Round 3 of Sock Madness 2 totally kicked my arse. I really thought this would be the round that I’d get knocked out. Turns out, I managed to finish 12th (at 1:40 a.m. last night). The first 12 finishers in each division are advancing this time around, so I’m going to round 4.
The pattern for round 3 was Slippin’ Stripin’ Socks. They’re a slip-stitch pattern knit from laceweight yarn held doubled. I used Knit Picks Shadow in Vineyard Heather and Jewels Heather.
The pattern called for size US 2 (2.75 mm) needles. All my size 2’s were tied up so I decided to drop down to a US 1.5 (2.5 mm) needle. That was a huge mistake! My left sock (in the picture) is awfully snug because of it. So I decided to knit the other sock on a US 2.5 (3.00 mm) needle instead, and it’s quite comfortable. Maybe someday I’ll go back and knit a third sock, also on the US 2.5’s, so that I have a more comfortable matching pair.
I did work very hard on these socks though. I even took them out with me Saturday night to knit while Nick played pool. Earlier the same evening, Nick and I had gone out to eat (Cheddars, mmm…) and I knitted while we waited for a table and while we waited to order and till our dinners came. Serious dedication, people! (Not to mention I love the weird looks I get from people…)
I think this will likely be my last round of SM2 though. In rounds 1 and 2, I think I finished around 10th place and of course I was 12th this time, so I’ve been very consistant. I don’t think that’s going to cut it to advance past round 4. I’m really okay with that though. I’ve enjoyed the competition a lot, but all this speed-knitting of socks is just getting to be too much for me. I have a bunch of other projects on the needles and in my to-do queue that I’m dying to start. If I get knocked out the next round, I won’t be sad. I’m ready.
Incidentally if you’d like to see some of the creative, colorful socks that others in the competition have been knitting, there’s a Sock Madness photo-pool on Flickr where you can see them all. There’s some really talented knitters producing some pretty awesome finished objects, so go have a look.
