Red Stockings of Awesome.

Too pretentious a title?  Never.

Started in early July of 2009, after holding onto two skeins of Malabrigo sock yarn in Tiziano Red for about two months, seeking the proper pattern.  I found the proper pattern for free on Knitty, in the form of Froot Loops.  Wonderful.

But in my great & terrible history, I have rarely if ever been able to complete a pattern without modification.  This one turned out to be no different from the rest.  With two whole skeins of this luscious sock yarn staring at me, I decided to go for stockings.  Because skirts don't do too much to keep the legs warm in winter.  So let's make them dense, too, by knitting them on size 0 needles.

Since my feet are large & my legs are long, they needed to be toe-up.  I tossed in a heel-flap & gusset just because I had learned it in my previous (first) sock design.  And I wanted them to fit tightly, so I decided to do shaping all the way up.  Around a central seam.  First time to Magic Loop two socks on one circ just for fun.  OK.  Onetwothree GO!

Early July saw me start.  Then frog.  Then restart, frog a little, keep going, frog back again (but only part way), and finally be satisfies with the toes.  Sometimes the gauge math just doesn't tell you the whole story.  And I didn't want to use up precious yarn in swatching, so I just kept it to my ability to rip out with impunity that which I have already knit.


Smooth sailing through the heel-flap & narrowing back to the ankle in pattern through the gusset.  In retrospect, I'd rather decrease every third row rather than every other.  (Notes for next time already made.)

When I made it to the ankle officially, I let my twitchy need for exactness out to play.  Mark up the calf in one inch increments, then measure at each mark, notating change in circumference.  Sort out the width & height of pattern repeats, then proceed to chug out stocking within given parameters.

All was well until the upper calf.  Six inches of mock cabling on zeros.  A four row repeat, with two of the rows being "knit knits & purl purls."  With no increases to help keep interest.  It was tough, but accomplished.  Thank heavens for the safety pin marking the measuring point.  Otherwise these would be hibernating.

Earlier this week, I added a third skein.  It was a moment of triumph, coming at the middle of the knee as well.  Then I realized that the color of the 3rd skein matched one stocking but not the other.  At least only an inch or so had passed, so the FROGGING was not as bad as it could have been.  But we're back on track.  Knitting up the thigh to see how far I can get.