November 2006 Archives

Lace in the branched fern pattern grows across the bottom of front and back:

The fern lace is knit sideways, then picked up across the edge for the body:



Still in progress, the back is all "cellular stitch" from the lace upwards:

I found the cashmere in Florence last October whilst browsing through Beatrice Galli's beautiful shop next to the Ponte Vecchio. Here is a view from the balcony of the shop:

http://www.beatriceyarnshop.com/

The most challenging thing about the second sock was trying to make it match the first the one. Yes, it matters. I had to re-knit the gusset because the lace decreased too quickly - more guesswork here. Then, I had to re-knit the toe, because it seemed twisted and I couldn't remember where the heel ended and the instep began. Overall the pair ended up more or less symmetrical, I think. I do like the different pooling action on both feet, and the cool diagonal striping on the legs!

My third STR socks! Here is the left one - with "brambling lace meandering down into enraptured cable."

Very comfortable, stretchy lace, nice cable traveling across the instep. Overall, interesting and challenging to knit, however, the pattern could have been written to eliminate guesswork in the decreasing of the lace, and the resulting necessary focus on maintaining stitch count.





Now onto the right sock.. to be continued as a pair (Titania, Part II).

Not quite stripes, a subtle, playful, candy-cane sort of mosaic pattern forms automatically with this Opal yarn:



I like the purl line dividing where the lace ends and the ankle commences:



The pattern is available here:
http://www.mimknits.com/downloads/razorshell.pdf