No, Marina, not that radical. 😉
But first, some announcements.
Check out Eryka’s new Etsy portal for knits called Knitsy.
Trek was hit with a surprise Box Tops for Education request and is begging looking for all the help she can get to fulfill it!
Please let Ms. Concateknit know if you’ve donated to any cause recently. Non-profits such as pet rescue organizations and food banks are seeing a lot of use these days and need all the help they can get. On December 31st, Ms. Concateknit will randomly select a lucky donor to win a New Year’s gift from she and her adorable rescue dogs.
KitKatKnit’s giving away some really ugly Lorna’s Laces (um, can you tell I love the yarn and don’t really want you to enter?!) and other goodies. Leave her a comment by 4:04 PST, December 21, about your favorite holiday candy tradition – and watch this spot for a whole bunch of holiday candy goodness later this week.
Ok, back to the knitting stuff. A few weeks ago, MaryLou asked for test knitters for her gorgeous new Tendrils Rib Socks. I looked at the pictures and saw twisty little stitches. I love twisty little stitches! So I volunteered. MaryLou quickly sent the pattern and I realized… the socks were top-down. Now, I’ve easily knit 70 pairs of socks over the past eight years… and every pair was toe-up. But since being a test knitter means knitting the pattern as written, I forged ahead (with Jeanne snickering in the background).
I dug out two skeins of Original STR in Beryl and cast on. And cast on. And cast on again. Moving right along, I’ve finished the leg and done the heel flap. (I’ll try not to mention the trauma of knitting a heel flap that just… flaps there. Unattached to anything. *shudders* Well, I guess I’ll try not to mention the trauma too many times at least…) My mind boggles at what has to happen next for this to become a sock!
Fortunately, the twisty stitches are making me very happy and I’ll definitely knit this pattern again… toe-up. 😉
“Hmm. I wonder how I can get at those socks again? Mom’s been excessively careful with them since I added four extra ends last week. Curses.” -Mayhem
If you like twisty stitches, I could recommend a couple of sweaters that would put you in twisty stitch heaven 😉
Thanks for the shout out. A couple of people have stepped up to the plate and are promising me little envelopes of school happiness in the mail.
Me likey that green yarn, btw.
Pretty!
I know! Doesn’t top down sock construction FREAK YOU OUT?! Flappin’ in the wind like that…
Wow you picked a great colour!
Oh my, i’m so sorry for the traumatic experience. The sock looks great, though. Nice yarn. Me, I hate toe up socks.
I like that pattern – and the colour.
I feel all faint – you knit something top down!!
Oh – I can just feel your top-down angst!! It must be driving you nuts – kind of like brushing you teeth with the wrong hand!
I love me some heel flaps!
I found the pretty pretty yarn before I hit your blog for KitKat’s contest!!!
ahh May, you must be chatting with my kitties, who also love to add extra ends for me to weave in! (I wonder if they think that we don’t have anything better to do!)
Hang in there with the heel flaps – I love knitting top down socks, and the flap is often my favorite part.
Good luck, May!
I’m sorry about the sock trauma, but I would feel that way going toe up;–) May and Esau Marie must be cousins. I can count on EM chewing through the yarn or destroying my needles or chewing through cables.
Four extra ends! Oh my…!
Oooh, pretty socks!
Oh but you’re doing something new! 🙂 I love that Beryl colorway too.
Chris- Well, I’ve never done a toe-up, it gives me the willies,
so I guess it depends what you’re used to.
that’s a great green.
those twisty stitches are very cute – I bet the pattern would make a really cool scarf. Thus eliminating the need for a heel flap.
Beautiful green socks – I’ve gotten used to turning the heel. It’s the gusset that makes me tremble.
Oh, and thanks for telling us about that ugly yarn. I entered the contest, just to spare you from having to win it.
If you like twisty stitches, I have a great fingerless mitt pattern for you. Soon I will be able to show the world the results; I’m knitting a pair as a Christmas gift.
May, Mom caught you in a very expressive pose. She’s good that way, isn’t she? Even though she doesn’t let you contribute extra ends…
i am just the opposite….and am slowly trudging through (still) my first pair of toe up’s! i love cuff downs. le sigh! twisties look great~
I lurves me some flappy heels. They fit my high instep so nicely.
Top down isn’t so bad!
That’s hilarious — I’ve knit one pair toe up and hated it! I love top down because you do the interesting stuff first, then have the excitement of turning the heel, and then you’re practically done — the foot always goes so fast! There seemed to be much more foot on my toe up socks….
I can’t do toe up well, the heel confounds me. How sweet of Mayhem to give you extra ends!
That Marina. She is such a giver! You should take her up on it.
I’m liking the toe up way of the sock myself. Not that I am working on my socks currently. Socks? What socks?
Thanks for thinking of me!
I love the color, and I like how the stitches look.
Me too me too!! I love the colorway and the Tendrils Rib. Thanks for posting my contest.
Ah, it’s good for you to change directions now and then. 😉 I love that yarn and it looks like a fun stitch pattern.
I love twisty little stitches, too. That looks like a promising sock. But I take it you like short row heels better? 😉
Nope, I actually always knit toe-up heel flaps, in which the heel flap is always fully attached and never just flapping around.
I love that little twisty stitch and the yarn you’re using is beautiful!
That’s funny about the top-down sock construction, which is my only way of knitting socks. Sorta like your toe-up custom. The socks look great!