I had some interesting yarn in my stash that I had purchased from Brynna at Draygone Yarnes some time ago in a color way called Say You Love Me.
Interesting is one of those descriptors that one uses when one doesn’t wish to be negative, but really cannot think of anything positive to say. This is not a colorway I would have chosen; I received it as part of a sock club based on Broadway musicals. The yarn sat in my stash for months, and I just didn’t know what to do with it. I mean, it’s hot pink and dusty grape, for cryin’ out loud!
Then, a couple of weeks ago, one of my Ravelry friends said she was working on the Simple Skyp Socks. I’m always looking for new simple sock patterns, so I clicked the link she had provided and found this pattern.
It’s a free download, as you can see, and a lovely pattern. My first thought when I saw this pattern was, I have to knit these socks! My second thought was, I wonder how these socks would look in that pink and purple yarn I got from Brynna?
I should have trusted Brynna. She is a brilliant dyer, and I have never, ever gotten a clunker from her.
The pattern is written for sport weight yarn, and the yarn I decided to use is fingering weight yarn, but I figured it wouldn’t be difficult at all to adapt the pattern. I was wrong. I didn’t even need to adapt the pattern. It is written for a range of sizes, one of which uses 72 stitches, the magic number I use when knitting socks in fingering weight yarn on size 2.5mm needles at a gauge of 9 stitches per inch.
So I cast on 72 stitches, knit the called-for 10 rounds of 2 x 2 ribbing, then started the Skyp pattern. The pattern looks complicated, but it is as simple as can be. I worked round and round and in short time came to the end of the leg.
Here I modified the pattern a bit. I arranged the stitches as called for in the pattern, and I knitted the heel flap in heel stitch (row 1: *sl 1, k 1, repeat from *; row 2: sl 1, purl across), but instead of a chain selvedge edge, I use a 3-stitch garter edge. In other words, I started and ended each row with k 3.
I turned the heel in my usual fashion, picked up the gusset stitches, and then I tried something new to me. I did all my gusset decreases on the sole of the foot at the same place each time, on either side of the two center heel stitches. This is an idea I borrowed from Scullers Socks, and I wanted to compare this technique with the gusset decreases I used for the Reversible Ribs Socks.
Both are simple to do. Both are aesthetically pleasing. And both create a well-fitting heel that wraps itself gently around the contours of the foot’s anatomy. Both are winners. Both are keepers. But I must admit I have a preference for the looks of the slanted gusset decreases I used on the Reversible Ribs Socks. I like how it forms a diamond, and I think the heel fits just a skosh better than the straight-line decreases.
Say You Love Me Skyp Socks sock #1 is finished, and sock #2 is OTN.
There is one more pattern modification I have to mention, this one unintentional. When I cast on sock #2 and finished knitting the ribbing, I discovered that I had missed something in the directions. There is supposed to be a round of purl stitches separating the 2 x 2 ribbing from the Skyp pattern. Somehow, I missed that the first time around. But I kind of like the way the ribbing flows into the leg pattern, so I’m not upset at all that I can’t read a pattern. 😀
Don’t forget to visit Tami’s WIP Wednesday site and see what other crafty folks are up to.