And then I remembered that he had been blessed with size 13 feet and loved really long cuffs! What to do? He just loves is hand knit socks so much...So, I compromised. Sport weight yarn, of course! I set out to dye a special batch for him, and played with the dyes until the yellow ochre was just perfect. I kept adding drops of green and brown to the dye bath until the color was rich enough. The yarn cooked, and cooked... Once it was dyed, I could hardly wait for the yarn to dry. Isn't it amazing how things can take so long to dry?
Then came the time to think of a pattern. I knit and frogged, and knit and frogged. I wanted something textural, masculine, yet fluid. Finally I found my groove, and came up wih this zigzag rib. I cast on for 2 socks at once on one circular, and started knitting.
Half way down he cuff, I realized that I should have reversed the pattern on the second sock. I debated, and debated, and eventually decided to redo the second sock to make it a mirror image of the first. Even though reknitting the cuff did not at first make me really happy, I am now glad I did, as it really gave the socks a more fluid appearance.
When I reached the heel, I chose a textured stitch stagerring the slipped stitches. After the heel flap was finished I realized I really liked the wrong side of the heel flap. No problem, I turned the socks inside out making the wrong side of the flap the right one.
The rest is history, turning the heels, working the gussets, and all the long, long, long way...down to the toe!
Mr. SockPixie's verdict: "He loves the socks!" and so do I. I love them so much that I am writing the pattern up, and will be offering it as a free pdf pattern (the pattern will be posted either later on today, or tomorrow.) I will call them Go with the Flow.
Happy Birthday darling Mr. SockPixie!
