SOSkal ~ In Full Swing!

Hi, Knitters,

The Smooth Operator Sock Knitalong or SOSkal is in full swing. Thank you so much for jumping on board. So far we have 180 projects on Ravelry and over 150 participants in the knitalong. I hope more will join in here as we move along. This is a great turnout and considering what a busy time of year it is for people and families I am pretty blown away. Thank you once again, it's exciting.

Click here for the discounted Smooth Operator Socks pattern information or to purchase.

The thread on the Itty-Bitty Knits group on Ravelry is already hopping with in-progress photos, sharing and of course, the asking and answering of questions. It is really fun. Remember that you don't have to finish a pair of socks or even one sock to enter into the knitalong and be eligible for prizes. All you have to do is join in and get going on a SOsock. Easy-peasy and pressure free!

Click here to check out the SOSkal thread on Ravelry. Just jump in and leave a comment to join, it's that easy. 

Click here to see the #SOSkal photos on Instagram. Please tag all of your sock photos with this hashtag so we can all enjoy your socks in one collective place. Please tag your Ravelry socks, too, with SOSkal. 

I decided to start a new sock for the knitalong. I am using Must Stash Yarn in the Happy Snowman colorway. It is on the Ritz base which has sparkle or stellina. I love the colors so much. 

It looks like Stacie of Must Stash has both this color and the Family Reunion colorway up for pre-order right now!

Here I turned the Smooth Operator Sock heel and am progressing down the foot. The heel is an afterthought technique where you place the heel stitches on waste yarn for later. Most patterns suggest completing the heel after the entire sock is finished but I like to work a couple of inches past the waste yarn and then I go back to insert the heel.

This order of events is for a couple of reasons:

1. It is simply nice to be finished with the sock when you finish the foot and toe. I find it no different than working the traditional heel flap and turn as far as the sequence of the sock knitting. This is because when you do the heel flap and turn you stop working the long stretch of either the foot or leg of the sock and you are doing something different for that time. This is the same for stopping and working the afterthought heel.

2. The second reason is that putting the heel in before you are finished with the foot makes it much easier to get the foot length correct. You can even try on the sock while in progress to make sure the fit will be good.

Of course you could always finish the heel after you complete the sock if you would prefer to do it that way. I always take a minute or two to weave in the ends as I go and I am always glad at the end. Then you only have that final end on the toe to quickly weave in and you are really done!

Yesterday I finished the sock and it looks and fits great. It is always fun to figure out where to place the heel in the striping sequence. You really can't go wrong but the main thing I try to do is not have the same color stripes right next to each other.

I am thinking about cracking open this new skein of Must Stash Yarn for my next sock cast on, just for fun and to keep things entertaining. This skein is called The Wall - Alpha and it looks to be interesting. There isn't a photo on the label so I'm not sure what it will look like.

I hope you are having a great week so far. I'll be back soon with much more.
xo ~ susan