CricketMan Socks and Finished Fairisle Pair

CricketMan Socks

My cricketman socks are as finished as they will ever be.
Posh Yarn Sophia 6 ply (100% Cashmere) Colour - Murky with some undyed for the stripes -thanks Dee . I used a 4 mm Addi Turbo 80cm and 44 stitches for my usual toe-up short row sock.

And a picture on the "pitch"

There is the option to wear them plain, with the ball (which I've just realised isn't actually visible...it is on the foot top of the sock) inside the shoe and the leg designs on the inside - almost invisible.

You are forgiven for thinking that the cricket bat is a bottle (equally appropriate actually) and that the running cricketer (bowler or fielder) is a gremlin or a gangster with a gun. But this is an improvement on my first attempts where he was even more alien- like. What I really wanted, because my cricket man always kept wicket, was to use my wicket-keeping stick man but I decided that the stick man's legs- apart- stance was definitely open to even more misinterpretation.

It's a long time since I used Swiss Darning to embroider designs instead of fiddling with small amounts of intarsia and after trying it this weekend it will be along time before I try it again. It was far more of a fiddle than knitting-in the colours in the main knitting.

So that's several lessons learned the hard way.

1) Check the yarn yardage
2) Do fairisle or intarsia and not Swiss Darning
3) Chart designs on knitting graph paper and not ordinary squared paper.

That said, I know my cricketman will love his socks....by the way those of you who know him - it's a secret until his birthday.

They are so soft the Posh Yarn Sophia is such a lovely yarn.


Fair Isle Slouch Socks

And a closer view of the patterning.



Mainly worked in Posh Yarn 100% Cashmere handspun Alice DK in colour Lullaby. I used 3.75 mm Addi Turbos and 40 stitches.

The second sock's twined-edging (from the Caspian Sea Socks by Priscilla Gibson Roberts ) is a big improvement on the first which I'll probably re-do now I've got the hang of it. I'm secretly very pleased with my first attempt at Fair Isle for twenty five years or so and feel quite encouraged to do more. And I love how these thicker socks are so quick to do - more that compensating for the extra effort in the patterning.

The second sock has got green bobbles instead of the violet ones that didn't really show up enough. All the coloured yarns were Rowan Kid Classic except for the red bobbles which are Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed. It doesn't seem to bother me that the socks are not identical.