Monday, June 4, 2012

On Tour de Sock, Stage 1

The Tour-de Sock madness has started!

The pattern was released on June 1 at 11:30am (EDT), and the certifiably insane sock knitters immediately got to work, some finishing the pair within 24 hours.

Let me repeat that.

A PAIR of socks.

IN TWENTY. FOUR. HOURS.

I am clearly not cut out for this level of competition.

But I stumble along anyway.

The pattern is Saint Michel Socks by Debbie O'Neill, which is exclusive to the TdS now, but will be available for purchase sometime later this year (or so I'm lead to believe).

And I certainly didn't knit a pair in 24 hours, but I did finish the first sock in 48 hours, which I think is still an accomplishment/sign of a mental disorder:

Untitled

I'm using some Wool Therapy Tranquil BFL that I picked up at Fibre Space. The sock definitely needs some blocking, but the yarn has been lovely to work with. It's on the thinner side, and not as soft as some sock yarns (cough, Skinny Bugga!, cough), but sturdy, like Tosh Sock.

Also, I love dark green.

Just saying.

The second sock, predictably, is going sloooooower, because I JUST KNIT the exact same thing and don't want to do it again. I am seriously considering trying to learn 2-at-a-time socks before the next stage.

Stage 2 starts on Saturday morning, and I leave for Costa Rica on Monday, so how I will fare is anyone's guess. Since CP heads to Costa Rica the day before me, I'm traveling alone (boo!) and planning to bring lots of plane knitting. I always get nervous about losing my needles in security (even though I haven't lost a pair yet, knock on wood), so I just ordered some Knit Picks bamboo DPNs, just to be on the safe side--non-metal seems a lot more likely to make it through security, and DPNs might look like nothing more than a pencil on the Xrays.

Or so I'm telling myself.

5 comments :

Anonymous said...

They look fantastic!

Chantal Boucher said...

A pair of socks in 24 hrs... For me too, it's just impossible! Even if i don't sleep, neither eat or anything else. So i think that you are normal!! So have fun in Costa Rica and happy knitting on the plane.
(Why don't you use circular needle?)

Have a nice trip!

Sara said...

You sock looks great! It took me a month to knit 1/2 a sock and I am still recovering.I want so badly to be a sock knitter but sadly, I don't think its in the cards.

I have had my needles taken twice at security. I had the Nickle plated Knitpick Circs and once they were taken away when I was leaving Ireland. I asked them if I could keep the cord and they could just take the metal needle part which they were fine with. It was really upsetting but thankfully only a 5 hour plane ride.

Good luck with the sock and the plane knitting!

Joelle said...

Wow, even one sock in 48 hours is impressive. That doesn't look like a quick pattern either.

Alrischa said...

Yours are going to be beautiful! Love the color, and I think that 48 hours is awesome for a reasonably long lace-covered sock. (Those 24 hr people are nuts, but I'm still jealous of them.)

Mine are dark green, too :) I'm knitting 2aat, so I'm barely half-done. Worth learning, but it is almost twice as slow. (though you don't have to look at the chart by the time you get to the fourth repeat of that line) hehe. Next ones are colorwork...