Saturday, September 10, 2005

C'est Fini!


Dear Socka-pal-2-za Pal,

Here are your finished socks. I do hope you like them and that they fit you well. Because I ended up knitting the heels and feet twice (on my first attempt I knitted a reinforced heel, and upon finishing both socks (yes, I finished both before trying them on. Doh!) I realized the heel really wasn't going to fit. Anyone.), these socks have been many places. They were begun at Meg Swansen's knitting camp in Wisconsin, they survivied a 27-mile backpacking loop through the beautiful Wallowa Mountains in eastern Oregon, they saw the Mariners play baseball in Seattle, and they were finished in gorgeous Vancouver, BC after a bike ride around Stanley Park. These are well-travelled socks. May they serve you well as you show them your part of the world.

Details: I used the pattern "Ellen's Stockings" in Nancy Bush's Folk Knitting in Estonia, with one skein of Satakieli wool on size 0's. The heels were worked with slip-stitchs to provide cushion; I also diverted from the pattern's round toe to do a traditional "flat" toe. The true color is really more of a buttery-yellow but this photo shows off the stitches better.

This project was great fun! I hope they arrive at their destination soon. And many thanks to Alison for hosting us all.

Cheers,
Jen

15 comments:

Jessica said...

They look great, Jen. Your pal will love them.

Anonymous said...

Those buttery yellow socks are beautiful.....and your techniques are fantastic. I hope you like the ones I made for you. Mine are a bit simpler than your work of art.

Your soon to be socks have appeared in a few places on the web; the talented crew who dyed the yarn (yes, its locally dyed) featured your socks on their site.

I only hope they are long enough in the foot--they match the measurements but the proof is in the wearing.

All will be revealed....!

SSP

Anonymous said...

Those socks are fabulous and they travelled more than I did this summer! I am sure your pal will adore them... and I can only hope! :D

Anonymous said...

Wow, those are marvelous - congratulations on finishing; isn't it a nice feeling?

Ruth said...

Those are simply beautiful. Well done.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful socks! That is another pattern I need to try. Plus now you've got me thinking I need to get some butter yellow yarn.

Lou Schiela said...

Very beautiful socks! Great job. I don't know what I'm more jealous about - the finished socks or how well traveled the socks are!

Anonymous said...

So nice! I'm going to have to look up that pattern...

Ruby Banshee said...

Lovely.
And I'm so jealous of your backpacking trip in the Wallowas. We drove all the way across Oregon to do the same, once, but had to drive right back to Portland for a family issue. I hope it was black-fly free!

Carrie said...

Oooo, very nice. How do you like the FT sock blockers?

Anonymous said...

These are absolutely beautiful. I've got to get that book!

Anonymous said...

Thank you all! To answer Carrie's question, I bought the sock blockers for especially for these socks, so I've only used them once. I'll have to find out from my sock pal what she thinks of their shaping, but I think the blockers worked well. I'll definitely try them on my next pair.

Ada said...

I already thanked you on my blog, but i want to thank you again for those beautiful and best traveled socks in the world.

not veronica said...

Nice! Great pattern -- they're really beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Jen your Ellens are beautiful! I'm contemplating knitting these for a sock swap recipient myself. Can you tell me if the suggested wool is larger/smaller than Lorna's Laces Shephard Sock Yarn?

Also, any particular hints to go with this pattern you'd care to share from hard won experience would be greatly appreciated.