Meilenweit: in der Tat?

A burning question: Is Lana Grossa Meilenweit really miles long? Every pair of socks I've knitted, bar the Jaywalkers, has left lots of yarn left over, and I was seized by a curiosity to find out precisely how far the yarn would last, if knitted until the very very end of the ball...

Quite long, is the answer.

FO: Edinburgh Winter socks

Pattern: NONE. I made them up, using Knitty's handy generic toe-up hints. I used wrapped short-rows, not yarn-over ones, and I think I prefer them: they're tidier, no holes left over, and if you get the right technique, easier, I think.


Two heels, one made with the wraps picked up and knit along with the stitch they were wrapped around, one made by slipping the wrapped stitch and picking up the wrap on the next round. The latter method is nicer, but I made that heel far too narrow. Twelve wrapped stitches are easily enough. Oh well!

The pattern is a 3x1 moss stitch rib, which is that bit less stretchy than ordinary rib: I like it.

Yarn: 100g Lana Grossa Meilenweit Scala, in colourway 6533, 25% polyamide 75% wool. Gorgeous simple stripey pattern makes for instant gratification. I shall stop scorning self-striping yarn forthwith. Sometimes, maximum fun for minimum effort is what's called for.

Needles: 2.5 mm Addi metal double-pointed needles

Time sucked: A week and a half, I guess. It's been busy.

Verdict:

What is the point of ankle socks in an Irish winter, eh? These are almost knee-length socks, hooray! That said, my calves are indeed of an elegant and slim nature, but even so, the socks are looking stretched to their last gasp at the cuff. Next time, I should probably increase on the way up, rather than keeping them at the same length. Also, I knitted the stripes going in different directions on each sock, and started at a different place in the stripe pattern to boot, which was probably anarchic overkill. I'm still all about the unmatchy socks, but they have to unmatch in a recognisable ways: either reverse the stripe, or have the toes unmatchy, but not both, I think.

And that, alas, is the end of the selfish knitting. Even though I have another ball of the £3 self-striping Lana Grossa sock yarn from Handknits just waiting for my attention:


No. Advent Sunday is tomorrow, and it's Christmas knitting from here on in. Here's the last of the Christmassy sneak peaks. This one is entitled, "Do not store your yarn in plastic bags next to the radiators."




A lesson for us all.