One Pair More

I'm still somewhat aghast at the fact that it's the last day of 2012 (though I'd be willing to bet that the fact that I'm on vacation in a warm climate might have something to do with my confusion with regard to the calendar). Nevertheless, I have one last finished project for the year*, and I think it's appropriate that I share it with you today.

More than three years ago, I bought a braid of superwash merino fiber from my favorite Etsy fiber dyer (who, alas, appears to have gone dormant; I think she may have gotten a bit burnt out after the last enormous spinalong).

I'd like to point out that this fiber was bought so long ago that I had to go to Flickr to find the photo, because the original is on my old computer!

In any case, shortly before Rainbow made her arrival in late 2009, I spun this 4.2 oz. of fiber up into approximately 352 yards of three-ply fingering weight sock yarn.

That yarn sat for a long time in my stash. I wound it into a center-pull ball shortly before our Vegas anniversary trip, but it wasn't until mid-November that I actually cast on for the socks.

I generally like to stick to plain stockinette for handspun; the yarn usually does such interesting things with color that I prefer to let it be the star and thus avoid patterns that will compete with the natural beauty of the yarn. For these, I cast on 65 stitches, worked in 3x2 ribbing for about 3.5", then switched over to stockinette for the rest of the sock (decreasing one stitch at the end of the first round to get me down to my usual 64 stitches).

I did a regular heel flap for these, but I moved the gusset decreases to under the heel (as in my Scullers Socks); I'm finding that this modification is my new favorite way to do the decreases because the sock really hugs my heel because of them. You can see this effect in this photo (though the colors aren't a accurate as they are in the photo above):

I was worried I was going to run short on yarn for these, so I made my legs only about 6" high rather than my usual 7". I probably could have eked out a little more length, but I have a nice little ball of leftovers that can be added to the bag for the long-neglected sock yarn blanket. (At this point, I might get it done for another kid or have to make it large enough to cover Rainbow when she goes to college!)

So that's the last thing I'll finish in 2012 (*there's still one unblogged FO, but it's about a dozen states away from me now, so it'll have to wait until next year). I'm still working steadily on the sweater and hope to have a progress shot for you in a few days -- we're headed on a little side trip to visit my aunt and uncle on the other coast tomorrow, so it'll be excellent car knitting.

Until we "meet" again, I wish you all good things for the new year -- health, happiness, yarn, and fiber. I'm looking forward to seeing what 2013 has in store for us!