Socks of Doom

I've been crocheting pretty avidly for about 2 years, maybe 3.  In that time I've learned so many new skills and tried many projects.  I'm at the point where I'm fairly confident I can do just about any project I find a pattern for, and am even writing some of my own simple patterns.  But there were still 2 things I hadn't done yet - make socks and make an adult sweater.  I got yarn for a sweater back in November, but I'm waiting for just the right pattern to come along.  In the meantime, it felt it was time for me to tackle the socks.  And I had a deadline to learn, because I signed up for a sock challenge happening as part of my Harry Potter yarn group on February 9th (the pattern is posted at midnight and the first person to finish gets the most points).

Now, truth be told, I tried socks once before when I was still a very beginner.  It was a disaster.  The pattern started at the top of the sock and worked down to the toes.  I worked the leg and was about to start the heel but wanted to make sure I liked the height, so I tried it on.  Or, I should say, I tried to try it on.  My crocheting was so tight, I couldn't even get it over my heel.  That was one of my first lessons on guage.

This time around, I chose a different pattern - one that works from the toes up (it can be found here) so I could try it as I went.  I have some sock yarn that I really like, but didn't want to use it on a project that would potentially just be frogged and the yarn forgotten about.  So I went to Joann and picked up 3 inexpensive yarns (that also turned out to be on sale!).  The first is actually quite nice - purple and gray self-striping, wool/bamboo/acrylic mix.  Pretty, soft, warm, and machine washable - what's not to love?

I excitedly printed the pattern and got to work.  The first sock, though time consuming, went swimmingly.  The stripes worked out perfectly.  I had to read through the instructions for the heel a few times, but eventually did something I thought was right.  It ended up looking like a sock (woo!) and more or less fitting.  It's a little on the big side, but I'm hoping it'll shrink up in the wash.  And if not, well, then, I have some warm socks I can wear at home.  It took me about 3 session to finish the whole first sock.

Having successfully made one sock, I was convinced the second would be a piece of cake and take much less time.  It started out okay, until I realized that the stripes were coming out wonky - much differently than they had one the first sock.  I thought it was just a fluke, and continued on.  As I was nearing the start of the heel shaping, I compared it to the first sock, so I could make sure I was getting the heel in the same place.  Turns out, I was short about 4 stitches a round so it was much smaller than the first sock - and wouldn't fit me.  I ripped it back to the toe and started again.  This time it was working out much better and mostly matching the first sock.


(mostly matching stripes!)

Then I got to the heel shaping.  I did all the decreases and everything was fine.  I started the increases but something wasn't working out.  It didn't look or feel right.  So I ripped back to the start of the increases and re-read the instructions.  I started again but it still didn't seem right.  The next day I ripped it back once again and started over.  At this point I had put in about 2 hours of work on just 16ish rows of work.  And I was still unhappy with how it was turning out.  I ripped out the whole heel section and put it down for a couple of days thinking that coming back to it with a fresh mind would be better.  It took 2 more tries before I finally just gave up on getting it right and just focused on getting it done - however that was.


(notice the stupid looking heels)

I finally moved past the heel (which is still wrong and I still hate) and started up the leg.  I was in the home stretch!  No shaping, no pattern, just stitches until I got it the height I wanted it.  Only...the stripes were coming out wrong again.  After counting and counting and counting, I discovered I had over-increased the second section of the heel shaping and had about 7 extra stitches (it was huge!).  Luckily I was only about 4 rows into the leg section.  I decided instead of ripping back another 30 minutes of work, I would just keep going, putting in some decreases in the calf side of the work, which is fine, but not perfect.

So, here they are - my socks of doom.  Or really, just the one sock of doom.

I'm not done with socks.  I'm still going to try and get in one more practice pair before the challenge.  I'm trying a different pattern this time, hoping the wording might make a little more sense.  I'll let you know how they turn out!