Winky Socks Get a Makeover

You know how when you make something (for the sake of being totally transparent, let's just call the something a sock) and you are away from the pattern and desperately need to either knit or pounce on someone and release your rage (so, duh, you just make up a pattern) and you finish said sock and try real hard to love it in spite of a glaring error in the heel? Non, this has never happened to you? Dang, I'll be pissed if I'm the only one dumb enough to fall for the 'ignore the problem and it will surely be fixed after some time in the drawer and possibly a visit from the tooth fairy, or the sock fairy, or some really sweet gnome...' - you see where this is going, don't you? I did what any sensible and also still ignoring her problem knitter would do - I proceeded to sock number 2. Only, after consulting the heel master who showed me how to do a toe-up heel with a gusset, I realized my error was not of the 'fixable' sort but more of the 'you will hate wearing this stupid sock and that is good because it will rip very soon' sort. A froggin' we did go.

The only way to console one's self and still have the vigor to finish a pair of socks that have been ripped back to the heel( sock 1) and one still at or just past the heel (sock 2) is to PRETEND YOU MEANT TO DO IT. Hence, I decided to change (gasp) and maybe not knit another sock just like all the rest - with that k2, p2 cuff that is tried and true and makes my feet dance happy songs. I put the heel on, knit in the round for about and inch, then switched to a daring and dangerous variation of the k2,p2 rib - the sheaf stitch. Now, the funniest part about this is that I just had to pick myself up off the floor cuz I fell out of my chair laughing when I realized I had not once, but twice, typed this as 'sheath' stitch....my mind is always in the sock gutter, you know. My knitting boldness is probably underwhelming you but if you're not impressed with my daring nature, hearken back to my description of how hard it is to move a pig. You can lay a cheesecake at the door and the pig will not leave the place she knows and is, therefore, comfortable in. So, you see, the sheaf stitch is just about as bold as I'm gonna get this time around. For those of you who want to try it, and I think you'll really like what it does to a cuff, here goes:

(multiples of 8 sts plus 2)
Rows 1-3 K2, p2 for three rows(presuming you're knitting a sock and knitting in the round)
Row 4: insert right needle between 6th and 7th stitch (just after the second k2 section) and draw the yarn through. Put this loop on your needle and knit it together with the first stitch. Continue to knit the second stitch, purl two stitches, and knit the last two of that group. Then, p 2 and start over again.
Rows 5-7 continue the k2, p2 rib as usual
Row 8: k2, then repeat the process of row four except you start and end on a p2 set instead of a k2 set.

I stopped about 1 inch before the top and finished with a k2, p2 rib but then the attention problem caught up with me so I put a picot edge on it. I'm sure you already know how but here's how the village idiot did it:
Row 1:K1, yo, k2 tog to end.
Row 2-5: k2, p2 ribbing
fold this 'edge' over and sew under. I used an elastic thread to run through for extra stretching ability.


Now, I'm off to make up more sock batts. I've gotten quite a few costume guesses so far but the more the merrier, I draw the lucky (or not, this depends on how much you like my fibers) person on Friday. Oh, and I just want to clarify that the guessing is all for fun, you get in the drawing simply by emailing me not by being right. If you think about it, this could be a dual opportunity. You could insult me if you've always wanted to and I might still give you something. But,please, no horrifying pics in your emails. They take forever to download and my photographic memory won't ever let me forget them!

Ahem, also, again....I have not forgotten I promised some canning and recipes. The master of all wood burning is forbidding me to enter the kitchen today (until he needs help moving the woodstove - he's not dumb!) and I've been on limited access for a few days because we are insulating the kitchen and moving the woodstove while we're at it. Oh, the joys of moving into a square box and living in it while you turn it into a home. You just never know when we're ripping out walls, or torturing ourselves moving our pioneer maid wood cookstove. All in a day's work.....