Opal socks finally completed

Yikes, these Opal socks went on forever. Granted, they were my "to-go" project, that mainly sat underneath the passenger front seat and got a few rounds worked on while waiting at appointments and such, so it was never a high priority sock. Although nearing the end of the school year, I simply could not focus on anything other simple stockinette socks. I did a lot of wrong things on these socks, but in the end, I think they're ok. They pretty much comforted me through the semester and gave me relief from the stress of class and what ifs. When I couldn't concentrate on my research, it was easy to knit a few rows of stockinette, always so soothing to this tired mind. At one point, I thought I should turn the heel, as I usually knit socks with a 5 1/2 to 6 inch cuff, but not much longer than that. Instead, after the 6 inch mark, I kept knitting and knitting b/c I needed the stockinette. Turning the heel isn't terribly difficult and I've done a million times before, but once I knit the heel flap, turned the heel and then picked up stitches, I'd have to pay attention to my decreases for awhile, whereas if I kept knitting, I didn't have to think about it.

I finally turned the heel and went on finished the first sock while in Boston. I proudly showed my finished socks (one each of Horcrux and the Opal socks) to Julia, while having brunch in Boston. She happened to ask me if my feet were tiny, then I realized that I decreased for the toe about two-three inches too soon and the foot while snug, did fit, but not very comfortably.

I duly cast on for the second sock and knitted happily away and then lost one of my needles while in Boston. Cyn kindly lent a pair of her dpns and I continued on knitting away. At one point back in Denver, I decided I didn't want the metal needles anymore and I picked up a pair of wooden dpns and switched to them. Except what I didn't realize was the needles I'd used to knit the socks initially were US size 1s (2.25 mm) and the needles I switched to were US 1.5s (2.5 mm). I noticed the sock fabric was a bit looser than I normally like and wondered what the cause could be and then realized the needle size was different. All of this long story to say, I finally finished them and went back and fixed the first toe, so now I can wear that sock too.

Whew, here they are:



Pattern: Basic stockinette socks, no pattern
Yarn: Opal sock yarn (about 5 years in the stash)
Started: January '07
Completed: July 3, 2007
Modifications: every one in the book