Knit Wedge sock. Love.

The last couple of months my brain has been churning with sock design ideas. Of course, in order to determine whether the design is viable a sock must be knit, and in the knitting process problems are revealed, changes must be made to the design, and it all takes a lot of concentration and time. Eventually a sample sock emerges. And the sample often doesn't match the glorious mental image that inspired it. It can be a letdown, and often I feel the urge to put the sock aside (just for a day or two!) and try out the next amazing idea. And that's how I end up with an embarrassing number of single sample socks for which the patterns have not been written.

Anyway, for a change (and to put off tedious pattern-writing even longer) I decided to knit somebody else's pattern that's been on my queue for several months. It's Wedge, by Cookie A, from her book Knit. Sock. Love. I've long been an admirer of Cookie's designs and books, but so far I've only knit two of her sock patterns, Hedera and the ubiquitous Monkey (no-purl version, though). Pomatomus was the first one I ever put on the queue, and there it rests. Someday…

Back to Wedge. This design is insanely clever. After doing 3 of the wedge sections I had to draw an elaborate diagram of how they fit together in order to reassure myself that I hadn't gone off track. My diagram revealed the true cunning structure of the sock. Added bonus - all stitch counts are multiples of 8, one of my favorite numbers. Is that cool or what?

For my Wedge socks I'm using yarn I purchased at Sock Summit 2009 - Adorn Sock, by 3 Irish Girls, in colorway "Starry Starry Night". This beautiful colorway was one of 3IG's Dye for Glory contest entries, and by the time I got to their booth in the Marketplace they were swamped with orders. In fact, I didn't receive my order until the following January, after I had lost all hope of seeing it. I absolutely loved the yarn but that 6-month delay spoiled it a little. So I stashed the yarn and every few months would take it out to admire. But now more than a year has passed and that yarn's time has come! It's turning into terrific Wedge socks! Even the short-row heel, which usually doesn't fit me well, came out great on sock #1. Thank you Cookie for another satisfying sock experience!

Uh-oh, I feel a new sock idea bubbling up… Must finish 2nd Wedge sock.