More Man Socks

I'm really surprised by the nice response I got to my little "afterthought" demonstration. I'm looking forward to hearing about other experiments with this heel type. It really is a nice, easy heel -- very suitable for a first time sock experience.

A number of sharp eyed people noticed that I had some yarn in the background of one of the pictures that I didn't introduce properly. (It's Calmer for Audrey and All Seasons Cotton for Rogue...). There was also some yarn that didn't make it into the picture. It showed up Thursday last week and I was just dying to swatch it up.

Muench Bergamo in Phlox for Salt Peanuts

This is 17 skeins of Muench Bergamo it the "Phlox" color, ordered from Elann to use for "Salt Peanuts" a gorgeous little cardigan designed by Veronik Avery in the current edition (Spring 2004) of Interweave Knits. Isn't it a lovely purply color? Not too dark, not too light, I figured it would be a perfect color for the cardigan since it would show off the lace but still be something that I could wear in non-spring months. Its a very neat yarn... a 100% wool tape with subtle subtle color variagations. If you want a close up of this yarn, you can click here.

I was fondling this yarn with the intention of swatching when my husband looked over at me and asked "What are you doing?"

"Er, well, getting ready to swatch for a sweater..." I pick up the IK and open it to the page with the sweater and show him, "This sweater."

He gets a sad sort of look on his face. "You're going to knit another sweater for you? I thought you were going to knit me another pair of socks..."

Normally, John doesn't ask for too much. The last couple of pairs of socks have been more "if you knit them I might wear them" so I haven't really jumped to make him more (he's not unappreciative, just not that enthusiastic). Also, he's what I would call "color challenged" when it comes to socks. He likes dark, solid colors. The grey stripes in his last pair were pretty radical and he's been resisting all my attempts to convince him to try out some really nifty Koigu. A while back though, Rob sent me some Mountain Colors Bearfoot and promised me that it would be "solid color man sock acceptable". I was skeptical, but figured that if John didn't like it, I could find some worthy recipient who would.

I put the ball of Bergamo I was fondling back into the bag and sealed the tape. How can I resist a man who has actually asked for socks? "Ok, but what color?" I ask, and go to retrieve all the potentially man-friendly sock yarn that I have in my stash. What did he pick? This:

Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Midnight Sapphire

"Are you sure?" I asked, having visions of an unloved pair of socks sitting in a drawer"There's different colors in that skein...

"I'm sure."

"You're not going to not like them when they're finished... I don't want to make you something you won't wear..."

"I'll wear them."

"Promise?

"Promise."

Of course, after I cast on and got the cuff and a few rows knitted, I checked again -- I figured he could still back out if he didn't like them. I still got the thumbs up. That'll teach me to ever doubt Rob's convictions about man-friendly sock yarn! So now that Mahjong is done, these socks have become my "relax after work knitting". Here's where I am so far...

The Start of a Man-Friendly Sock

I'm using Priscilla Gibson-Roberts "Dream Socks" pattern from an old IK -- it was one of the free goodies made available to subscribers of IK this month. I've never done a shortrow heel before and I want to try it out... however, the yardage in Bearfoot skeins is a little skimpy for your average guy so I may decide to opt for an afterthought heel just in case...

The picture above makes the color look very subtle and very man-friendly. If you want to get a better idea of what it really looks like, click here. It's still not wild and bright, but it's defintitely doesn't count as a black sock.