A Very Fast FO

I must admit to surprising myself with how quickly I finished this project!

Project:  Goth Kitty Socks
Yarn:  Knitpicks Felici Sock Yarn, colorway Goth Kitty
Needles:  US size 1
Modifications:  None
Notes and comments:  These took me exactly two weeks' worth of knitting time to complete, which is really fast for me.  Sadly, I don't get large, uninterrupted swaths of time to knit, so it generally takes me a while to finish even a simple project like these. 

Anyway, this is just a generic sock pattern, with a broken rib heel flap, which was part of another pattern I knit last year sometime.  It was something a bit different, and also seems to hold up well with wear.  Since this yarn comes in 50g balls, I was able to knit them both at the same time - i.e., the cuff on one, the cuff on the second, and on throughout the sock.  Between that and the fact that the yarn is self-striping, I think I was able to zip along and get them knit ("Let me just do one more colored stripe").  I suppose it also helped that I didn't have any other major projects going at the time, but nonetheless here they are, ready for my 2020 Box o' Socks.  And in case you are wondering (and since someone at our craft group at work asked), no I don't mind that they do not match perfectly. 

One thing I did that was different with these socks is that I tried knitting the "plain" parts on a 9-inch circular needle.  I had watched a video from Very Pink Knits where she tried them, and compared different brands.  I decided it was worth a try, and ordered some ChiaGoo from evil Amazon.  Since I had not used them before, I didn't want to fool with the ribbed cuffs, or do the math and maneuvers for the heel and toe, so those were on my regular double-pointed needles.  At the end of it all, I decided that the 9-inch needles were nice, particularly from the standpoint of taking your knitting with you out of the house.  No more worrying if you drop a dpn, and/or how retrievable it may be.  They took a bit to get used to, and admittedly because they were metal and I usually use wood needles, I dropped some stitches while I was zipping along, but it was easy to notice and then fix the next time around.  They weren't terribly hard for me to adapt to using, as I think I must hold my dpns in a similar way so I didn't have to retrain my hands or anything like that.

This was my first time using Felici Yarn, and I thought it was really nice, particularly given the price point.  It felt nice while knitting with it, and was not likely to tangle into itself.  I don't have any idea how well if will/will not wear, but at this point, I think I'd be inclined to try it at least once more, as the colors were great as well as the price.

Next up, some repairs on a pair of socks I knit for The Tim, swatching for a sweater, and getting ready for my March Sock KAL with my friend Andrea.  We are planning to knit the Clark Socks by Jaclyn Salem (Brooklyn Knitfolk podcast).  I've wanted to try that pattern for a long time, so it should be fun!