Rock the Casbah

Pattern: Basic Sock
Materials: Handmaiden Fine Yarn Casbah Sock in Ebony
Amount: 1 Hank (355 yards)
Needles: 2.5mm
Start Date: July 9, 2008 (I think)
Finish Date: August 9, 2008 (I think)

This yarn is WONDERFUL! If you have a chance, I would highly recommend picking up a hank and making yourself some socks. Who doesn’t want a little (or a lot) of cashmere on their feet? The colors are rich and beautiful in each hank of yarn made up of 80% Merino, 10% Cashmere, 10% Nylon.

The yardage is the only issue that I have with this yarn. It is a decent yardage, but since my feet are large (size 9 – 10 depending on the shoe) and I like about 6-7” from cuff to start of heel flap, I opted for a basic plain sock. If I had tried to make a sock with a stitch pattern, I would have had to severely shorten the cuff/leg. It made for nice mindless knitting. I thought about calling these my DMV socks. I process DMV paperwork for two different car dealerships and I have a standing Thursday appointment at the local DMV office where sometimes I am waiting for long periods of time for my turn. My appointments are an hour long also, so that gives me some good knitting time; not to mention stress relieving due to the nature of DMV.

For these socks, I cast on 68 sts, knit 2x2 ribbing for 1”. The 68 sts is because I have thick calves, I decreased 4 sts at the top of my ankle so that it would not be baggy. I opted for a slip stitch heel flap and when I got to the gusset decreases, I decreased down to 64 stitches on the foot, and fished with a standard toe.

I have knit several socks; these are the MOST comfortable socks that I have made hands down. There are a couple more hanks of this yarn in my stash (they are not listed on my stash page on Ravelry) and I am looking forward to knitting them up to add to my collection of socks.

And I must give a huge Congratulation to my friend Janice Kang (bogiebogie) for her new sock design Baroque in the Fall 2008 Knitty. Janice is a fantastic designer/knitter and I am glad that I get to hang out with her at social knitting and especially Stitches West every year because she finds all the great stuff! Right Janice?? Oh and rumor has it, she can sing backup vocals pretty good too! :)