Friday, September 28, 2007

finished and begun


The Jaywalkers are off the needles and on the feet! I'm pleased to say they are a lovely fit and I am very happy with the yarn,despite my inability to photograph it accuratey - i just can't seem to get it to show as shades of brown, instead it seems to insist on being purple/green!

I had intended to wait until the official start of Southern Summer of Socks to cast on my next pair, but it seems I have an addiction! This is two evenings work...


Spiral Boot Socks have been kicking around my to-do-queue for a while now. I love a good knee-hi sock, but alas, I suffer from a sad genetic condition - muscly, well developed calves...

It has been the bane of my existence, particularly as a self-concious teenager, desperate to look like my skinny punk idols of the 80's. You just can't do heroin-chic with Tour-de-France calves! My 12-up Docs never quite fit properly, and I was forced to endure the shame of 8-ups. At one point, I even dreamed of various medical solutions to my situation, including some sort of calf-reduction surgery, and long stints in plaster so the muscle would waste away. Happily, I have now come to a more amicable relationship with my body, despite the occasional disappointment of not being able to fit into most of the cool knee-hi boots I wanted this winter!


As I have now started doing before casting on anything new, I started searching around the net for any tips on pitfalls to look out for, sizing, chart errata etc. It seems that a lot of people have had trouble with these being too big, perhaps due to the heavier yarn and subsequent larger gauge?. To my delight, however, this pattern seems to be written specifically for those with my condition - hurrah! I've tried these on as I get to each decrease round, just to make sure, but, yes, a perfect fit each time!
With any luck I will finish them before the weather gets too warm to wear them (fingers crossed)

9 comments:

Rose Red said...

oooh, am so pleased to hear this is a 'large' pattern, as I too have the same 'blessing' as you! What yarn are you using? Looks cosy!

And the jays - fab!

(and I like very much your comment about my scarf and making it into socks - I've been thinking about that all day!!)

kgirlknits said...

It's Heirloom Argyle - very sturdy, a little bit mohair-ish too. Good thing - doesn't itch one bit!

2paw said...

I so know what you mean. I had a nice experience when I went into a posh shoe shop in town and the lovely young girl said I had 'athletic calves' and then confessed that the boots didn't fit her either. And she was slim and tall!! She made me feel not-so-bad about my calves and I use her term all the time. The Jaywalkers look great!! And I think lots of people have started the 3S socks early too!!!

Madge said...

Ah, the joy of a pattern that fits you well...it's a wonderful thing.

So are your Jays. Quite spiffy!

Octopus Knits said...

Your Jaywalkers look great (albeit, the wrong color)! I love those spiral boot socks -- muscley calves are a good thing to have, and it's great that the pattern seems to be fitting you well.

Stacey said...

Beautiful, beautiful socks!
Like Rose Red, I too am "blessed" with the inability to wear knee high boots!
I like to think its due to a youth spent playing lots of sport, developing my calf muscles, but really, its due to an adult hood sitting on my backside eating chocolate!!

Bells said...

nice work! They look great. I do wish I liked knitting that pattern more than I have done - they always look so good!

Michelle said...

Those are gorgeous Jaywalkers- some of the nicest I've seen.

I've had the 'athletic calves' comment from sales assistants when trying on knee-high boots, too!

kgirlknits said...

see, I just don't get it?! if there's that many of us out there, why don't they just make the boots wider?!