One Viola Done

Here it is January 20 and I have managed to finish a few items for this year. (Two socks, one while I was in WI, now Viola and one pair of fingerless gloves.  I might think I am on a roll.)  One Viola is done, and if I do say so myself, I am rather pleased with how it looks.  Even Paul was impressed how the variegated yarn turned into a rather nice looking sock and he doesn´t always notice such things.

There was a problem with the gusset after I bragged last week about having it done.  So I removed it from the circular needle and started again.  All told, I did this three times.  I can´t say what the problem was for sure, but keeping track of rows certainly played a part.  So I put the project on DPNs, got back on track and was able to finish in no time flat.

That sideway V is the gusset and see there is no hole in sight!

There are two things I am particularly proud of with regard to this sock.  First, there is no hole at the top of the gusset.  (The arrow is pointing in the general direction of the gusset.)  A knitter picks up stitches along the heel flap and this makes it very possible to have a small hole where the two meet.  Ann Budd gave some great tips on how to avoid this and I managed to apply one of them.  It is to pick up more stitches than suggested and then K2tog on the subsequent row.  It worked very well on both sides of the sock.

Second, the tension on the decreases from the foot to the toe, pointed to above, are pretty well done.  It is not yet perfect, but practice will make it better.  This sock does have an air of sophisticated arguably even a professional looking work, IMHO.  Considering it is only sock #3 in the last month, the results do satisfy.

A old sock I wear around the house in comparison to Viola

Then there is the size dynamic.  I did try to wear Viola and it is definitely in the child-size realm.  It came up to just above my ankle and of course the foot is far too small because I knit it short to fit a child.  That means Miss M will get a pair of socks her grandma made for her when her feet get big enough.

Miss M, by the way, continues to grow so fast it may be no time at all before these fit.  How about this photo of her returning home after a long weekend with her great-grandmother, my Mom.  She looks so ready for the ride, don´t you think.

On to the second Viola and perhaps another pair of fingerless gloves.  Those gloves are so addictive.