I am a sock-making machine

The first sock took me two weeks to make. I banged the second one out over the weekend. It's a little bigger than the first one but whatever.

The top view:

The bottom view, including a lovely view of my massive man-calves:

And the many charts I had to work with:

It was fun!

I love it when a plan comes together

All done but the cuff and heel. I figured out how to do the heel last night, so soon I'll have one finished sock.

Getting in touch with my inner Girl Scout

Over the weekend I impulse bought a potholder loom and some "loopers," and spent some time in a heavy childhood flashback. It was fun! I'll be doing more.

Tapestry socks, take two

I belong to the School of Extreme Tension. Sometimes when I crochet with thread I end up with a painful gouge in my tensioning finger. This tends to created really crisp end products, but when it comes to garments, sometimes it's better to slow down, pay attention to each stitch, and just try to relax.

I started my socks over again this weekend, and I think I have it figured out now. Behold, the first attempt, alongside the second attempt. Same number of rows, same hook, very, very different tension.

I also discovered that a large bag of Chips Ahoys helps the relaxation process.

Tapestry crochet

This is my first foray into tapestry crochet, which involves two colors, one of which gets carried along when it's not being used. But unlike in knitting, which creates horrible "floats" on the back side, in tapestry crochet the yarn that's not being used is hidden within the stitch.

Naturally, because I've never done this before, I decided to try it with one of the hardest things there is is to make: socks. Socks involve lots of increases and decreases, fancy hookwork, and total concentration. Tapestry crochet involves loads of charts and moving yarn around in complicated ways. It's a fun combination! And it's definitely not boring.

This is the bottom of the sock:

This is the top of the sock.

So far I have about 23 rows, which took about 4 days. And it's too tight, but I'm too invested to start over. Someone with smaller feet than mine might end up with these socks.