sock class, part 4: one done, one almost there

I'll finish sock #2 tonight. Anybody else? I'm loving seeing sock pictures. . .

Here's what it looked like on Saturday on my front porch -- that picnic table is where I usually take my pictures:



The table is clear now, but the white glare from all that snow kind of interfered with my photos -- don't know why the tops of the socks are so dark in this one, but the stripes on the foot show the colors exactly right if you click on the photo to make it bigger:



I add the stripes just to make them a little more interesting; they serve no functional purpose. Then, when I turn the sock inside out to weave out the edges -- the horror! Looks like I've been knitting a Portuguese man-of-war:



Note that I've left a fairly long end each time I switch colors, to make it easy to weave them in. You need enough to weave in so that it's never, ever going to work its way out. With this nice sticky yarn, that's not a problem. But whatever wool you're using, at the very minimum, leave yourself 4 inches to work with.

Don't worry if your ribbed section looks really skinny next to your foot -- you want the rib to hug the kid's leg, for better fit and a more comfortable sock. When the ribbing is stretched out, it looks more like a "normal" sock.

I will finish sock #2 tonight. Then I'll wash them -- I always wash them before I give them away, for a number of reasons. (1) This yarn has been around for a while, and who knows what dust it may have picked up? (2) My sock knitting tends to travel with me -- in the summer to folk festivals and other dusty, muddy locations; in the winter to piano lessons and falling out of the car in parking lots. . . it's just best if I wash things! and (3) to make sure all ends stay woven in and nothing falls apart. In other words -- to make sure it's something I'm happy to give as a gift. Washing them also tends to smooth out any inconsistencies in your stitches and make them look more polished.

My washing machine has a cycle labeled "handwash" -- it's just an ordinary top-loader. Wash on that cycle, or on gentle, cold wash, cold rinse. Of course, you can wash by hand, too, if you're more comfortable doing it that way. (Roll them up in a towel and blot them dry if you wash by hand -- never, ever wring the water out.) Many people like shampoo, or dish detergent (Dawn is recommended more often than anything else); I prefer Dr. Bronner's lavender soap. Do NOT put them in the dryer! Just pat them flat and let them dry, either on top of a towel or hung over a rack.

Next time: pretty clean socks, all ready to go. On the other side of yet another massive (for here -- nobody even buys snow tires around here, because we just don't get this kind of weather) snowstorm.