They're gone already,

gone to the giftee. I finished the Slippery Socks! The results were great, but had I known how long it would take to knit, I probably would have knit a different pattern.

Here are the cables close up! This is on the sides of the socks.

This is on the front and back.

The yarn I used is Paca-Peds: Superwash Alpaca Sock Yarn in Frosty Nite.
I paired that with a size 1 needle.
Yep, I went ahead and used a circular needle instead of the double points the pattern calls for (Hey, I don't have size 1 double points and I like doing socks 2 at once so I don't mess up and make them different. I'm just a rebel like that.) I had to do some creative rearranging of stitches for the heel and then again to finish the toe.
I like the cables and the pattern is pretty straight forward (use stitch markers to tell you where the end of the different needles would be if you're going the circular route, that part requires a little math).
However, I wish the sizing was more clear, as the pattern is for "an average woman's foot", and it instructs you to knit until "2 inches less than desired length". That is a bit difficult if you can't measure the giftee's foot, which can be awkward and totally spoil the surprise! That's why I linked those handy charts in my last post.

Now the socks have been given already or tardily as the case may be, and I hope the giftee loves them!

Sock Sizes

I'm working on another pair of socks (shhhhh) and I've noticed that many patterns I've looked at say something like "knit until 2 inches less than foot length".

Well that doesn't make it much of a surprise if I go up to the giftee and ask to measure their foot!

In my searching I found this chart that gives you shoe size to average foot length.

These charts from My Jewel Thief Knits give even more information on sock sizes!

I'm so glad I found those!

Turkish Cast On

I used the Turkish Cast On in the baby socks I recently knit. It was really simple, just wrapping the yarn around both needles (or both ends of the needle).

Here is a good tutorial.

Here is a video tutorial.

I think it works better for casting on a larger number of stitches than only a few. The little socks I made started with 8 stitches, 4 on each needle. It kind of looks like I started knitting from a small circle rather than a line which is the usual for socks.