Snail Spirals

When Emma and I went to Puyallup last week, I brought along a sock to work on during the ferry ride. I cast on and was merrily knitting away, making great progress, while following Emma as she did laps and played with all the other kids. Between the ride over in the morning and the ride back in the afternoon, I knit the whole leg and half the short-rowed heel. Fun yarn, quick plain circular stockinette knitting, what could be better?

However. Ahem. Apparently I cast on 75 stitches instead of 65. Oof. Elephant socks. Lesson learned. Do not cast on and try to count stitches while following a toddler. In the future, I will arrive for the ferry with a sock-in-progress, not a ball of yarn and some needles.

There was a silver lining, though. First, I created some business for my local yarn shop when a woman was so enchanted with the socks and with watching me knitting that she said she was going straight to get some needles and some of the same yarn for herself in the morning, and learn to knit socks.

Secondly, I created this



when I frogged the sock in preparation for starting over.



Rainbow Ramen! I was just pulling the stitches out while watching TV, and when I was done and looked down, there was this squiggly pile of happy fun-ness.

I love this yarn. It’s called Online, 75% superwash wool and 25% polyamide, and it has a lovely feel. The last pair of self-striping sock I made were a different brand (Fortissima Colori/Socka Color , I think) and that yarn had a totally different feel to it, though it was still 75%wool/25%polyamide. Not only was the yarn thinner and firmer, the wool had almost-scratchy feel, and there were lots of coarser fibers in the yarn. This yarn, though, is thick and cushy (though it's still sock weight- I’m knitting these on #1 needles) and is quite soft. Obviously made from a different breed of wool. The difference is like comparing Wensleydale and Corriedale.

The colors in this are beautiful, too. Very clear and bright, and each stripe is only about two rounds long so it’s fun to anticipate the next progression.



I knit the turned ribbing/picot hem, the leg, and started the heel flap last night before bed. Socks go so fast!