I finished up my Skew Socks this week and I’m pretty pleased with them. They fit well and that’s always a good thing. They are warm and that is a very good thing. But honestly I took on the pattern because it looked so interesting. It looked like a fun knit. And it was. I enjoyed knitting these socks so much that I kinda, sorta, maybe just a little, neglected this blog last week. I was having so much fun knitting I didn’t want to stop and write.

I apologize for that. But I can’t promise that it won’t happen again. Sometimes a pattern takes over my brain and its all I want to do. I figure if you’re reading a yarn blog then you completely understand how that can happen.

If you are thinking about making a pair a Skews, do it! Its a free pattern by Lana Holden which you can get a copy of on knitty. You can find the author’s numerous modifications for sizing on her personal blog. And you can check out over 5000 finished pairs on the raverly project page. Go browse all the pictures of the finished socks and that should convince you.

My Thoughts on The Skew Sock Pattern

• I liked it (obviously) but its not a care-free knit. Nearly every section requires you to pay attention.

• Use a bright variegated yarn. The more crazy color changes in your yarn, the more the obvious the unique construction of these socks will be.

• Gauge is important for these socks. Gauge is always important but its critical here. The way the pattern is written, you can’t just add a few rows here or there and changing the stitch count would be disastrous.

• That heel is just as interesting as it looks. Most heels, most shaped knits of all kinds, grow and flow naturally to mimic the human body. These don’t. That heel is made to ruffle out and then fold over and be seamed (via Kitchener Stitch) up. It definitely reminds me of the tricksy stuff Elizabeth Zimmerman pulls of off with her garter stitch jackets.

• The tops of the socks held a nice surprise for me. After all that diagonal knitting, the designer needed a way to bring the top to horizontal. She did that with short rows. That’s not the surprise. The surprise was that these short rows don’t have any wraps, or knit one belows, or any other standard way to handle the gaps that form whenever you make a short row. Instead, the designer has you switch to smaller needles and then do a lifted bar increase in every gap space. That shortens the gap somewhat. Then the stitch that was the lifted bar becomes the “purl 1” in the “knit 2, purl 1” ribbing. Bam! You can’t even see the short row gap at all and it was easy-peasy. That impressed me.

• I got to use my Size 0 needles on that ribbing. That was a first for me. Never having needed to use Size 0 for anything, ever, one might wonder why I owned a set in the first place. Well I tell you! I needed them to fill up that spot in my needle organizer. The fact that I actually used them to knit something is just gravy.

• Only make the Skew Sock pattern for your own feet. These are fun but as I said they require some effort. Your feet will appreciate that effort more than anyone else’s feet. Be selfish and keep your Skews.