, and they will be in my uncle's shoe anyway.  As long as they keep him warm, I'm sure it won't be an issue.

But now I crave something that will turn out as planned with no surprises.  So when a friend of mine said she had clear rain boots and only a few pairs of hand knit socks to wear with them, I offered to make her a pair.

My stash dive came up with String Theory Bluestocking:

And some Cascade Heritage sock yarn in black and chose the Broken Seed Stitch Socks, which I've made before and it's a relatively easy free pattern on Ravelry:

After making knee socks, these are a breeze!  No stripes, no knots, just wonderful yarn - and the sock in the picture was knit in two days.  I'm zooming!

Now all I need to do is find something to knit with big fat needles so I can give my hands a little break and I'm all set.