Christmas Socks

After years of knitting, and several years of knitting socks, I still don't have any Christmas socks. This year, I'm trying to fix that. So I've been trying to find the perfect sock pattern to use with the Panda Wool I bought to celebrate the fulfillment of my Yarn Abstinence Vow.

I started with the Crystalline Lattice Socks by Janice Kang. They looked great on Ravelry, and they were specifically designed for Panda Wool. But it turns out that they don't look so great with this particular colorway of Panda Wool - the result is just too busy, and the dark color doesn't show off the pattern. Since the pattern is somewhat finicky, I want that hard work to show!


So I put the project on hold for awhile, to give myself time to think. Here's a side-by-side comparison, with the Crystalline Lattice on the right and the new work in progress on the left.


Much as I hate doing it, I'm going to frog the Crystalline Lattice socks. If I didn't like the pattern so much, I'd stick it out and have a pair of OK socks. But I know this pattern is going to look magnificent with the right yarn - I have my eye on several Panda Cotton colors - so I'm going to save it for later. It's a pattern that needs some attention, although the cabling without a cable needle technique helps move the pattern along faster, and the designer has a lovely tutorial on how to do this.

The new plan is to use the Shimmer Socks pattern, designed by Meg Croft. This pattern was specifically designed for problem varigated yarn, so that sounds promising. It's an insanely easy pattern to follow - especially since I just decided to use the stitch pattern on a normal sock, instead of messing with the toe-up, short-row toe and heel design the pattern uses. I'm still not sure that it's the perfect pattern for this yarn, but perhaps nothing is the perfect pattern for this yarn. It looks great in the ball, but it has such short color repeats that maybe it just won't knit up very well in anything. But I'll have something Christmasy - I hope in time for Christmas.


Oscar's being very photogenic lately. He keeps striking this pose - especially when he tries to curl himself against a heater vent. (He's definitely my dog - he spent Saturday curled up so close to a space heater that I was afraid he'd burn his nose.) I think he looks like an Egyptian-inspired Art Deco statue. Maybe he's just trying to look like a good dog.