Much like the Battlestar Galactica finale, these socks hovered between disaster and triumph the entire time I was knitting them. Unlike the BSG finale (in my ever so humble opinion, anyway), they most absolutely ended in triumph.
Viper Pilots
Pattern: Viper Pilots by Glenna C, available on Ravelry here.
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in the Chinatown Apple Colorway
Needles: US 2/2.75mm
Notes: Oh. Goodness. It took me almost a whole week to get around to writing these up. I didn’t want to think or write or even have to worry about spelling; I just wanted to stare at these socks, knit by my very own hands, being worn by my very own feet, and be rather pompous about my abilities. To loosely quote the designer, you feel like a pretty badass knitter when these babies are on your feet.
Some thoughts, in no particular order:
-I wish it hadn’t taken me a sock and a half to finally figure out how the ribbed cable twists worked and stop needing to check the key every two seconds. Despite checking said key every two and a half seconds, there is one egregiously un-crossed cable (thanks to a missing row) and a couple of minor wobbles scattered throughout the socks. In keeping with the theme, I am declaring that to be part of the danger of space travel: even the maelstroms have maelstroms.
-Every error that happened in these socks happened when I was in a social situation (meaning, knit nites). If you enjoy tinking, take them along. Otherwise, leave them at home and work on them in the peace and quiet. Distraction leads to aforementioned dangers of space travel.
-Color. Glenna recommended blue colors, keeping with the space theme. That’s all well and fitting, but I put myself on a yarn diet for Lent and the only stash of DiC Smooshy in my stash was Chinatown Apple. (It hadn’t even been stashed that long; it was a Christmas present from my sister. Timing for the win.) So I stared at it for a bit and decided it evoked the colors of flightsuits and the racing stripes on the Vipers and the colors you get after a Cylon has blasted your poor little spaceship and scratched the paint job. And when I look at them, that’s what I see: old, battle-scared fighters. I love the color, and the twist it puts on the theme. Your mileage may vary, of course, but I would encourage people to consider expanding beyond blue. Especially if they decide to knit more than one pair. (What? Don’t look at me that way, you’d be tempted too.)
-These were my first ever test-knit, and what a way to begin. Despite the way they made my eyes ache and the annoyance of constantly jumping between sock and chart and key, I couldn’t put them down. Watching the cables grow and the little vipers narrow as I went was positively addicting. Then I got to the end and realized I (and my eyes) needed a break, and so promptly cast on a stockinette sock and knit on it until I got bored. That was my cue to cast on the second sock, which then took twice as long now that there was no deadline. Go figure.
-Cabling without a needle. This is not the pattern to learn on. However, this is definitely the pattern to exercise those skills on. I didn’t pick up a cable needle once in the knitting of these, and while it led to some hairy moments (and a lot of cursing, Starbuck-style) on the whole it worked out very well. I can’t imagine how much longer it would have taken had I been stopping and adding another needle into the mix four times in a single round. That being said, I’m still pretty astounded at myself for getting through the C7s without a needle. I am apparently better at cabling without a needle than I realized!
Check out that awesome heel!
I didn’t get much else done in March — these took up a lot of time. But I really did enjoy the challenge so much. These are without a doubt the most complicated project I’ve tackled, and I’m awfully tickled at how well they came out, and the part I got to play in getting the pattern up to its release stage. Thanks, Glenna, for letting me play in your sandbox a little, and you know where to find me when your brain comes up with another fantastic thing.
Of course, now that BSG and these socks are both done I have to find something new to amuse myself. Lee Adama’s off to a new show, but I think I’m more interested in Leoben. Anybody runs into him, send him my way. Tell him I can knit him an awesome pair of socks.
Those look awesome, dude! And I think they are the first FO aside from my own originals 😉 I’m glad all the torture was worth it in the end. You can totally test a sock pattern for me any day of the week.
I am duly impressed. They are dynamite and I LOVE the color.