Driven by a sock

Do you ever have a project that just won't leave you alone? Where you just feel... compelled to work on it?

Not in a bad way; actually, in a very fulfilling way. These are the socks I've been working on in the evenings, pulling out on my lunch breaks, every spare minute I'm knitting on them and I'm loving it.

I don't know why this project should compel me in this way; in fact normally I should be dreading these socks. They're a pair of socks for my partner, He of the Size Thirteen UK Feet. If you ever sit near me while I am working on socks for him, you will hear me whingeing. Whingeing about the 84 stitches around. About the more than 100g of yarn that they require. About how knitting socks for him takes for-everrrr.

I am an expert at whingeing, especially about knitting projects. BF does greatly appreciate his handknit socks, however, and when a pair recently bit the dust, he had me promise a replacement pair.

Last weekend we took a short break up to York, where we visited the lovely little wool shop RamShambles. There, he picked out some stripy Regia yarn (from the Jazz Color line) and I purchased the requisite three 50g balls.

(Happily, it won't take the entire 150g - but it takes just enough of the extra ball to require it if I don't want to do contrasting heels and toes)
That was last Saturday, and I cast on that very night. I worked on them each evening of the holiday, and on the train home, and I just keep working on them.

It's one week later, and I've cast off the first sock. (Trust me, for a BF-sized sock, that's very good going)
I tried a new bindoff for these socks: Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bindoff. I had heard of JSSBO before, but I had gotten it confused with Jeny Staiman's other bindoff technique, the interlock bindoff. Interlock is a sewn bindoff which matches the long-tail cast on - looks nice, but fiddly to work. JSSBO is worked on the needles, and is very easy to do.

It stretches just as far as the knitting does - perfect. It beats out my old standby, the Russian BO, which is normally fine but to get it that stretchy it has to be worked carefully and loosely. JSSBO came out perfectly stretchy on the first try. I might have a new favorite bindoff. As you can see in the picture, it does flare out a bit, but so does the Russian BO, so I don't mind too much.

~Joyuna