Minitomus Finished

Friday, August 31, 2007

Minitomus anklets are done!

I'm trying something new here. In addition to posting the project notes on the FO page, I'm posting them on the blog as well. Because, uh, why not?

Pattern: Pomatomus by Cookie A. from Knitty, Winter 2005
Yarn: about 60g of Novita Nalle Colori (75% wool / 25% polyamide), colorway #813 (aqua/light blue/denim) -- leftover yarn from Rainy Day Socks. Many of the colorways in this yarn are seasonal so this particular one has been discontinued.
Needles: 3.5mm 80cm aluminum circular needle
Mods: Toe-up, ankle length. Revisited Widdershins heel in the k2tog tbl, p1 stitch pattern that was in the original pattern. The biggest mod is that I used sport/DK weight yarn so I had to downsize the pattern. In the instep, I had one less horizontal pattern repeat plus 1 st on each side (= 26 sts). 26 sts also on the sole so 52 sts in total. Decreased the extra 4 stitches after the heel so that I had 4 pattern repeats horizontally (= 48 sts). Continued in k2tog tbl, p1 ribbing on the heel needle until I reached row #1 in the stitch pattern. Made a cuff of one full pattern repeat, finished off with an applied I-cord edging.
Other: Summer of Socks 2007 pair #5, Sockdown: Ravelry August 2007 challenge (Sockbug or lace) pair #2

• $$$: I bought the yarn this spring from a discount store and remember paying 3.90 € for it (at least that's what I wrote when I finished the Rainy Day Socks). Now, I'm not so sure anymore. The going price for the new fall colors, undiscounted, is 5.90 €. I had a small leftover skein of about 60 g so 2.50 € for the pair. Not bad!
• Pattern: Awesome pattern. The stitch pattern looks more challenging than it really is but you still need to be fairly concentrated. Totally doing this again. No wonder there are now 400+ finished and 500+ queued Pomatomi on Ravelry.
• Techniques: It's a fairly standard lace pattern but the k tbl's and k2tog tbl's will keep you on your toes. The most challenging stitch for me was the "sl 2, place 2 slipped stitches back on left needle, k3tog tbl". (Phew!) I couldn't wrap my head around it because I was slipping the stitches purlwise and they'd return to the left needle exactly as they'd been if I'd never slipped them in the first place. I googled around a bit and found pepperknit's post where she unvents the perfect centered double decrease. She helpfully bolds exactly the bit I needed! The key was "slip 2 stitches at once as if to k2tog" and from then on, it just clicked.
  Another new technique I tried was the applied I-cord edging that Brenda Dayne gushes over in Episode 50. In fact, I had to do it twice because the first try the edging was so tight I couldn't get the socks over my heels. The second try was a lot better, and it produces a very neat-looking, smooth edge. I couldn't figure out how to bind off the last few stitches (kitchener maybe?) so I just hacked up some sort of three-needle bind-off. It's visible in the pic and I couldn't even wait weaving in ends before trying them on and taking a pic. :D
• Yarn: For a Novita yarn, this was surprisingly soft. The colorway is/was great -- I don't understand why they have to discontinue the colors after 6 months. And what's even better, the yarn and stitch pattern were a great match for each other.
• Instant Gratification: Took me 10 days to finish but I did use sport weight yarn and made really short cuffs.
• Will I Wear Them? These will probably be wearing-around-the-house socks because of the sport weight yarn. And I don't want to get my ankles cold. :)
• Final score: 4/5. Must re-do in fingering weight yarn!

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