Twinkle Toes
/
Twinkle Toes has been on my knit list for a long time. There were several times when I almost cast on but changed my mind at the last moment. It wasn't until I was searching through my queue for something to knit on a road trip to New Orleans, LA and Fair Hope, AL that I finally committed. They were going to be my souvenir. Never mind the silly t-shirts and Mardi Gras beads, I wanted a pair of socks that I could knit my memories into. The pattern turned out to be quite fitting for New Orleans since the lace pattern reminded me of the beautiful and detailed wrought iron prevalent throughout the city.
I was walking the city and knitting during every downtime, well, except for that stop at Cafe Du Monde since cleaning powered sugar out of yarn was not what I had in mind for my vacation. Sitting 18 stories up and looking at the skyline from the pool was pretty nice though. My souvenir socks were going pretty well until I discovered that they were too short and, since I was using Cat Bordhi's Riverbed sockitecture , that meant frogging most of the sock. Walking the of French Quarter and visiting The Quarter Stitch for another wooly souvenir did improve my mood though. Once I returned home, the socks eventually got past the heel flap but I was running out of yarn. Luckily, I was able to get a half skein from The Loopy Ewe, which is one of my new favorite shops. Not wanting to have a bunch of leftovers from a 6" cuff, I figured out my own calf increases and kept knitting till I ran out.
The finished Twinkle Toes, despite all of the difficulties, are definitely one of my favorite pairs. Jitterbug, despite its low yardage, was a joy to knit and has become one of my favorite yarns. I've even ordered more for a pair of knee socks. Besides their appearance, I love these socks because, besides from the lace panel and Bordhi's sockitecture, I was designing them on the fly. I had to work out how to deal with the gauge difference since the pattern was originally worked in a sport weight, not fingering. I had to figure out calf shaping and how to work it into the pattern. Then I had to make up a highly modified 2x2 rib to fit in with the modifications. These socks were a great test of my skill and my patience as well as a great souvenir from a fun trip. Plus, they look great with boots.
