Finished Egyptian socks

Finally put the last stitches on it last night and made the garter this afternoon.

I'm not sure if I would do anything differently...maybe add more stitches earlier in the increases over the calf to fit a little better. I started increasing every 4th row starting after the zig-zags at the ankle, but I might do every third row for a while, then every other row until I reach 104 stitches.

I've been asked to make a pair on commission by a well-respected artisan...I'm pretty jazzed about that!

Elewys

First Sock Done!

First Egyptian sock finished today. The second sock has been started, but it'll be several days before it's done. Garter is attached in the back--a five loop fingerloop braid. I don't know if it's period for that pattern or culture, but it was quick and easy.

Here it is worn by me. I see now that I needed a couple more stitches through the middle where those diamonds are a little less square...too late now. Maybe if I lose a bunch of weight it'll be less noticable. :)

Elewys

Sock Update

Making some serious progress on the Egyptian sock. After a few stops and starts, I was able to turn the heel and start increases to fit over my calves. Spindley legs do NOT run in our family.

I may even finish it in the next couple of days. The trick will be to see if the yarn reaches the end of the pattern, and if I can make another one just like it.

Elewys

Toe Up!

While I was working away on the new knee-high socks...I got distracted by the ecru and navy wool that was just sitting there...taunting me... Yooo-hoooo!

I went ahead and cast on 120 stitches for a top-down Egyptian sock...but doing a bit of cruising on my favorite blogs revealed that there are other crazed SCAers who are recreating these socks. One was on display in the Sock Museum at the recent Sock Summit in Portland, OR which Heide kindly photographed for me. I recently joined the Historic Knit list which started discussing the Sock Summit, and decided to post a question about the sock pattern, if anyone had a copy that I could compare my first attempt with theirs. Not surprisingly, I received a couple of responses, including from the maker of the sock on display, and the author of the pattern she used!

My pattern that I created based on looking at the extant piece was very close to the pattern from Ellen Perlman that I was referred to. However, while my first attempt was a top-down, this was a toe-up sock, which I had never tried before. She recommended using Judy's Magic Cast On method for toe-up socks, which was taught at Sock Summit, and the directions can be found on www.knitty.com, so I had to try that! I followed the directions and after a few attempts, got it to look like the photos. Success!

So today I learned how to start a toe-up sock, as well as a new cast-on method, as well as trying a two-color sock, as well as trying to recreate the Egyptian socks. It's been a day of firsts!

So how are the socks coming, you ask? So far, so good! They're a little bit big, but because they're wool, I may be able to shrink them if necessary. Maybe size 3 needles would have worked better? Or four repeats instead of five? We'll see when they get closer to being done...now I just have a toe-cozy.

Elewys