Current socks

Yesterday at the family supper I had my brother and aunt try on the socks I'm knitting for them. I have a perfectly good pattern for my brother, but written for a discontinued Socka yarn (the green sock on the floor) that has more rows per inch than the Fortissima gray in the above photo. Same stitch gauge, but a totally different fabric. The grey is almost worsted in preparation, a mouse gray plied with a strand each of orange and black. I have, of course, run out of yarn at the point in the photo and last night knit the toes in bright orange. He had wanted something subtle to wear to work with a surprise when he takes off his shoes at home.

My brother's feet are easy to fit since they are simple a larger and much longer version of my foot. I was all set with short contrasting yarn worked along the sides every ten rounds, just in case, but all I had to do was start his usual toe pattern 8 rounds early. Done now and ready for him to try on at Christmas. Might whip up another pair for him between now and then...

My aunt's feet are pesky! Ten rows of baggy front ankle just above the heel flap, over a half size difference in length and very different angles to the toes, and the back of the shank really needs a bit of a taper, too. I'll rip back to above the heel flap, add 6 rows/3 slipped stitches to the flap, and taper the shank while I'm there, then try a rapid decrease at the top of the gusset. Again, I have a pattern that fits her in Blauband but she liked a colourway of KnitPicks. It always surprises me how different the various sock yarns are.

I'm almost to the heel flap on a pair of Mellenweit Multiringels for my dad. His base pattern is for Regia Banner, and it looks as if the yarns are close enough in character and grist to be interchangeable. The Lana Grossa MM yarn is really lovely stuff, dense and even, excellent color saturation, about a 2400 stitch color repeat, but the hand is a tiny bit harsh. We'll have to see how it softens when washed.

The old ball of yellow striped Opal I picked up for myself in a sale bin at the Black Sheep Gathering in June is of a finer grist than my Regia base pattern, so I cast on 80 instead of my usual 72 and am knitting the entire shank in k2p2 ribbing since it's forgiving. I'm thinking snug when I knit instead of going down to size 0 needles, and it seems to be working.

Supper yesterday was lovely. My grandmother wore a pair of socks I knit for her and my brother wore a pair of socks she knit for him. The weather held, crisp and autumnal, and then the rain and wind hit today.