More Learning Going On! And FOs!!!
I hate to disappoint you all, but the review of New Pathways for Sock Knitters by Cat Bordhi will not be appearing here on the blog. It is for publication. I can tell you though that I bought my own copy this week even though the review copy has not yet been returned. I just couldn’t bear the thought of not having this book nearby whenever the urge might strike to learn a new sock construction. The first printing is sold out so your best bet of finding a copy before October is at an LYS.
To the left is a pair of the Little Sky Learning Socks from the book. These are knit top down with the gusset spreading out centrally over the front of the leg and star toe - no kitchnering for those who dislike grafting! I think these are just adorable and already my mind is whirling in circles with ideas of things to do with this sort of construction.
The other adorable pair of socks is the second learning sock - Little Coriolis. Note how the spiral of the socks go in opposite directions! *sigh* Ah, I love mirrored symmetry! As with Little Sky I have ideas rushing around in my head for this construction as well. There are not enough hours in the day for sock knitting and my back/neck can’t handle the hours of sock knitting I wish I were doing right now.
Pattern: Little Sky and Little Coriolis Learning Socks
Designer: Cat Bordhi, from New Pathways for Sock Knitters
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease, 113 Cherry Red
Needles: US 5 Brittany Birch DPNs
Mods: These are slightly smaller as my gauge was 6 sts/in rather than the samples in the book which were 5.5 sts/in. Other than that, no mods as the point was to learn new techniques.
Notes: I really, really suck at the figure-8 cast-on called for in the Little Coriolis pattern. For toe-ups using sock weight yarn where I am set up to knit the socks on 2 circs I think I’ll stick to my handy dandy Turkish cast-on. The second Little Coriolis has a slightly improved toe, but I still knit it twice and it still isn’t quite right.
I also love this heel. It appears to give the fit of a heel flap and gusset, but there is no picking up of stitches, just decreasing the extra “wing” stitches away. It is interesting though because the top down socks look like a traditional toe-up heel flap and gusset and vice versa for the top-down version. I can’t wait until I knit some of these in my size so I can see what the fit of these unusual constructions feel like. However, the Panda Cotton socks and Fountain of Youth socks need finished up first. It’s so hard to not cast on though!
