Harry Potter and the Enchanted Socks

They are done! I finished my first pair of socks today. They are so warm and comfy! Oh, and pretty too! I'm please with the colorway I choose. : ) Instead of trying to post ALL the pictures I took during the process I'm just going to link to the set of pictures I have on Flickr - Harry Potter Socks

I'm calling them my "Harry Potter Socks" because I spent a good chunk of time watching the Harry Potter movies and listening to the HP books while knitting these socks. (Might I say I'm now in love with Harry Potter - yes, I know I'm many years behind the curve on this one, but I don't really care - it was worth the wait!)

As for my first sock knitting experience . . . it wasn't as awful and scary as I made it out to be in my mind. Knitting the training sock first really did help. The first sock seemed to knit-up really slowly. The most painful part of it was the ribbing because repeating the k2,p2 pattern for 2" seemed to take forever. The second sock definitely knit-up faster once I knew what I was doing. I have to admit that when I was shaping the heel flap and gusset for the first time I was momentarily cynical that I was actually doing it right. I guess it was the right way since both socks came out perfectly fine. Though I am enjoying my socks, I don't know that I will be making them as long next time. The next pair might be ankle length. I also learned that I don't mind working with double pointed needles as much as I use too. They are a bit difficult to use when you are wearing an arm brace, but hopefully that won't always be the case. I would like to learn how to make socks on circular needles and maybe even use the magic loop method one day to make both at one time. Making sure I have the right amount of yarn was another important lesson I learned this time around. Lastly, I realize I still need to learn how to graft correctly. On the first sock I was so irritated by the grafting process that I finally just stitched up the sock whatever way I could to complete it. On the second sock I took more time to learn how to graft and did a decent job for the most part, but could use some improvement.

As I stated before, sock knitting is definitely not something you do for just anyone. There are countless hours involved in the process. It has to be for someone you truly care about and want to have such a special gift. That said, I think the ONLY time I would knit a pair for someone who wasn't special to me is if I was involved in a Sock Wars challenge. All in all - I LOVE sock knitting and am officially hooked on making socks!