Boot Cuff Socks

I said I was close to done, and sure enough I was!

Friday evening and Saturday were spent at a retreat where I could do a lot of knitting. This project was still the right size and simplicity that I could do it with no problems.

I was glad when the speaker sat down beside me and introduced himself before we got started, and I had a chance to say that I hoped my knitting wouldn't offend him. No, no, he said. His wife is a knitter and he knows it helps her to be able to settle down and listen. He assumed it was the same for me. Very good!

By the end of the session on Saturday afternoon, I had the full length of the body knit and had prepared for the tubular cast off by knitting two rounds of "double knitting" (knitting the knit stitches of the 1x1 ribbing as the front layer and knitting the purl stitches as the back layer), and then literally separating the layers and putting them onto separate needles:

So you can see each "side" of the sock has two sets of stitches now. The next step is to Kitchener them together so they make a continuous tube. Here,

I am about half way around. The stitches on the right side of the picture have been "cast off" and I'm still making my way around to the stitches on the left. although the method does take more time, it is just so slick and perfectly functional that I'm going to have to consider how I can work it into everything I knit that needs a stretchy bind off.

Here is the final product:

The left 2 inches or so is that 1x1 cuff and the rest is 2x2 ribbing. There is a very smooth transition from the 2x2 to the 1x1 ribbing because I rearranged the knit stitches with twists (2-stitch cables) instead of just starting K1 P1 across a new round. After switching to smaller needles, I K1, left twist, P1 for one round. That set up all the stitches in a 1x1 rib for me.

I think you can see it here:

On the left, the knitting is stretched out so you can see the stitches better. In pair #1, the knit [red] and purl [green] stitches just continue as they were. In pair #2, the left twist reverses the order of the knit and purl stitches, with the knit stitch on top. Project Stats
Started: 13 Feb '11
Finished: 5 Mar '11
Pattern: personal design
Materials: Sandy's Crazy Quilt 2-ply, 124 grams, $31.50
(I do this by letting the knit stitch off the left needle and leaving it to the front, slipping the next stitch to the right needle, picking up the knit stitch with the left needle and slipping the purl stitch from the right needle back to the left needle. Now purl 1 and knit 1. I should also note that since my 2x2 ribbing starts with a K2, I started this round with the knit stitch of pair #1, not the purl.)

On the right, for comparison, the knitting is relaxed and you can hardly see the shift from 2x2 ribbing to 1x1 ribbing.

I had the foresight to weigh the ball before I got started and it weighed 124 grams. After the first sock, I had 64 grams left. Should be plenty for the next one right? (After all, that means I used 60 for the first one, and had more than 60 left for the second one.)

At some point during the retreat I noticed that it was going to be very, very close. This is how much I had left when I was done:

Phew!! I had a plan if I ran out by a little, but I was very glad to have enough!

I wore the boot socks out today and was very happy with them.

Here's a little peek of how long they are and how they fit into my boots:

If tomorrow's cold enough (as if it won't be) then I'll wear them as leg warmers and see how I like them like that.