Off to the ****lympics er Ravellenics

Thanx to the IOC, the crafty pursuit once known as the Ravelympics is now known as the Ravellenics - they now own the 'rights' to the Olympic name . . yeah right. I'm surprised the Greeks haven't been told to rename mount Olympus! But, now that that's out of my system - it still makes me mad though . . .

I took the yarn spun in the Tour de Fleece & decided to knit it into socks for the Ravellenics. Thought I'd just whack them off in a day or two & move along to my sweater. Not so. I had good intentions but I may only get a couple of pairs of socks finished. Knitting socks with handspun is a little different that knitting them with commercial yarn. I had intended to ply my yarn so the socks would wear longer - normally I don't bother with plying but there is a place & time.

When my skein hit the water after spinning, it POUFED up to almost twice it's thickness - oops. So after soaking, whacking & drying, well, it's a little too thick to ply. I'd never get the socks into my shoes if I did & it's a little thin without plying. Not what I'd planned at all. But I'm doing it anyway!!

I cast-on on Friday, the first day of the Olympics with my usual size 1 needles & my singles yarn in Purple Majesty - seemed fitting somehow. I decided to just go for it. I used my usual count of 68 stitches for the ribbing which is in K2,P2. The knitting was a little slower since my singles is not as regular as it normally is since I had planned to ply to even it out by plying. I did have a few very thin spots that I doubled as I went & I definitely had to keep a closer eye on the knitting. I even took a picture on the first night.

I decided to make these a short sock since I don't have many of them & wanted a few more pairs for summer. The sock is plain stocking stitch for a couple of inches below the ribbing to where I started for the heel. I'm using the heel with knitted gussets formed on either side as I do a K1,S1 heel between them. This heel is from the Crazy Heels & Toes Book which saved my life when I couldn't see to pick up those stitches on either side of the old heel flap. I don't have to pick up stitches anymore, thank gawd, but I did have a slight learning curve at the beginning. The K1,S1 flap is between the markers & the knitted gusset is from the marker to the end of the needle. The nice thing about this heel is that you can make the gussets narrower or wider to accommodate the foot you're knitting for. I usually use 13 increases for my old, widening clodhopper but use 15 for most men's sizes. My socks never crawl into my shoes! Ever!