sock porn for knitting voyeurs.

Friday, June 02, 2006

Evening Stockings for a Young Lady finished

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Evening Stockings for a Young Lady
from "Knitting Vintage Socks" by Nancy Bush
Started: May 20, 2006
Finished: June 1, 2006
2 socks on 2 circular needles, US 0 Addi (2mm)
Schaefer Anne, colorway 7af-- 1 skein (!!)

Yup, one skein of Anne for these looong socks and 10" long women's feet. I had about 20 gm of the yarn left over as well! Shocked, but I will definitely be buying Anne again... there's no way I can see running out of yarn with a normal cuff length pair of socks.

Everything I said about the Anne before stands-- love it. A few notes though... I found a knot in the skein (fortunately and somehow it was in the 22 gm of leftover yarn!) which always disappoints me, esp. for the prices we pay for premium yarns. I think the retail on Anne is $26, I paid about 20 at Little Knits (she had them at 20% off, now they're 15% off)... I know its a small gripe, but I see a lot of smaller vendors selling "millends" or "endlots" instead of selling knotted skeins of yarn (Lisa Souza is going to start selling endlots too!!)-- and just think when you pay a premium on the yarn a knot should be a very rare-if at all kinda thing. I do know that some sellers may not even know or notice knots in yarn from their blanks vendors though, and this was my 1st time using Anne and there was only one knot... but it irked me for like 5 minutes and thought I'd share :)

I also blocked the socks by washing them in a bit of kookaburra and warm water (all pics are unblocked though... took pics right after they were done last nite)-- and had lots and lots of bleed. Not a shock since the reds are so deep, and since red has more of an inclination to bleed than other colors... I washed once and rinsed 4 times, all had red in the water. Not a big deal, I'll handwash these alone anyway, but just you know-- a note :) When I pressed them dry on a towel, there was no bleed on the towel though!

As far as the yarn fitting the pattern, I was able to hit the row gauge (8 sts/inch), but my column gauge was off-- the pattern calls for 11 sts/column inch, where I had 12 sts/column inch with the Schaefer Anne on US 0's (2mm). So where the leg was supposed to be 12" from cast on edge to top of the heel, I had 10.5" unblocked/unstretched. I didn't know if I would have enough yarn to extend the leg so its knit exactly as written-- mine is a bit shorter than the pattern calls for. Not sure I'd extend it though-- 20 gm may cut it close.

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evsides

I did notice in shrinking my pic sizes that the super lowtek program is making me lose some of the resolution of the photos... have to install paint shop pro or photoshop again. Sorry :)

evsides2

evtoe

Round toe, very cool. No grafting. Very short though... good if you like that sorta thing, and you could make it longer.

evheel2

evheel

Dutch heel. Looks quite cool with the purl compliment right next to the turn, I think.

The heel as written is much less sturdy than "regular" heels I'm used to-- its simply stockinette with a few columns of purl sts that flow from the above lace pattern. I think its perfect for this sock though, its a dainty sock and you don't want a double thick heel with slipped sts. If I wore anything but tevas and converse, these socks would feel great in a pair of low slung shoes, no bunching at the heel/back of the shoe, very nicely fitted especially in the superfine yarn.

I did pick up stitches at the heel by picking up the outside of the slipped st with a spare needle and knitting tbl, so the seam isn't on the inside... with the fine yarn, it makes for an even finer and well fit sock (no seams on the inside, very smooth feeling).

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Back panel "seam" with decreases down the leg.

IMG_8447

Lace panel. The fur is the yarn, not me :) It was getting dark outside...

Yay! I've started swatching for my next project and am still putting a few rows in Devan, but this post is too long as it is-- next time :)

Previous posts on "Evening Stockings for a Young Lady":
May 23, 2006
May 25, 2006
May 27, 2006
May 31, 2006

29 comments:

Melissa said...

The socks look wonderful and your pictures are great! :)

Alyssa said...

Gorgeous! And thanks for the full review on Schaeffer Anne - it looks like wonderful yarn.

Rachel said...

