Ta Da - Rhiannon Socks Finished!

I finally sprinted over the finish line with my Rhiannon Pair - with just a couple of inches of yarn to spare on the second sock; and 8 yards leftover on the first.
It was close - just 2 skeins @ 400 yds each of Yarn Pirate Merino Tencel in Icicle.
It's been a joy to knit with, the yarn, I mean, and softens up further when washed in Soak. The pattern was challenging, but the second so made more by the fact that I'd made modifications which I hadn't duly noted on my pattern, or I'd made notes and hadn't kept them fastidiously.

ok, ok, so I made a few mods to CookieA's original pattern-

1. First I replaced her purl pattern cuff, with regular cables, then, turned the cuff inside out. This resulted in me not needing to do a ribbing and an increase row, I just cast on the number of stitches needed for the cables and away I went. Remember, this is on the cuff, which is up at my calf, so it was snug anyway.

2. I used a slip stitch (eye of partridge) for the heel flap, instead of plain stockinette

3. At the toe, I skipped the purl row, and just blended the pattern into the toe. On the second sock, I ended the cables (row 16) before doing the toe, which gave it a more finished look.

More lovely sock pics:

At Length:


Toe Detail:


Toe to Toe:


Calf and Cuff Detail:


Detail of the horshoe cable end, heel flap, and heel:


Horshoes down the spine:


Relaxation at last:


At knit night, I modelled the socks for the gals - now, just to find the right skirt, and shoes...

and an addendum from Sock Summit :

I met Cookie A at her Sock Innovation Class at Sock Summit 2009-

Post Sock Summit

Tried madly to knit the second rhiannon sock to bring the finished socks to the Sock Hop at Sock Summit. Sadly, I rounded the heel turn and re-did the gusset, but did not have 2 complete socks. I wore the one completed sock at the Sock Hop and it was suitably admired. As for the second sock, I'm on the foot, so nearing probably 80-85%completion. It's still very soft and lovable.

I've also started another project just two or three weeks ago when I was struggling with the gusset of rhiannon. It's Guinevere's Choice Tunic from Iris Schreier's Lacy Little Knits book. Instead of the yarn suggested (as always!), I am using Lorna's Laces Lion & Lamb in Gold Hill, and Loom in Essence Pomegranate silk-wool, and also a alight kidsilk-haze type yarn which is 70% silk and 30% mohair - very soft, and proving to provide a very light and airy fabric.



The colour is more of a light pink, and gold hill combines the same light pink, with a light orange, olive, and gold colours -


Sock Summit was wonderful yet a bit overwhelming with the sheer amount of yarn for sale. Luckily, there were a few non-yarn booths to pique my interest - Jennie the Potter had mugs for sale with cute jumping sheep and balls of yarn, and Nancy Geddes had glass beads, glass pendants, and cute glass sock pendants for sale.



I participated in the Guiness World Record breaking - 1600 knitters knitting with 2 straight needles continuously for 15 minutes, versus the recent Australian record of 256 knitters. Some pics from that:

Filing in:


The crowd goes wild:


They brought in local news coverage (KATU) and the mayor of Portland also attended.

More to come later...