22 | April | 2013 | First Light Handcrafts

(Two posts in one day….shocking, I know!)

Last year, I offered to test knit for Kate Atherley, and thoroughly enjoyed it. So when this year, I heard she was putting out a book solely devoted to custom fitted socks, I once again raised my hand and said, “Me, please!”

As luck would have it, on the same week that Kate sent me the request of “test these in any yarn but fingering, please!”, DH decided after years of insisting that he was not interested in having hand knit socks, “You know, I’d love a pair of heavy socks to wear around the apartment”. Since he doesn’t like anything too detailed/fancy/froufrou, this was serendipity, indeed.

So I received the files and got to work. There was math. No one told me there would be math. And measuring…and swatching. All the things I don’t normally do….and yet, there they were. And they were crucial to the success of the test knit.

So after measuring our respective feet, (for ~~science~~ knitting, of course!) and swatching the worsted weight Cascades 220 (and even dutifully washing and drying the swatch – I know Kate is so proud!), I did the calculations, chose my needle, checked the charts and cast on.

Now, if this sounds like a heck of a lot of work for socks….it seemed like it at the time, but in retrospect, it really wasn’t. And of course, since all the foot measuring is only done once, (after all foot size does not change from one month to the next!) it will not be at all time consuming going forward.

The best part? The results…so totally worth it. Hubby has his first pair of socks and they are an absolute perfect fit.

Jet Worsted Weight Socks for Chase

The success I had with these made me so happy, I emailed Kate and ask if I could test another pair, for me this time, in a different weight…sportweight. I had all the measurements already so I swatched away with my now-discontinued KnitPicks Felici Sport….found the correct cast on number and within three short days, I had another pair of socks:

Sportweight Stripey Socks for Me

Two for two…another perfect fit!

I checked in with Kate today, and as of yet she does not have a publication date for her book (once she does I’ll blog that, too!), but I cannot recommend this process enough. At some point, I will check my “regular” 64 stitch fingering weight cast on to see if it can be improved, but for now, I suspect there will be a great many more non-fingering weight socks knit using these measurements. For starters…I have a LOT more of that Felici Sport sock yarn in my stash.

Pattern: Test Knit for Kate Atherley’s as yet unpublished book

Yarn: Cascades 220 Superwash in Jet/KnitPicks Felici Sport in Dapple (a little pastel for my tastes, and it was pointed out to me that it looks somewhat like an Easter egg!)

Who Was It Made For? Chase/Me

Were There Changes Made To The Pattern? None. Followed along exactly for test knitting purposes.

Did I Learn Anything New? Learned some facts and figures about sock fit…and sometimes a little work brings great rewards.

Anything Else? No.

Would I Make Another?: Absolutely. In fact, as I previously mentioned, I am likely to be using this pattern/formula/recipe for years to come.

I hear it’s the 4th Annual Knit and Crochet Blog Week! And since there has been a great deal of radio silence over here (sorry about that! Life got busy and in the way of the fun stuff!) I decided this was the perfect excuse to get my keyboard back in action.

Per Eskimimi, “A bit like Harry Potter, but not quite, this year’s Knitting & Crochet Blog Week is split into 4 houses. Don your favourite knitted or crocheted hat and let it guide you to which house you will be in.”

The Houses are Bee, Manatee, Peacock and Monkey and each one has a different meaning. I have chosen as my house, The House of Bee.

The description is as follows:

Bees are busy and industrious, but can flit from one interesting project to the next as bright and shiny things capture their interest. This is particularly amusing right now, as lately, I have found myself with the worst case of “start-itis” I have had since I took up knitting in any serious fashion some two and a half years ago. I currently have ten projects on needles, including four pairs of socks. Mind you, one project is a few yards from completed and some are in hibernation…but still! And I have several more projects I am dying to cast on.

While I do occasionally learn new things, it’s not one of my main aims of knitting. I frequently cast simple stockinette socks and cowls…just to have something to knit to keep my hands busy, while requiring little to no real mental focus. The act of knitting, for me in any case, is meant to be a relaxing one.

So, the Bee seemed to represent me far better than the curious Monkey, the complicated Peacock or the calm Manatee.

Tomorrow’s post focuses on mascot projects…see you then! (Or before then if I manage to get my butt in gear and finally put up FO posts for the four projects I have finished in the past month or so…)