i finished the socks i started on boxing day on sunday, so just under a month, even with a fair bit of dedicated knitting time. i used wendy’s toe up sock pattern which was (on the whole) a breeze. once i got my head around the short rows it was really straightforward - enough to manage the second one with barely a glance at the pattern.

the biggest problem i had was knitting the double wraps at the ends of the rows in properly to make the right side neat. trouble is i don’t remember how i managed to do it right in the end, or even where i found the tip that set me on the right path. i know that knittinghelp didn’t help me this time. next time i do some i’ll have to update this entry, when it all comes back to me or i have to go hunting for help again.

since it’s my first try at socks they don’t fit brilliantly and don’t match. the first one (on the right in the pic) turned out so much too small around the leg that i cast the second on with extra stitches (64 vs 60) and accidentally started the ribbing much lower on the leg. so i decided to frog the first back to the ankle so that i could increase the number of stitches in the cuff. so i actually had 2 nearly completed socks about 2 weeks ago, but it took me a while to get back to finishing sock no.1.

the final verdict is that sock no.1 istoo small - it’s a little short in the foot and it could be a little wider. sock 2 was too long in the foot before a wash but perhaps fits about right now. i actually decreased the sitches by 2 once i’d past the ball of my foot as it was feeling a little loose (it turned out that my tension relaxed loads after i’d firmly got the hang of the dpns - the first sock bore very little resemblance to my guage swatch, much tighter) then i increased up to 66 for the cuff.

on the first sock i changed from 2.5 to 2mm dpns for the 3×3 ribbing but had to change back since one of my birch needles snapped (i didn’t put any additional pressure on it). i limped along with 4 until i lost another irretrievably down the back of the in-laws sofa, and then reverted to the 2.5s. i have to say i much preferred working with the metal needles, but will have to remember to test the replacement guarantee on the brittany ones.

i think next time i would do the rib in a smaller size needle, but increase the stitches to compensate - i think i’d prefer a tighter looking rib. while i love the striped yarn (regia canadian colors, toronto) in the stockinette stretches i’m not mad on it in the rib, the purl stitches are too bittily stripey. i guess i’d be better off with a wider stripe.

i had problems when it came to binding off, too tight, but solved that with a crochet cast off that i’ll link to here cos i’m sure i’ll come looking for it again soon.

but i’d say on the whole i loved knitting these, the changing colours in the yarn kept me interested and the whole thing was much easier than i was expecting (given that i’ve only knitted rib scarves and half a hat on dpns before). the only thing i really need to address is quite noticeable holes at the ankles where it joins back into the round after the short rows. i did have a very slight widening at the corner of the needles but a trip through the wash evened them out a treat.

# 1 - adult alpaca, spindle spun, plied.

i spun this from a few handfuls or raw fibre at the spinning day on saturday, the first alpaca i’ve tried. it’s fluffy but quite hard (overtwisted). i found i had to put a lot of twist in to get it to hold together at first but once i’d settled into it i should have reduced the twist.

# 2 - baby alpaca, fluffed, not combed or carded, wheel spun, singles. 4mm needles.

i was amazed by this - it seemed really marginal whether it would hold together at all, and turned out a wonderful soft, fuzzy fabric. this was the second yarn i spun on the kiwi after a little bfl top. i kept it as a singles as there clearly wasn’t enough twist to ply. i picked out the largest lumps of vm but hoped the other bits would kind of work their own way out during spinning and washing (some did, some didn’t). i also thought i’d done for it when i washed it rather roughly and it seemed to have felted into one big mass. it withstood being pulled back into strands while wet and skeined off pretty well once it was dry. (i have to add that i LOVE the skeiner - the fuzzy, loosely spun, tangled skein would never have made it into balls without it). there’s a lot of thick-thin variation (very rough average 15 wpi) and i think the needle choice was about right, the fabric’s quite open, but the fuzz fills any gaps nicely.

i love this so much i’m seriously thinking about spinning enough for my first jumper - will subject the swatch to a little abuse. i’m sure i’ve heard that alpaca doesn’t pill but that it can shed a lot. the pattern at the top is (a very rough attempt at) the crocus bud pattern from belle epoque (knitty). it’s the closest i’ve found to what i’m looking for but not quite there i think, i’d rather someththing with a higher, maybe square neckline, and a little more fitted. i’m also having serious doubts about spinning 500g of the stuff anyway near consistently.

# 3 - baby alpaca, combed, fluffed, wheel spun.

i lost a fair percentage of the fibre in processing. not having proper equipment i busked it with an old comb (plastic, teeth too close together) and a dog/cat paddle brush (like a mini carder, teeth also probably too close together). i can see why joanna recommended combing, that seems to be the most efficient way to get the bits out - might see if i can make a trip to the pet shop and see what they have in the way of combs.

while the fibre prep was better i think it’s way overspun for a singles. now i realise it needs a lot less than i always thought to hold together, especially on the wheel where there’s less tension on the fibres so it’s not going to drift apart as you spin. the finished skein has a deal of residual twist (compared to no.2 which hung pretty much straight) and is kinked up in places. i wouldn’t want to weight it while it dries since there’s little enough elasticity in the yarn already, don’t want to kill it altogether. i’ll still knit it up and see how it compares to no. 2 through a few wash/wear cycles, so i can fine tune.