Custom Built

I have to admit that I like doing for others more than I like doing for myself. It's not that I don't like making or doing things that are just for me. The drawback seems to be that what would be unacceptable for another becomes perfectly fine when it's for me.

Case in point - these socks:



Pause for yarny talk:
Pattern: King Charles Brocade by Charlene Schurch
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill
Colorway: Spring Frost

I almost never knit socks for myself but I made an exception and knit this pair for just for me. I simply loved the yarn and I greedily wanted it for myself (Thanks for the yarn, Kay!). I'd grown tired of knitting lace and decided on a pattern that would be textured without it being ribbed (ribbing tends to bore me).

Now I have somewhat chunky calves so I decided on using a larger cast-on number than what is usual for a lady's leg, especially since I didn't believe this pattern would give much stretch like ribbing and lace can. It's a fun pattern to knit, fairly easy to do but honestly probably not the best choice for this yarn because the variegation of color in the yarn makes it harder to see the crosses. Or diamonds if that's where your eye is drawn to on the pattern. Had this been a sock for someone else I would have ripped it back and started over with a different pattern but hey...they're just for me.

I also figured that when it was time to knit the foot the larger calf wasn't going to do for my more normal sized ankle and foot so I would have to decrease from 72 stitches to 64 stitches to get a proper fit in the heel, ankle and instep. Unfortunately with this pattern you can't make the crosses run down the instep with 32 instep stitches. I could have adjusted the pattern to center the crosses on the foot with some plain side stitches but hey...they're just for me. Having just a plain-all-around stockinette foot is fine.

I finished the socks and upon after seeing them on the sock blockers I declared them to possibly be the goofiest looking socks I've ever knit. A baggy-looking calf, a heel flap that looks way too short for the sock and an uninteresting foot. But then I put them on and declared that, while I seldom ever knit socks for myself, these were definitely the most comfortable socks I've ever knit. The yarn is dreamy soft anyway and while the calf turned out to be a bit too wide for me, it's stays up and doesn't bind my leg anywhere. The heel is perfect and the foot, while being plain, is wonderfully comfortable on my foot when I'm wearing the socks with shoes. All-in-all these socks are not very attractive. They're full of quirks and changes that I likely would never make with a pair of socks I'd knit for someone else but that's what makes them just right for me.