Taking the Good with the Rediculously Oversized!

I finished sock number one.  (well, except for grafting the toe).  It took me 3 tries to get the skull and crossbones motif error free.  I know that the sock pattern is only 4 stitches larger than I normally make for myself, so I'd hoped that it would compensate for the possible draw-in and lack of stretchiness of the stranded colourwork.  I also used  2.75 mm needles, which is also a size that I've been waffling about as I've had great results with size. 2.25 mm.  But often it's suggested that you do colourwork with a size larger than you usually use for stretch compensation.   I tried it on yesterday.  The sock is massive.  It would fit someone with a leg and a foot which is either much wider or longer (or both) than mine.  It kind of looks like it was made for a Sasquatch!  I wondered about the size early on, but just kept knitting, knowing that my math should have made it all fit!  Right....  I really like the look of this sock, fun, bright and very pink.   However it will be destined for the frog pond because it's useless to me the way it is right now.  I can't even think of anyone with feet that size who I might want to give a special gift!


Yesterday was a guild Dye Day.  One of our members sets up an acid dye station, tables draped with plastic and all the necessary supplies needed.  We show up, pay a nominal fee for the dyes and play.  Most people brought silk warps to play with, but I brought a skein of sock yarn and some superwash roving.  The dyes need to be steamed and while it could be done there, I have enough equipment to do it at home.   I steamed the packets last night and let them cool overnight.  This morning, I opened up the packets, rinsed them out and have spread them out to dry.  All the dye set perfectly.    There are several shades of the basic primary dyes so we get to mix and experiment to find the colours we want.   Last time my sock yarn was a bit darker than I wanted.   This time I went for bright!

The sock yarn has the pink and blue in 5 yard repeats, with 2 yards of purple in between each colour.  Both th e purple yarn and turquoisy green in the roving came out better steamed than they did with the dye colour.   I consider this a very successful dye experiment.