Belated Sockapal-2-za Reveal

Belated greetings, Beate! Finally it can be told that I am your Sockapal-2-za pal. A full month later than planned, your socks have hopped in the mail and are on their way to you in Germany. I hope you like them – wear them in good health.

Here they are:



For those who don't follow Beate's blog, some months ago she hosted a Paulina knit-along. Her socks (cabled ribby socks with eyelets) are a riff on that pattern (cabled ribby top with eyelets). Here's a closer look at the fronts



and backs of the socks (click on photos for a larger view).



The traveling rib and eyelets wrap all the way around the leg from front to back.

The socks are worked in Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, the colorway is Green Mountain Madness. The name of the colorway is a reference to the home of Cherry Tree Hill, the lovely Green Mountains of Vermont. The yarn has more blue than green, plus sections of charcoal gray, to suggest mountains shimmering through deep shadow and a dawn fog.

Sunrise in Vermont can be a magical sight. This time of year I've seen heavy frost form overnight on a lawn bordered by evergreen trees. When the sun rises, casting long pointed shadows of the trees across the grass, the frost disappears from the sunlit areas first, leaving glistening silhouettes of the trees on the grass before evaporating completely. The phenomenon is very brief – the silhouettes appear before your eyes, then are gone. Ah.

[Awakens from reverie, returns to socks] Beate prefers identical twins to fraternal twins, so I did the best I could with variegated yarn. Except the cables are mirror image twins rather than exactly identical, a nicety for knowledgeable handknitters. The socks were worked toe up from a figure 8 cast on. Some prefer toe up socks as an escape from grafting, but there's no escape with these socks. To keep a nice elastic edge at the cuff (essential with all the ribs), I used the invisible cast off, which is grafting on one needle!

The ribs should ensure a comfortable fit, rather like an athletic sock. However, the socks' appearance suffers a bit because of them – they do pull in considerably when empty. Even the heels are ribbed, which makes them quite pointy when not occupied.

The socks had many adventures this summer and occasioned many comments from passersby. These are just the ones that made it into the blog:

September 29	Sock goes hiking in Acadia National Park
September 23	Sock on display at Saks Fifth Avenue in Short Hills
August 30	Sock is a pointy heel bluestocking, too
August 7	Sock rides in The Princeton Event
August 5	Sock suffers needless jitters about The Princeton Event
July 14	First progress photos
July 6	Sock goes to the Macy's 4th of July fireworks display
June 26	Yarn selection

This is a longish post, but I can't sign off without lavishing praise on the tireless, true blue Sockapal-2-za host Alison. Not only were the match ups rapid and any glitches addressed with lightning speed, but her faithful weekly posts made it possible for everyone to follow the progress of the most dazzling socks. Then came the time of happy anticipation and wonder and the big payoff, beautiful socks made just for me (!). Alison is simply the knitting hostess with the mostest, the queen of the five dpns (or two circs or magic loop, take your choice), and I bow low to her!!!