Once Upon a Sock: March edition

It’s the first Thursday of the month, so let’s talk socks — I’ve got sock knitting past, present, and future to share today!

First up, Mr. N’s Smooth Operators, which I finished mid-February, the night before I left California … so I was able to give them to Mr. N before I left.

The pattern is Susan B. Anderson’s Smooth Operators.  The body of the socks is knit in Loopy Ewe Loopy Legends in a colorway called Jessica’s Midnight Sky; the heel, toe, and cuff are knit with some leftover Tosh Sock (colorway: Bark?). I knit these as I do most socks: two at a time on two ChiaoGoo Red circulars — my favorite needs:

I like that the Smooth Operator pattern has some different options for making your heels and toes. I did the decreases from the original pattern, but followed Anderson’s tutorial for a more rounded kitchenered heel and toe. Overall, I’m happy with these turned out, though I think they are a bit loose in the leg (you can see that, especially, in the picture above)  Mr. N insists the fit is fine, but I think this might be him being kind; I’ll see how they’re wearing when I fly out to California tomorrow (!!!).  If they are a bit loose in the leg, I’m thinking of running a bit of elastic thread around the cuff in the hopes it will keep the leg where it should be!

These were, in a way, a Christmas present – I gave Mr. N a little coupon to redeeem for handknit socks.  By chance, the yarn he picked from my stash coordinates really well with his plaid pajama pants, which I also got him for Christmas:

So I asked him to humor me and wear the PJs for our “photo shoot” — and took pictures with a handmade quilt that has been passed down through Mr. N’s family and is now in our possession  (isn’t it lovely!)

As soon as I cast these off, I cast on for Emily’s Favorite Socks, which I’m making with a Viola Sock yarn kit, made up of a main main color and two mini skeins, plus an extra mini skein I bought at the same time.  They are progressing, if a bit slowly — I’m almost done with the sock legs, but will have lots of knitting time Friday night as I wing my way to Los Angeles (as long as I can stay awake).

As I approach the heel, I’ve been trying to decide which contrast color I’ll use for the heel.   Right now, I’m leaning toward that light minty green for the heel and the creamy color for the toe (with perhaps a pop of that gorgeous light rust, just for fun) — what do you think?

And though I still have a ways to go on these, I’m already scheming about my next socks, which will be made from the Tosh BFL sock I bought at Gather DTLA:

My instinct is another plain pair of socks — I’m thinking 3×2 rib on the legs, with plain stockinette feet, but I’m wondering if I should do something slightly more exciting … perhaps Joji Locatelli’s Cables down the back? Decisions, decisions …

Linking up this first Thursday with the growing group (hoorah!) of Once Upon a Sock knitters (I’ll update these links throughout the day as everyone’s posts go live) — go check out what socks they’re working on at the moment:

• Paula from Spin a Yarn
• Maggie from Project(s) in Progess (who might be on break)
• Stefanie from Wooly Cakes and Wooden Spoons
• Kat from Felinity Knits

If you’d like to join us, we talk about sock knitting on the first Thursday of the month — feel free to link up, and just let one of us know so we can make sure to add you to the group !

And as always, thanks for stopping by — after I published yesterday’s post, I got a notification from WordPress that it was my 100th, and I could hardly believe it!

Enjoy the rest of your week!