As best laid plans are wont to do, my Dotted Rays bind-off didn’t go down the way the pattern said it would and I ended up digging into my stash for a fourth hank of HedgeHog Fibres “Birthday Cake” to finish the i-cord edging. It was a different twist and several years old so not a perfect match, but it got the job done and the only people who will notice are psychopaths and people who read my blog.
Of course, a whole lot of yarn went unused, so I had plenty left over for a full pair of socks (not that I’m complaining). I typically get sick to death of certain colorways by the time I’m done with something, but I think I could have knit with this one forever. It’s stunning.
I didn’t want to make vanilla socks this time and instead opted for an easy pattern repeat designed by Helen Stewart from Curious Handmade. If you haven’t checked out her patterns before, you absolutely should. Each row is written as its own cell as part of a table so you can easily keep track of your progress and your percent complete. I know that the advent of KnitCompanion has made tracking charts much easier, but Helen has saved my butt with her patterns more than a few times now, so I’d highly recommend them.
It also gave me the opportunity to knit the Eye of Partridge heel, which I hadn’t made in a long time. I’d switched to the infamous Fish Lips Kiss heel many moons ago and didn’t start looking back until last summer after realizing a standard slip stitch heel is so much sturdier and long-lasting than so many of the short row heels. So I’m back on the square heel wagon, I guess, and not ashamed.
Project Info
Pattern: Shell Cottage Socks by Helen Stewart
Colorway: Birthday Cake
PS: If you love this design from Helen, then you might want to check out the next issue of Knitability, due to hit the Bakery Bears Patreon before the end of the month!