Sunday 15 November 2015

Sock Talk (FO: Hogwarts Socks)


 First up - a finished object, my Hogwarts Socks! I spotted these in the last Knitting magazine and really wanted to make them for winter and when I saw the Harry Potter read-along and knit-along (#HPreadalongKAL) it seemed the perfect excuse. These are just the socks a young Hufflepuff would wear while snuggling down with Hogwarts: A History in the cosy common room by the kitchens (no? Just me?)

The moody pictures are thanks to a grey, rainy day in Portsmouth, when we had actually gotten up and exclaimed over the brightness of the day - which says a lot for the weather at the moment!

I've never knit flat socks before and because they were flat I knit them two at a time. I'm sure they would have taken the same amount of time had I knit them separately, but it definitely felt quicker this way. I made myself seam them immediately (while watching the latest Doctor Who to distract me from the horror of seaming) as I knew they'd only languish otherwise. While my seaming is not the neatest in the world, I am happy with how these turned out. I have to admit that the lack of a heel feels a little strange, not bad, but noticeably different. It doesn't matter though as these aren't going-out-socks, these are toasty-at-home-socks and will probably also take on bed-sock status come December.


But lets talk socks while we're talking about socks. Socks elude me, pesky, colourful, endlessly practical little buggers that they are.

I got back into knitting via socks - inspired by Our Tragic Universe by Scarlett Thomas actually - and happily made a pair of DK weight socks to figure out the technique. I found the whole thing really easy. Several other projects later, I decided to tackle socks again - this time on appropriately sock-sized needles with sock weight yarn. I had it all planned - I was always going to have some socks on the needles. They would be my travel knitting. I'd be that girl that knits socks. The idea thrilled me - I love bright socks, I love knitting and I loved the practicality of the combination. I was going to nail top-down, then add toe-up and afterthought heels to my repertoire like it was nothing.


But bloody hell, if socks aren't a hell of a lot tougher on wee needles with skinny yarn, in the round. And don't even talk to me about toe up - I despair of them! I have had half a sock languishing on the needles since I cast them on while watching Gandhi a couple of months ago. I've abandoned them as I'm sure they're too small. The time has come I think to rip them out, trawl the internet for the appropriate equation and cast on the first of a pair of vanilla socks. I am determined to become That Girl That Knits Socks.

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