Ladybugs & Yarn

Yarn: Regia Tweed 6ply
Pattern: 60 sts + stockinette heel with garter border + flat toe + stitch pattern
Needles 3.0 mm KP circs

I was going to wait until after my Dad’s birthday to post photos, but then I remembered that my Dad doesn’t read my blog unless I specifically ask him to go see a photo I’ve posted or something. So! Socks. Thick house socks, specifically, because the flooring in the family house is rather chilly in the morning and evenings, especially with winter approaching. Plus, wool socks don’t get damp from the patio dew as quickly as regular store-bought socks when the dog needs to be taken out at six a.m. I’ve been meaning to knit my Dad socks for ages, and have started/frogged a couple of pairs, but it took until now to find a yarn + pattern combination I thought he’d like.

The Railway stitch pattern was borrowed from Nancy Bush’s Knitting Vintage Socks, and I’ll be using it again. It’s easy, memorisable, and interesting enough to keep the sock-knitting motoring along. I taught myself to knit by touch alone with these socks, too, which is different from just knitting without looking. I wondered why I’d never been able to manage to just knit along for more than a few plain stitches without looking down for a moment, until it hit me that I needed to be far more tactile and really use my fingers to feel the stitches as I was knitting them.

If Dad likes these, I’m all set to make him another pair, only with thinner yarn (and knit a lot longer in the leg, obviously) so they can be worn like normal socks.

Pi seemed to like them, anyhow. He tried to make off with them, and although he didn’t succeed, I caught a photo of the attempt:

Foolish kitten.