FO: Hockey Socks

 

It feels like a miracle to be typing this, but I finished my hockey socks at long last! This poor neglected project sat around in my sewing room a year and 2 months, but now they are finished and I can stop feeling guilty about them, lol.

This is the Jaywalker pattern by Grumperina, which is free on Ravelry. I've made this pattern once before, but those do have some issues that I set out to correct with this version. I love this pattern for self striping yarn because it just makes those chevrons stand out and look very impressive. This yarn is Premier Yarns Fruits in the Dragonfruit colorway, which is 100% acrylic, but I just couldn't stay away from the fun print. I used this yarn for my Watermelon Socks as well and it's held up great, so I wasn't worried about using it again. 

The story of these socks makes them probably the least planning for a project I've ever done. I was going to a Solar Bears hockey game at the arena and I wanted to bring some knitting, but I didn't know how particular they would be able bringing in knitting needles plus they have a bag policy. I had less than 10 minutes before I  had to leave to pick a project and grab the supplies, so I grabbed a pattern I already had printed out and had used before along with some cheap dpns and this yarn. I stuck the needles in my small purse and put the yarn in my pocket and went on my way. I cast on at the game and got just beyond the cuff done, then I quickly lost interest in the project because I had others I was more excited about at the time. This year, I decided I wanted to make myself more socks, but being the responsible individual I am, I couldn't just abandon this project and start yet another. So I set out to get these done, which took a whopping 2 weeks to complete. Craziness.

When I started the first sock, I just wanted the pink at the top edge. Once I got to about where the heel should begin, I noticed I was just starting the pink again and I could get it to line up just at the beginning of the heel flap, so I went back a few rows to make that happen. I knit the heel flap and as I reached the end, I was absolutely shocked by how the stripes in the yarn lined up around the gusset and foot. The first time I made this pattern, I changed the heel to an afterthought style because I wanted to make extra sure the stripes in my self striping yarn lined up. This time I deliberately threw caution to the wind because I've learned that heel flaps just fit my feet better, so I was willing to accept that the pattern might be thrown off after the heel. Lo and behold! It lined up so well that I couldn't have made this happen if I actually tried. There is no extra spacing on the top of the sock and the heel is framed perfectly by the pink and yellow stripes. Absolutely amazing lol.

It seems that my second sock came out a smidge shorter than the first one, which is odd because I really thought I started the toe in the same spot. By that time, I was just wanting to finally be done and it's just the toe so I really didn't mind it enough to go back and change anything. In the end, I do wish I had used a smaller needle for the cuff at the top as they kind of bunch up since this yarn is acrylic and have no natural spring. Lesson learned! I will still wear these and think they are ridiculously cute.

So that's one more sock project for my drawer - just in time for it to be too hot to wear socks, lol. At least now I am free to dive into other socks that I want to make without these making me feel guilty. Love that for me!

Summary:

Yarn: 2 skeins of Premier Yarns Fruits in Dragonfruit - $11.67

Pattern: Jaywalker by Grumperina - Free

Time: 1 year 2 months