Back on Track

I spent very little time with my knitting needles this past weekend.  Instead, I have a much cleaner house and sore legs from an almost 12 mile run.  As I contemplate starting marathon training, I shudder that soon 12 miles will be a recovery run, but that’s a subject for another day.  Despite very little knitting time, 20 hours in the car the weekend prior equated to most of a second sock.  I finished the foot by Friday evening, and despite spending hours scrubbing cabinets and floors or pounding the pavement this weekend, I was able to squeeze in finishing the toe Sunday night to cross off one more WIP from list. 

Have I mentioned I hate taking pictures of socks?

Pattern:  Cauchy from Sock Innovation by Cookie A.

Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Tea Party

These socks have a long history.  A very long time ago, Mike asked for dark brown socks.  I was excited at the idea at first, especially as I began yarn shopping.  I settled on the raved-about Dream in Color Smooshy, which I had never used, and cast on for Simple Skyp socks.  This was October 2009 (I had to look back to an old Ravelry post to find that info).  I didn’t like the yarn/pattern combo, and a few inches into the first leg, I ripped it completely.  According to my Ravelry project page, I started Cauchy in April 2010.  Progress was slow.   In July, with less than one leg finished, Cauchy made a brief blog appearance with the goal of finishing the pair in December.  It's obvious that I meant December 2011, not 2010, right?

I honestly can’t remember much about that first sock until I picked it back up a couple of months ago with the heel flap halfway done. Sock one was finished by the time I finalized my Operation Conquer the WIPs mission.  I was less than an inch into the second sock when I left for Atlanta.  By the time we reached my parents’ house, the leg was finished.  On the return trip, I turned the heel and knit until my fingers ached.  I bitched and whined these last few days as I slogged through the rest of the sock, but now, over two years after Mike made that simple request, I can finally deliver him some damn brown socks. I wonder how long it will take me to finally hand over the brown sweater I've started for him three times? 

Details:  I skipped the picot cuff and instead cast on 64 stitches and knit eight rows of 2x2 ribbing.  I then increased to 66 before beginning the chart.  The pattern is written for 60 stitches with a 10-stitch repeat.  I threw in one extra stitch in between the purl zig-zags to make it an 11 stitch repeat to size it up.

Verdict:  Easy pattern, nice texture, good guy sock without being mind-numbingly boring, although certainly not the most exciting knit either.  Even though this was the first skein of Smooshy I purchased, this is my second finished pair of Smooshy socks.  I know there are loads of knitters that adore this yarn, but I am not one of them.  To me it feels rough and is hard on my hands.  The sock feels like it will be extremely durable and the fabric has a nice feel now that the socks have gone for a swim, but it's not worth an unhappy knitting experience.  I breathed a heavy sigh of relief last night when I moved onto the next WIP and felt the soft merino cashmere yarn sliding through my fingers.  Next up: cabled fingerless mittens.