I am finished

Well, the socks are done! I finished them and they are on their way now.

After quite an agonizing week, with no knitting, I decided that the socks can just stay as they are. There isn't a "mistake" after all; it's a design feature that the socks wanted, and I should let them be. Which is what I did.

Here is a look at the toes again, after washing and viewed from the side.

They do look a lot better than at first. But I knew they would. :-)

The gussets were a bit troublesome, but after all is said and done, they seemed to be just right. The math was there, so it had to work out; just that it didn't look right when I was doing them. Here is a look at the gusset and the heel:

The heel was not quite as I had hoped it would go, but since this was the first time doing it with this formula, I really had nothing to compare it to! In the end, I think they worked out just fine. I have made a mental note to change a few things on the next socks!

I continued the 3/1 rib pattern established on the instep and carried it around the back of the sock as well. I was thinking of increasing a few stitches as I went up the leg, but where? It would just upset my whole patterning, now wouldn't it?! So I just left it as it was. There is considerable stretch there anyway, so that will account for any leg shaping. With the ribbing, I don't need to worry about the socks staying up as well.

When I got to the top of the cuffs, I remembered I needed to do some white stripes! I did have to tink back just a little, and added the two stripes of white, and cast-off. I used my version of the Very Stretchy bind-off, and it is surprisingly stretchy. There is lots of room to get it over the ankle.

I washed the socks last weekend, and hung them to dry. They were still quite damp the next morning! So I left them until I got back from work. They were pretty well dry by then. I left them for a few days extra to be sure they are completely dry. It is 100% wool, and they are fairly thick, for socks, so they should provide lots of insulation. But they do take a long time to dry!

I packaged up the socks into a nice little package, and wrapped it very neatly, complete with a nicely printed address label. I took it down to the Post Office to mail on their way. They wanted $9.56 postage for it! It was only going 840 km!! I said there is something wrong, that can't be right. But she said yes it was right, it has to go parcal post -- duh-- it is a parcel, I know! It's just a pair of socks, damn it! I told her that I was getting ripped off. Then she said if I could package it into a flat packet, it would be less.

So back I go to my office, and take it all apart very carefully, and stuff the socks flat into a 8x11 envelope which was able to pass through that magic little slot they have, and it went for $2.00. Can you believe the difference?!!

Anyway, I'm awaiting word to see if they fit, and if they are going to be worn. I should hear something in about a week. Here is a look at the full socks: