OK, I kind of get the sock thing now.

I’ve made a second pair in quick succession to the first. When I was writing that post, I was resisting ordering more of that brand of yarn, because I’d enjoyed the colours so much (and because I just enjoy buying yarn, let’s face it).

After tearing myself away from their website, I had an idea! A stash busting idea! I still had the original, unused sock yarn I got for Christmas in 2023. The colours didn’t speak to me at the time, hence never making a sock, but I thought I could pair it with another colour and that would keep things sufficiently interesting AND save me money AND, perhaps most importantly, I could start knitting straight away.

At the end of my first sock post, I said if I was going to make another pair I’d do contrast heel/toe/cuff, and try knitting toe-up. Well, the pattern I chose – Trusty Toe Up Socks (Ravelry link) by Tanis Lavallee (designer’s site) – also had a third new element: the afterthought heel.

My experience was that this technique was easier than picking up stitches, but I don’t think I like how it looks as much. However, I will admit that the overall look isn’t as neat as the last socks, because that contrast yarn is DK and therefore much bulkier and not really designed to be knit on 2.5mm needles.

Oh I also didn’t follow the pattern on that front, it suggested 2.25mm needles. So… not really a fair test of the pattern.

On the second sock, I forgot to stop and put in waste yarn for the afterthought heel. At the end, I found the row I thought was at the right point in the sock-tube, put needles in above and below, then snipped it in the middle. That left me a decent length (half a row worth of yarn) to secure and weave in afterwards. It would’ve worked, too, if it wasn’t for this pesky stitch!

Looks like I caught it as I passed by on the other side. What a pain. I think what I did then was snip it (it was a snip-happy sock, this one) and unravel. Whatever I did, I had four ends left to weave back in. I caught them up as I went along… but when I tried on the sock, it was too tight round the heel! So I had to tug those ends back out and weave in again elsewhere.

There was a gap in the heel after all this carry on, which I fixed to my own satisfaction with some duplicate stitching.

I’m still at my mum and dad’s overnight once a week, and so of course they’re seeing all my knitting projects. My mum raved about the colours in these socks so much that I gifted her them for mothers day. She is delighted with them and thinks they’re extra cosy.

When I asked to take a photo of her wearing them, she did this pose:

Nobody knows why but I guess she thought it was the correct pose for the garment (even if I had to ‘take the photo quick, I’m getting cramp’).

The socks are too big for her but they bring her a lot of joy, which is so much more important than almost anything else.

Also… I was ultimately unsuccessful in resisting buying more of that Luca-S sock yarn. They emailed me with a 20% off code and I crumbled like a gluten-free biscuit.