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YEAR OF THE SOCKS

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NO MISTAKEN KNIT

February 10, 2021
 For this month I decided to revisit a yarn that has become a bit sentimental, especially in the last year. It has a lot of memories attached to it, particularly centered around my time in Atlanta and the people I met there. And it was also the yarn I used when I first attempted to make a sock. Not an successful attempt that last time, but I think I got it to work now.



The yarn is Malabrigo Worsted in Pearl, a singly ply Merino wool ,purchased at The Craftivist during a scavenger hunt around Atlanta during my first semester in graduate school (and my first few months there). My plans for it was just to get it into my stash. Was it for a gift? For myself? I didn’t know and I didn’t really care. I saw it, I wanted it, so I bought it. It was a treat. Graduate school was draining in ways I hadn’t anticipated and running around the city and stopping in that little yarn shop was such a welcome break from things. It was also the first yarn I had bought in a few years and it was such a lovely yarn.


I sat on it for a little bit before finding Rye by Tin Can Knits, a sock pattern for a worsted weight yarn. And so I got to it. And it seemed to go well for a while. Until I got confused by the construction (how do socks work?) and my resistance to using stitch marker did me in. The mistakes I made were obvious at the toe and the issues I already had with the cuff (I did not use a stretchy cast-on) made me want to start fresh. So I put it away.


When I began knitting gift socks last year I returned to this pattern, mostly using it as a reference and incorporating different stitch patterns. The first pair of adult socks I gifted followed the guidelines of the pattern, but I decided on a Mistake Rib stitch for the sock (didn’t realize that’s what it was called at the time). The Mistake Rib stitch is based on a 2x2 rib, a four-stitch two-row repeat with the second row shifted by one stitch. There’s a column of knit stitches and a column of purl stitches, each flanked by columns of moss stitch (alternating knits and purls).


And as I returned to this yarn, I figured I’d return to the pattern again (loosely). And given the connection of this yarn to that first recipient (partner during that scavenger hunt and many other adventures afterwards), I figured I’d use that same stitch pattern.


I had a cake of the same yarn in a different colorway (I think Violeta?) that I purchased last year (on Super Bowl Sunday) for a planned project (a headband) but since I hadn’t gotten very far on it, didn’t think I’d use the entire cake, and the use case for that project (keeping my ears warm while walking around campus during winter) wasn’t a thing anymore and probably wouldn’t be for a little while, I thought it would be a nice addition to these socks, a bit of contrast to the cuff and toe.



This was a rather straightforward knit so I don’t have much to say regarding the construction. I knit these one at a time on US 4 double pointed needles (instead of two at a time on magic loop like last months), cast-on with a tubular cast-on, and used an Eye of Partridge Heel. But my approach to this month wasn’t to focus on doing something new or particularly interesting, it was very much about comfort and simmering in sentimentality. 

These were a rather quick given the weight of the yarn and my smaller feet, but it has been an enjoyable knit. I really enjoy working with this yarn.