I don't have Tevas, but I think all socks should be judged by how they look in Converse. ;)

The word id for this comment is "iluvoh". That's how I feel about your socks. I love, oh! Seriously, they look great. You've convinced me about Anne, but the knot thing is stinky.

Unknown said...

You're an inspiration! You should re-name your blog "Sock Pro!"

Anonymous said...

Beautiful job! I love that you show all different angles so we can actually "see" the whole sock.

Dave said...

Those are some seriously red, seriously gorgeous socks. It's nice to know the Anne knits up as nice as it looks.

I always prewind my yarn so I'm not surprised by knots. I find one knot to be mildly annoying, but I hate it when there are multiples. I think it depends on the yarn as well -- if it affects the patterns, as in Noro, my annoyance level increases :-)

Karen said...

Oh, those socks are so pretty! The yarn looks really nice. I haven't tried Anne before. I love it when solids have variations in it like the Anne does. Very nice knitting!

Annie said...

So cool! And dang you knit fast. I have some Anne that I am itchin' to try. Thanks for the inspiration!

insaknitty said...

beautiful! I hope that I'll be able to make fancy schamncy socks like this someday too. :) they look superb!

lexa said...

I came across a knot in the yarn for the child's sweater I am knitting. Luckily it was at the end of a row - I hate it when I am in the middle of the row and come across a knot!

Beautiful socks! The red is so nice and vibrant. Need to start another pair of socks....

Anonymous said...

Those socks are awesome. I love them. I've been eyeing the pattern for awhile, seeing your is just the motivation I need to make some for me. Do you have a general idea of the yardage you used? I have two skeins of Lornas set aside, probably not enough, huh? Anyway, great job on such beautiful socks!

Knittypants said...

Gorgeous socks. And thank you for all the notes and pictures. It was a very enjoyable post.

Elspeth said...

Those are so gorgeous! I have Anne AF thanks to your suggestion too, so now I have to use it!

Have you dried "Color Catcher" cloths? They're in the laundry detergent aisle in the grocery store. I love them -- the color really does end up on the cloth and not the rest of your laundry.

Bridget said...

they look great! I didn't think I'd like the way the back would look but I do - a lot! The lace pattern kind of looks like Hedera.

Chris said...

Those are really quite amazing!

I love Anne. I've probably knit from 4 or 5 skeins of it and not found any knots. *knocks on wood*

Acornbud said...

very lovely socks. I love that color. nwzixvf

Rain said...

They are gorgeous, they look so elegant. I'd keep them on my feet and just admire them all day. The colour is perfect for them.

HPNY KNITS said...

These are incredible! I love the detailed shots. Fantastic shaping.you got them done in no time at all. Now, how did you get that back of the leg shot???

Anonymous said...

Those came out absolutely gorgeous. I have been eyeing some Anne yarn myself and I can't decide on a color.

Zonda said...

I love red and these socks! Your pictures are perfect, showing us every angle. Amazing job on them! Enjoy them :)

April said...

Oh my, those are SO gorgeous.

must. learn. to. knit. socks.

Susan said...

Beautiful socks and wonderful pics! Your work is really outstanding and I really enjoy the blog.

Heather said...

Those stockings are soooo beautiful!

Heide said...

Your socks are absolutely friggin' gorgeous! I've never attempted anything that long or requiring calf shaping and it sounds quite daunting. I'm really impressed that your block your socks too! Mine get put in a basket as is. I agree with the knot factor being annoying. I refuse to buy Noro because not only is it uneven and full of debris, but there are usually multiple knots per skein. They can keep their overpriced crap, give me some plain old cheap knitpicks any time.

Lara 900 said...

they are truly beautiful!

Stacey said...

Very nice! Every time you knit a sock, I add it to my to do list! :)

Linda said...

Verrry pretty socks! Maybe I'll add that to my ever lengthening to-do list!!

Natalie said...

I keep seeing socks from that book that I want to knit! I've had it on hold @ the library for about 3 months now. There's only 1 copy in the whole city, and clearly the other knitters got to it first! Maybe I'll just have to go ahead and buy it. :)

Merry said...

Lovely red socks! Is that a sock knitting world record? You are fast! Wish you lived near me and could give me lessons!

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