Wandering Melody Socks

Wandering Melody Socks, Front
Originally uploaded by sunasak

I know I should have finished the orange sweater or started Garden Path Sock #2, but I had this idea of what I wanted to do on this sock, and I kept wanting to see how it came out. So, knit, knit, knit I did until suddenly today I was finished with the prototype you see here.

I call them Wandering Melody because, as I mentioned earlier in the week, they are made with lovely Jojoland Melody yarn, and there is a wandering YO that meanders across the front of the sock, around the back, and back up the front. In between where the YOs cross, there is a series of 6-stitch cables, with ten rows between cables. I did the socks top down, starting with a figure 8 cast on (I think--I may have tried the backward loop cast-on method, but that was DAYS ago, so I forget). The heel is short-row, for no other reason than I felt like doing it that way, but also because I thought perhaps the heel flap would detract from the YOs.

I kept going and going on the leg, because I didn't want to end the sock until the YO pattern had crossed the cable. Luckily it finally did, and there was enough yarn on the ball to do plenty of 2x2 ribbing.

My favorite part of the sock is the bind off. I wanted something really stretchy, since this is a tall sock that goes to the widest part of my calf (by the way, it looks artificially wide due to the perspective in the photos--I had to take them all myself). I never liked the look of socks that are done with the technique of increasing every other stitch then binding off. So I tried increasing by knitting into the front and back after every second knit stitch in the K2 P2 ribbing. The increase looks like a purl, thanks to the bar, so it blends in well. Then I decreased loosely on the following row. WOW, it is a nice method! The socks don't frill when I am not wearing them (just a teeny bit) and they stretch beautifully at the top. I am proud of this idea, though I am sure someone else has done it before!

I am not sure when I'll post again--not only do I start the new job tomorrow, but I have a long community choir rehearsal. It may take me a while to find a new routine, OK?