ok, so i was hit over a week ago… but it is time to wrap up the sock wars saga!
first up, i made a second kill!!
i didn’t push as hard this time because i knew that there was no mail memorial day and that meant that receiving on Friday meant the earliest i could hope to mail was Tuesday.
warning, small rantings from my process ahead! this in no way should be taken as negative towards the previous knitter or the game. i just am recording the experience of the moment… not the overall feeling of it all. although frustrating in the process… it was a way of forcing myself to grow my knitting skill – exactly why i signed up in the first place.
this pair was a bit frustrating, because my target didn’t tell me which increase she used. i emailed her and asked (with a link to the Knitting Help.com site), but she just said which ever one was in the pattern was the one she used, ugh. after a bit of experimenting and frogging and experimenting and frogging, i was able to match hers as the lifted bar (M1F) increase knit through the back.
she also didn’t tell me what she did to compensate the stitch pattern on the instep. she used an 8 stitch repeat and notes problems with the stitch pattern on the foot on her project page… but no helpful info. in fact, she didn’t even tell me which round of the pattern she stopped on. so a lot of detective work went into getting started.
she also didn’t get gauge. she had a gauge of 8.5 stitches. i had to try 3 different needles before i zeroed in on her gauge.
she still had the price tag on the ball band, so i know this isn’t cheap yarn… but man! i do NOT like it. it wore a callous across the top of my index finger from holding the yarn tensioned! very rough stuff.
i caught one dropped stitch in the gusset that she must have missed. i laddered it up the 4 or 5 rows it had dropped… but it was tight knitting above it, so i didn’t want to distort the rest of the stitching. i just tacked the stitch down with some spare yarn when i wove in the ends.
oh, and the end that the previous knitter left was under 4” long. 
very annoying to bury.
socks mailed! however, i also found out my assassin mailed the same day too. so much for a third kill… it was fun while it lasted.
i did get a chance to block before mailing.
then…. i received my death socks! Thank You Eurekas. after knitting so much blue, the bright colors are fantastic.
see all that tissue paper in the background… she warned me to beware of flying shrapnel! included were great memory wire bracelets with jingle bells (or, as tickled me to no end, anklets! pull the other one, it’s got bells on!!)
