Socktoberfest

For Socktoberfest this year, I'm not planning on new socks. Instead, I'm planning on finishing two pairs for me that have been lingering.

First up, my beaded rib anklets. I spent three commute trips home turning, ripping, and re-turning the heel on the second sock of the second pair of these bad boys. The last time, I'd gotten most of the way through the gusset. I realized that I'd made a complete muck up of the heel when knitting the first sock. This is what happens when you don't double-check that you're re-inventing an ugly heel. So, when I recreated that ugly heel in the second sock and it was even uglier, I decided to make a nice heel for sock 2, which meant I'd have to rip and re-knit sock one. That meant I'd be knitting this same anklet five times (two times for the pair that was too small, two times for the current pair, and a fifth time to fix the really awful heel.)

Ah, not so grasshopper, the knitting goddesses reminded. I had an epiphany. I could cut off the good part of sock #1, rip back the heel, re-knit the heel and gusset and graft the rest of the foot back on. The only problem, how to graft reverse stockinette and garter stitch portions of the stitch pattern. Ta-da. Google it and the answer is yours! I'll share pics when it's time for surgery. For now, I need to finish sock #2 and it's vastly superior heel.

Heel pics should be posted tomorrow, my camera battery mysteriously went from 2 bars to dead. It's allright, though, I might not have any other blog fodder.

The second pair of lingering socks to be finished this month are my Here There Be Dragons socks. I first started these in January in a much too fine yarn. Then I started over in Koigu. Much better. I'm at the point where I need to start the short-row heel. That shouldn't be too hard. I just need to get the directions for the heel Theresa suggests.Then I get to cast on for new socks! I'm thinking Trekking XL in oranges in straight stockinette or a pair of Monkeys like The Harlot's in this post (I immediately bought the same yarn from Etsy and it's been sitting in my house being all beautiful).