Socks for Posterity

My life has been utterly and completely consumed by Sock Summit lately. I've been dyeing like a mad woman, every day, sometimes late into the night. It's super fun, but man, am I tired. And I've got blue dye stains on my toes that just won't wash off, no matter what I do.

Despite my insane dyeing schedule, I volunteered to knit a pair of socks for the Sock Museum. The museum is just one more reason of so many that Sock Summit is truly the most amazing knitting related convention ever in history, put on by two visionaries of sock knitting. Volunteer knitters will be sending socks knit from historic patterns, as well as iconic patterns from knitting history, to be added to a permanent exhibition of handknit socks that will be displayed in person at the Summt, and online afterwards. So cool! And so after my own sock knitting obsessed heart.

I volunteered to knit Evening Stockings for a Young Lady, a pattern originally from Weldon's, Volume 15, Fiftieth Series. From 1900. The pattern I'm using is adapted by Nancy Bush, from her amazing book Knitting Vintage Socks. Here's the pattern on Ravelry. I was totally intending to take in-progress shots of the stockings as I worked. But they're going SO FAST. They kind of have to -- I have to mail them to the museum by July 25th, and (silly me) I still want to knit a pair of knee-high socks that I can wear to the Summit in my booth. Heh. Plenty of time.

I dyed up two skeins of a color I'm just calling "Old Paper," for now. It's sort of a yellow-camel that really does remind me of old paper. Vanity made me use one of my own yarns, a new 100% wool that I'll be introducing at the Sock Summit. It's a tightly-twisted 2-ply, with a pearly texture much like Koigu. It's squishy and soft and wonderful to knit. Perhaps not historically accurate, but hopefully close enough.



This is a pattern I've wanted to knit for a long time, and it's lovely. The lace is only a 4-row repeat, so it's very easy to memorize, but it's so striking.



The lace is decorative without being fussy, and stretchy enough to accomodate my gigantic calves.

The challenge in knitting these, for me, has been following the pattern as closely as possible, one of the "rules" of the Sock Museum Knitalong. I'm doing my level best. I'm usually one of those knitters that subs in a different heel, or changes the pattern to have a different toe, or a different "seam" up the back of the leg. But I think I've shown incredible restraint.



The only "mod" I've made so far was a mistake. I missed an instruction to purl 2 together at the back of the leg, but didn't catch it until I was almost done with the leg. So I left it. I honestly really do like the look of the 2-purl stitch seam that runs almost all the way down the back of the sock to the heel, and I hope that this one error adds to the "handknit" aspect of the museum, and doesn't take away from the historic accuracy of the project.

Here's kind of a janky photo of the back (it's hard to take pictures of the back of your own leg, and I can't find my remote shutter release. :( ):



I even trusted the instructions for an insanely loooooooong heel flap. This thing is FORTY ROWS. FORTY. I usually do somewhere in the neighborhood of 30, picking up 15 stitches along the heel flap for the gusset. I went with it, though. And it worked. It totally fits!



I love that the ribbing from the lace pattern carries all the way down the heel flap. It's so pretty.

Sock Summit is just a short four weeks away. I can't believe it! I'm so excited. And stressed and overwhelmed by the amount of dyeing, labeling and packing up I still have left to do. It will get done. Oh yes, it will. And it will get done with the help of some of my lovely knitter-friends. I've suckered them into coming to a labeling "party" next weekend, where I'm going to put them to work tying labels on skeins of yarn in exchange for snacks. :)

It's so awesome that I have friends willing to come over and help me do this. I literally would not be able to do it all by myself. So, thanks girls!! You rock!