Ridin' the rapids

Finished on the heels (BAHAHAHAHAHA!) of 2007.

My last FO of 2007 becomes my first post of 2008! Got these off the needles on the 30th, soaked, dried, and ready to wear on the 31st. Well, they would've been ready to wear if they, you know, fit and all.

Hand me an oar
With one more deadline knit to whip out before the end of the year (these for SAMKAL4), I decided to go with sockbug's lovely River Rapids pattern.

Yeah, you wanna paddle me. Go on, admit it.

It's very intuitive and easy to memorize, and knits up pretty damn quick, too! I only made a few minor mods:

• Changed the cuff to start and end with P1s so the ribbing would line up with the stitch pattern and my anal retentive tendencies.
• Reduced the stitch count to 62 for the foot, then to 60 at the start of the toe.
  
• Started the toe after 2.5 repeats instead of 3.
• Did a star toe instead of a standard toe.
  

Twinkle, twinkle River Rapids star...

Bag lady
Sadly, I'm not too thrilled with how these turned out. Why, you might ask? Well my friends, this fit is not phat. They're too loose, kinda baggy, and float all over my feet. Which makes them rather uncomfortable to wear.

About halfway down the leg, a little voice in the back of mind whispered this might happen, too. Just eyeballing it, they seemed a tad bigger than usual and my gauge looked a little loose, too. But I swatted that little wench down and locked her in the basement because dammit, I was on a deadline. Well, guess who busted out and got the last laugh. See what happens when you rush? Meh.

The last pair of socks I knitted for myself was back in September, so I think my sensors were down. If they'd been fully operational, I would have reduced the overall stitch count right from the start and started the toe earlier, too. Maybe even gone down a needle size to 0. See? You really do need to keep a pair of me socks in the wip pool at all times! ;)

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superdye!

Yarn thoughts
So this is Wollmeise, a sock yarn that has quickly become shark chum and I gotta say, it's easy to see why. The colors are really spectacular - very rich and saturated, like this intense Superman blue.

It's also very soft and wonderful to knit with. And have you seen how much yardage you get in these babies? I have a good 74(!) grams left! Easily enough for a second pair.

It only left behind a minor tint in the soak, and even came through the dryer - on high! - like they were brand new. (I'd thrown them in there thinking that might shrink them up and forgot to reset the temp to low.) No fading, no shrinking, no pilling. Those are generally good signs they'll wear well.

There were a couple of drawbacks, however. First, I was a little disappointed with how the tones knitted up. Me, I like pooling. Flashing is fun! This whole semi-solid stripey thing bugs the crap out of me. Guess my heathery hopes for tonal variations are set too high. Maybe I should just lower my expectations. After all, that's how I found a husband. HAHA! Just kidding, honey. Although you're probably not reading this. And if you are, don't forget to bring in the trash bins when you get home.

Second, the socks don't feel as soft on as the yarn felt during the knitting. But I sense this might be due to the sucky fit, so I'll reserve judgment on that for now.

That's a wrap
Kickass pattern. Crappyass fit. Sadly, one cannot make up for the other. *sob* Well, at least I have enough yardage left for a second pair - I'd love to see how this yarn feels when the socks actually fit! For now, I think I'll put these in a time out and see if they become candidates for Frogpondia later.

River Rapids Socks
Pattern: sockbug
Yarn: Wollmeise Sockenwolle in Vergissmeinnicht
Needles: KP size 1, 32"
Mods: Adjusted the ribbing, shortened the foot, finished with a star toe