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September 18, 2008

Possibilities - the Chart

I love those Mason Dixon girls. I love their books. Their books make me wish I had only just learned how to knit, so I could experience the wonder of all those knit possibilities opening before me. But what am I saying? I've been knitting for by far the greater portion of my life, and their books still have that effect on me.

December 2006 I went to meet Ann on New Years' Eve, she was visiting London, and I was completely honoured when she invited me to come up with a pattern for the new book, published yesterday. I received my copy a week ago and have been wasting hours of valuable time, poring over the pages when I could be knitting. It has had me visiting online yarn shops, filling my virtual basket over and over again, before sternly reminding myself that I have far too many unfinished projects awaiting attention to justify any more new beginnings, and navigating away.

The Errant Socks, which you will find on page 48, were originally conceived as fraternal twins, a non-matching pair, but space limitations brought the eventual published number of errant sock possibilities down to one. But in the wonderful world of web, there are no such limitations! So here is the prodigal Chart 3. To make your Errant socks even more errant, complete Sock 1 exactly as written in the book, for Sock 2, replace the second paragraph of instructions under the Foot section thusly:

Repeat this round until the piece measures 6 and a half inches (16.5cm) less than the length of the food. Then begin working from row 1 of Chart 3 across instep stitches (all sole stitches are worked in knit only). When 24 rows of Chart 3 are complete, begin Gusset shaping.

Gusset
Round 1Work row 25 of Chart 3 across instep stitches, on sole stitches, k1, m1, knit to last stitch, m1, k1 - 2 sts increased.
Round 2Work row 26 of Chart 3 across instep stitches, knit all sole stitches.

Repeat these 2 rounds, following Chart 3 for instep stitches, until row 53 of Chart 3 has been completed - 94 sts.

Work row 54 of Chart 3 across the instep...

&c from pattern. Enjoy the mismatchiness - which is after all the nature of handknit socks; and the movement from chaos to order - the nature of knitting.

Posted by Anna at September 18, 2008 07:39 PM

Comments

Thanks for keeping your blog going, even if you can only post now and again. Makes me wish I knit socks! Will have to give it a try...
Hope you don't mind, but I've tagged you for a '6 random things' meme on my blog.

Posted by: Hoxton at September 18, 2008 10:11 PM

Thanks for keeping your blog going, even if you can only post now and again. Makes me want to give sock knitting a try!
Hope you don't mind but I've tagged you for a '6 random things' meme on my blog.

Posted by: Hoxton at September 18, 2008 10:13 PM

Thanks for the extra chart. I just ordered the book and can't wait to see all the patterns. The socks sound wonderful!

Posted by: Andrea at September 18, 2008 10:43 PM

I can't wait to get the book, and am even more excited to know that you have a pattern in there! Congratulations!

Posted by: Eliza at September 19, 2008 02:04 AM

I just got the book yesterday in the mail, and I can relate! Nothing is getting done! I just keep reading and laughing and trying to match up the patterns to my yarn stash. Your Errant socks are beautiful!

Posted by: Nadine at September 19, 2008 11:51 AM

How exciting ! I'm waiting for my copy of the book to arrive. I'm supposed to be on a strict no-non-essential spending kick (the credit crunch is proving particularly crunchy at the moment) but I couldn't resist. Every single pattern I've seen on Ravelry from the book looks wonderful and I love the idea of errant socks. Errant anything to be honest ;0)

Posted by: Heather at September 21, 2008 10:57 AM

Thank you for the chart. I just recently bought the book and I think it's absolutely fantastic. Congratulations on your lovely sock pattern!

Posted by: Nicole at September 21, 2008 08:20 PM

I JUST GOT THAT BOOK and hadn't looked thoroughly through it - and then here is my blog friend with a pattern in it. Yippee! Hope all is well!

Posted by: HEJ at September 25, 2008 07:22 AM

I'm looking forward to seeing your socks - and the rest of the book! How wonderful that you had a chance to contribute. I've only had the pleasure of knitting with Ann, but I feel like I know Kay as well. They are such swell gals, and I agree that even for the experienced knitter their books are fun to read.

Posted by: Julia at September 27, 2008 05:50 PM

Hi Anna.I'm from Turkey,maybe remember me:)I saw your beatiful pattern is 'flicca'.I want to knit flicca so much.Please believe me I love Flicca so much.I wanted to write e-mail to you but I didnt find your mail adress.I don't use visa card or e.t.c so how can I knit my love 'flicca'?.If I can't knit I will be very very sorry.So please help me,I can understand English pattern.If you help me I will be happy.I am waiting for your mail.Thank you very much..

Posted by: melis mevsim at September 28, 2008 10:46 PM

Congratulations on having your pattern published!

Posted by: Allison at October 3, 2008 08:20 PM