TBT - Remember these Socks?

Let's have a TBT (Throw-back Thursday) for this project that was finished last July and never shown here on the blog. In fact the last (and only) time I showed them here was when I cast on the swatch. That was March 28.

They got pushed aside (as far as writing them up here) as I got increasingly busy and didn't write a lot here through the fall. Then it was due to the lack of good pictures. I rectified that last Sunday and here we go...

As you may (or may not - I wouldn't blame you if you don't) recall, I started these socks, well first because I loved them, but also because the Vogue Knitting group on Ravelry was having an anniversary challenge: knit something from this year (2017) and something from a previous decade year ending in 7 (1997, 2007...you get it.)

So I swatched these not once,

but twice.

The first was too tight a gauge and I didn't want my socks to be too small. The little needles were also killing my hands, so I was glad to work with bigger ones.

I did take a few progress pics that were posted on IG. Apparently this was a big event:

I had completely forgotten about it, but I think I had crossed the two-stitch cable the wrong way. I raveled out those two stitches all the way down to fix it. As I now recall, it took me three times because I kept making different mistakes as I worked my way up.

But here we are:

I take it this picture was taken to show that all was well again!

I finished the first sock in mid June

and the second sock about a month later:

Then began the saga of deciding whether to add pompoms. Once that was decided (in the affirmative), which pompoms? I didn't want yarn ones and was drawn to fur poms. A recommendation on Ravelry led me to Mokuba in Toronto, to which I finagled a trip when I was home visiting family. Not until I went to put them on the socks did I realize I had mistakenly bought two poms instead of four! (facepalm moment for sure)

I was not going to go back to Mokuba so I shopped online and ended up with the cutest little pink ones.

I had in mind to use some sweet ribbon for the tie but that didn't work out. I didn't knit holes in the cuff and the ribbon didn't look good going between the stitches. But I did have some leather cord around so I tried that, a little leather and lace type look. I wove the leather cord through the cuff and glued a pink pom to both side of each end. (So I used eight, in case you're counting.)

Then I waited six months to take pictures. /crickets/

What had become part of the challenge was to take pictures that replicated (however loosely) the pose and look of the magazine shot. It was a lot of fun. So I waited for a day when all of these things came together: I felt like doing it; the weather was suitable; it wasn't so cold I couldn't stand the thought of it; I had the time; I had the energy. So mostly me and the weather I guess.

But everything aligned last Sunday and here are the results:

(C) Vogue Knitting magazine

My version.

(C) Vogue Knitting magazine

My version.

(C) Vogue Knitting magazine

My version.

Ok, not bad, right? Sometimes it pays to have a beaten up front door and concrete porch.

Here is the back of the socks where the cable pattern is decreased (from the top down) for shaping.

I made a few changes to where the decreases happened, but I'm not sure they were any better than the designer's.

Another change I made was to mirror the cables from one sock to the other. I feel it's unbalanced to have them all leaning the same way on both socks.

I also added a gusset so the heel would fit better.

I've learned that this fits my foot better, but I also observed that the socks on the model were pulling a lot across the top of her foot (opposite the heel). (You can see it in the third Vogue picture above-the cables are stretched severely from side to side.) I've had this in socks before and it is not comfortable.

Confession: I have been wearing these over skinny jeans from time to time. Feels like the look is a little young for me, but when I feel like it, I go for it anyway.

The bigger issue is that I don't have any shoes to suit the look. (The high heels were only for the pictures!)

And yes, sadly, they do fall down all the time.

(Although it's not as bad over the pants.)

Project Stats
Started: 7 May ‘17
Finished: 5 Jul ‘17
Pattern: #12 Over Knee Socks by Yoko Hatta (風工房) in Vogue Knitting Late Winter 2017
Materials: 3.5 skeins of Zealana Cozi (58% Merino, 22% Nylon, 15% Possum, 5% Alpaca) $60 (The pattern recommended 5 and I bought a spare, so I actually spent $90!)

I've been interested for a long time in knitting with possum (New Zealand possum, not North American possum - big difference apparently) so when I saw that this pattern called for this yarn, I went ahead and ordered it. I hardly ever go with the recommended yarn so this was a new experience.

I can't say it was an especially glorious experience, but the socks are very warm and I'm glad to be able to cross it off the bucket list. :)