I'm Knitting Socks

I like knee socks for casual winter wear. Unfortunately, the knee socks you can find in department stores today are thinner and more synthetic (nylon?) than what you could get 15-plus years ago. So, when it was time to make my "what I want for Christmas" list last Thanksgiving, instead of knee socks, I put "sock yarn from a yarn shop" on the list. My (step)sister got me 2 skeins of dark green Baby Ull yarn by Dalegarn/Dale of Norway (50 grams/165 meters per skein).

Once I finished the last Christmas gift and a couple of other small projects, I started knitting socks for me. I have two 100 gram (414 yard) skeins of Sockotta yarn in red/purple/blue/green variegated that I bought a couple of years ago. Plenty of yarn for knee socks. I didn't think the 165 meter skeins of Baby Ull would make knee socks; mid-calf was all I dared hope for. I am using an old skein of dark green Nylamb yarn for the heels and toes to make the Baby Ull go farther. I went to a local yarn shop and got cards of Fortissima Socka to reinforce the heels and toes of both pairs of socks.

I started knitting the green Baby Ull socks on January 9. I'm using size 1 needles for the sock and size 0 needles for the ribbing at the top of the cuff. By the time I finish the pair of socks, I will have knit about 3½ socks. I had a 7 inch long leg knitted, tried it on and decided I wanted a snugger fit. So I frogged the whole thing and started over. After knitting the heel flap on smaller needles, I decided I didn't like that, frogged the heel flap and redid it on the larger needles.

Halfway through the foot, it was clear that the skein of Baby Ull was lasting longer than I dared hope. I could have a socks with legs longer than 7 inches. How much longer? I kept knitting and knitting until I had a 12 inch long foot plus yarn for about another inch. Wow! I can make the leg about 4 to 5 inches longer. The picture above is the leg from the second skein. I started it Saturday and it's about 10 inches long. Another inch and I'll start the heel flap. When I finish this sock, I have to frog and reknit the first one.

Back to knitting!