Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot, Rosehip, with Elann Sock It To Me as toe and heel reinforcement. Needle: Addi Turbo, size 1 circular. Pattern: Open Twisted Rib. Stitches: Only 50. This pattern is quite stretchy. But the small number of total stitches, as well as the fact that this yarn has little stretch to it (possibly due to the mohair content?) made it quite difficult to keep the top cast off edge from being a tourniquet. First I did this bind off. Does anyone know, is this the tubular cast off? Then I did my regular go up a needle size or two regular bind off, done loosely. Still too tight. On the third try, I undid the top, changed to the reinforcement yarn, increased to 60 stitches, did the ribbing, switched to a size 3 needle, and bound off loosely. Good enough, I hope.
I'm not terribly thrilled with the tiger stripey-ness of the yarn, but it's not quite so obvious in person. It is incredibly soft even with a touch of mohair, which, of course, makes it a bit difficult to rip. Luckily there wasn't much of that until the very end.
The verdict is out on whether the magic loop, or using 5 double pointed needles is faster for me. It's pretty close, but it took until well into the second sock before I picked up speed, and I think the dpns are easier on my wrists. Dpn's it is, but I'll still use the Addis sometimes just for something different.
O.K. So, now that I have the attention of a good portion of the world's sock knitters, I have a question for you....
WHAT do I do with all of THIS?
They have outgrown their Ziploc bag and have become a stash of their very own. It doesn't help that I've started to knit shorter height socks lately.
Here are some of the ideas I've come across:
Mini-socks or mini-sweaters for ornaments or advent calenders like these. (I've already made an advent calendar out of wool felt.)
Baby and Toddler socks. (O.K. Sure.)
Blankets and afghans like this (picture here), this, this, and this! (No, thanks. Too long term.)
Patchwork pillows: middle bottom picture here . (Maybe.)
Patchwork sweaters like this, this, and this. (NOT!)
Frankensocks, or monstersocks here. (Maybe a couple pairs for the kids.)
DOES ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY MORE IDEAS?
