April Fools Day Madness (...sock that is!)

Well I was trawling Ravelry on Monday afternoon..as you do..enjoying the luxury of a quite Monday as my usual engagement was busy and patting myself on the back that I'd completed clue 5 and started clue 6 of the Secret of the stole (pics to follow) and the stitch count was reducing when something happened. Well, I'd been elsewhere on the 'net and I came back to the Sock Madness group and there's a new thread called Round 2...Looked in vaguely interested to find that the pattern had been posted 44 mins previously! AAAAARGH!!!!

Race around room retrieving circulars (the lost one that I'd found was fine, the one I'd put in a "safe place" took a while); unearthing yarn bag from the mass of other yarn bags, scanning the pattern and discarding the original yarn idea for one a bit thinner. Start casting on and the phone rings...nononononono...It's all right though, it's only Mel telling me the pattern's here so can keep it short (she understands) and properly start knitting.

I felt so sorry for those poor souls working gnashing their teeth in frustration 'cos those cheeky organisers had released the pattern a day earlier just to freak us all out...which it did! That was the April Fools bit you see, hint that the pattern's coming out on Tuesday then throw a googly instead and watch as the carnage ensues.

Anyway, Monday was a late night, I put the needles down at 11.30pm and picked them up again at 7.30am the next day to get as much knitting time in between shopping and dog walks. At least Tuesdays are knitting heavy anyway with 2 groups at my LYS so you can guess what I brought to do!

I put in a very full day's knitting in on Wednesday drawing up the toes at 10.30pm that evening after knocking back so much Diet Coke that the combination of the elation of finishing the socks and caffeine meant I had very little sleep last night! So I am somewhat punch-drunk at this point and in a fair amount of pain but I can rest for a while now and let the others catch up. I figure that there will be maybe a week more before all 20 in each division go through, possibly longer so there's time to rest and relax before the rigours of the next round. The time in between will get shorter as each round progresses so I'll savour the time I have right now.

So, d'you want to see what I've been busting a gut over?


Meet Reversai socks, sorry the pic's a bit crummy though you can click on it to see it bigger...I will have a better one shortly but I will talk about that another time. As and when that's out of the way, it'll break my heart but I will need to frog both feet back to the heel and replace the garter sole with reverse stocking stitch and a different toe in order that I can truly wear and walk in them. The yarn is Posh yarn possibly Emily 4ply in colourway "Drama", quite appropriate given the dramatic nature of a) the release and b) the pattern!

Unusually, it has a 72 stitch pattern rather than the typical 60+ for my size foot and there were concerns as to how baggy they would be on smaller feet. Despite the width being considerably wider than any other knitted sock I own, the fit is still quite good but it's true selling point for anyone with longer/larger/wider feet is that it s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s quite considerably. One lady actually put both feet in one of hers! It it a bit baggy around the other side of the heel and the garter stitch sole was slow going but I am pleased with the final effect.

Ahead, we still have the delights of a 2 stranded lace sock with slip stitch patterns, an entrelac sock using odds and ends, a toe-up sock and a Japanese heel involving multiple safety pins to name but a few!

I managed a fourth place this round, third last. Of course, the true goal is to be fastest than (in this round) the 21st but I do like to explore how fast I can actually produce a sock. I'm not sure that I'll speed up much through the competition but I love the opportunity to try different techniques that I would otherwise be afraid to tackle.

And what do the poochies think of all this electric tension?


I got this one recently, I was so chuffed that I managed to get Biscuit mid-yawn, they're both too photogenic!