ILG Half Done!

I'm so excited! Last night I finished I Love Gansey sock #1. Here are the specs:

Pattern: I Love Gansey, available free on Six_Sox_Knitalong Yahoo Group
Yarn: Cervinia Calzetteria in Tan Heather
Needles: HiyaHiya Bamboo DPNs in US Size 2
Gauge: 7.5 st/inch in stockinette

Modifications: Let's see if I remember them all. First off, I went with a little looser gauge than specified. The pattern was written for 8 st/inch. It starts off with 64 stitches, which are then reduced to 62. Now, at that gauge, I use 64 stitches for a plain stockinette sock. Knowing that the cables would make the sock a little less stretchy, I decided to make my sock a little bigger by making my gauge a little looser. (Recommended gauge for this yarn is 7 st/inch, so it's still plenty tight for good wear.) Fits perfect.

I made the slight change to the weaving of the cables as proposed by group member Lia:

I only had to change 2 rows, and it makes just a 10 row repeat--andthis is
convenient for anyone who wants a shorter (or longer) leg:in row 7, I did
P1, CB2B, P2, CB2B, P1 -- so both cables go in thesame direction--and in row
9, I did K1, P2, CB2F, P2, K1, so it is crossed the sameway as row 5. Then
you just repeat the whole business for rows 11-20. (Though you could reverse
it for a 20 row repeat.)

Not being much for hearts, I converted the hearts to diamonds. You can kind of make them out in this pic:
And I think I made the leg a little shorter than written, IIRC. I got it to a length I liked, then started the heel. I chose to make an Eye of Partridge heel rather than one with a heart/diamond (thought this would be more comfortable in shoes).


While I had to pay attention while knitting these, I wouldn't say it was difficult, exactly. Just not suitable for a distracting environment. I'm so glad I decided to give it a try! OK, I'll stop gushing now. :)

As mentioned above, pattern is available free on the Six_Sox_Knitalong Yahoo Group. If you decide to give it a whirl, be sure to print out the chart and/or graph as well as the pattern. I used the chart, and it made it much easier to keep track of everything. Give it a try; I bet you'll love it as much as I do!