I’m pretty certain that my fingers are about to fall off.  My Reversai socks for round 2 of Sock Madness 2 are done, done, DONE!  I made it on to the third round.  (Though I have a feeling that round 3 will be my last, but we’ll see.)

The pattern is a lot of garter stitch, making the sock reversable.  In theory this is really cool.  Heck, the completed product is really cool too…

However, doing garter stitch in the round on size 1 needles is a painful nightmare.  Keep in mind, when working in the round, garter stitch is knit one row, purl the next because you’re not turning your work.  All those purl rows made my fingers cramp like mad.

One thing I did learn from knitting these socks is that I am, in fact, a very tight knitter.  I always thought I was more to the “average” side gauge-wise.  When I started this pattern, there was a lot of discussion in the Ravelry Sock Madness 2 group that people were struggling to find needles small enough and yarn thin enough to get gauge.  One person even posted her first attempt at the pattern: a cuff that she could put both of her feet through.

I chose Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock yarn, which is on the thin side, and I cast on using US size 1 (2.25 mm) needles.  I never use such small needles; I nearly always use a US size 2 for all my sock knitting.  Turns out, I wouldn’t have had to go down to a size 1 anyway.  The socks fit fine, but they are more snug-fitting than my other pairs.  On the upside, the stitches are very tight and well-defined so the design of the pattern shows up great.