It’s actually a little astonishing how many works-in-progress I have languishing in nooks and crannies around my house. And I never know what might actually motivate me to pick an old project up. It’s sort of a nice surprise to find myself suddenly finishing up a very old project.

In October of 2010, I participated in one of Kirsten’s wonderful Mystery Sock Knit-alongs. A lot of stuff happened that month, and I never actually finished the pair of socks. I conveniently solved Second Sock Syndrome for myself though, by breaking my ankle:

(not how I would recommend getting yourself out of finishing a pair of socks)

By the time I was out of my aircast, I had moved on to other projects, and I never managed to pick those socks back up. In the meantime, the yarn got terribly tangled, so every time I considered the project, I was daunted by the untangling that would ensue.

Then all of a sudden this past Friday night, I wanted to finish those suckers up. I was ready to cast on for this year’s Through the Loops Mystery Sock Knitalong, and I guess I wanted to clear the decks, so to speak (though in all honesty, I also still have my 2012 TTL Mystery Sock still in progress as well!). So I picked it up and was stunned to discover that I was totally done with the gusset – all I had left was the foot and the toe. You know, basically four inches of knitting. Yes, there was untangling to be done, but even that took less time than I had expected. And before the weekend was up, I had a new pair of socks.

TTL Mystery Sock 2010

I love the texture of the socks – the cable pattern is fun to knit and so pretty to wear.

sock toes

And the cables flow into a beautiful toe, too.

The yarn was great, too – Kitchen Sink Dyeworks Luxe Merino Fine, in “Dram.” I mean look at the lovely depth of color:

Kitchen Sink Dyeworks, by Mercedes Tarasovich, is now closed, sadly. This is a Merino/Cashmere/Nylon blend, so it definitely is a little “luxe.” But the truth is, I’ve decided I prefer to work with just straight-up wool. Cashmere-blend yarn is just a little too drapey and soft for my taste, at least for socks.

a little slouchy

And I had trouble with gauge. I’m a loose knitter, so I always knit my socks on size 0s (unless I’m knitting with worsted weight yarn, in which case I typically knit them with 3s). I made the size Medium but probably should’ve made the size Small, because these are actually quite loose and slouchy on me. In fact, they fit my husband perfectly, but he felt they were a bit too feminine for him. So I will happily wear them. The color is perfect and the pattern is glorious, and if the worst thing I have to deal with in a day is slightly loose socks, then I have a pretty good life.

Now I am moving forward with this year’s Mystery Sock Knitalong with an almost clear conscience!

raveled