I finished the modified Päivätär Socks yesterday evening. I didn’t quite make it in my two week goal, as Friday was day 15. But really, I think that was pretty good. I had a very busy work week and TheEnabler and I had some other chores to handle over the week. What’s more, work is currently busy with a lot of things where I’m project managing the meetings, so I’m documenting, guiding, and taking notes – not knitting my way through it. That said, work is pretty exciting right now, so I’m not complaining. It was just a lot easier to keep a spindle with some spinning handy than pay attention to my sock knitting – as I learned the hard way when I had to rip back an inch or so after decreasing from the heel gusset rather too far… unless the sock was for somebody with a dainty little food and a (comparatively) large calf.
Last time I worked with Undercover Otter Squirm, I wasn’t enamored. But for this project I had to admit going into it that it was the right choice because it’s soft, designed for socks, and had the colorways I wanted. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the knitting experience as well. I’m not sure if my previous skeins had a little less twist than they were supposed to, or if size 0 needles is just the right match for me and this yarn… but I overall had far fewer issues with splitting the yarn than before (which smaller needles typically doesn’t improve because the smaller tips are even easier to insert between strands).
Even where there isn’t stranded color work, the socks feel thick and soft. The small bands of purls in the center of the foot create a snug feel around the arch as well as visual interest.
I also made pretty detailed notes on my Ravelry project page on the modifications I did down the sock, which made knitting up the second one easier. As I was improvising a bit as I went with regards to the stripes and little sections of additional stranded color work, I’m pretty proud of myself about being diligent in writing down what I did as I did it. Last touches are to weave in the ends and give them a nice soak, but I already know they’ll come out fine since I soaked the first half of the leg of the first sock.