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.

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.

Just one more quick update on my socks for Sock Madness 2:

I’ve turned the heels on both socks and put them back on the circular needles to continue knitting them two at a time.  I’m hoping (::fingers crossed::) that I’ll finish them up tonight!  There are 4 people done in my division now, so that leaves 16 open spots.  I think I’ll make it!

Monday began round 2 of Sock Madness 2.  The new pattern is called “Reversai” and it’s designed by Janine Le Cras.  It’s a totally reversible sock!

Here was my progress at the end of day 1:

And here is the progress as of day 2 (yesterday):

I quit last night after finishing the entire pattern chart.  Today I have to repeat the pattern charts rows 1-12 (I’ve already done rows 1 and 2) and then I’m planning to take one sock off the circular needles and put it on DPNs and I’m going to do the heel and foot separately rather than 2-at-once.

Hopefully it won’t be long now.  Only 1 person has finished from my division so far, so there are still 19 spots up for grabs to advance to the next round.

I made it through the first round of Sock Madness 2 without being knocked out! Here’s my completed socks…

Pattern: Zombie Socks by Sheryl Giles (pattern #1 for Sock Madness 2)
Yarn: Wollmeise Sockenwolle 100% superwash in “Poison Nr. 5″
Needles: US size 2.5 (3.00mm) Knit Picks circulars (16″ and 24″)

Even under pressure to get these socks done quickly, I enjoyed knitting this pattern. Dropping stitches on purpose was very fun and satisfying and kept the pattern interesting.

Sock Madness continues. One sock done, one to go…

What a crazy, exciting, anxiety-filled day!

This morning kicked off with a Wollmeise sneak up at The Loopy Ewe. Through clues that Sheri had dropped over at the Loopy Groupies Ravelry group, we knew the sneak up had to be yesterday or today. There were people who actually stayed up all night hitting F5 on the “What’s New” page, waiting for the elusive Wollmeise to appear! The sneak up finally occurred this morning. All the Wollmeise (I heard something like 300 skeins) sold out in under 5 minutes. It was incredible. I managed to score one skein each of Paul, Emil, and Wilder Mohn. ::squee::

Then this afternoon, the pattern for Sock Madness was released. Ya’ll, it’s a zombie pattern. Seriously! The name of the pattern is “Zombie Socks” — check it out. How cool is that?

Here’s the start to my zombie sock. I’m using Wollmeise in Poison Nr. 5:

I just hope I can finish fast enough to stay in the competition, ’cause I already feel so behind… ! I’d hate to be knocked out in round 1. I’ll be knitting into the wee hours tonight (late as I can stand it anyway), knitting while they’re replacing my car’s windshield tomorrow morning, thinking about knitting while I’m at work all afternoon, and then Friday night I’m determined to pull and all-nighter if necessary to finish. Here goes nothing…!

Sock Madness 2 begins in one week! I’m really thrilled to be involved in the event. It’s my first time participating in anything like this. For this first round, I’m part of the “Maryland Merino Madness” division (you can see all the divisions here). Next Thursday the first pattern will be mailed out and we’ll be able to get started!

We haven’t had clues specifically as to what the first pattern will be, but we do know that they will start with the easiest pattern of the competition and gradually get harder. We also know that there will be several toe-up socks and that one requires us to buy 20 safety pins to do a Japanese short row heel. (Eeek!?) No doubt this is going to push my knitting abilities to the edge.

So, in preparation for Sock Madness, what have I been doing? No, not knitting socks. Shopping!

My order from Knit Picks came in the mail on Wednesday. First off, I got all the needles I needed to complete a set of 16″ and 24″ circulars in every size from 0 to 3 (including half sizes). I did this specifically so I could (hopefully) knit two at a time for the Sock Madness patterns. I also got one of their needle sizers because the one I had didn’t have half-sizes for 1.5’s and 2.5’s. Then, of course, I had to buy some yarn, just because…

The gold-colored yarn is Gloss in “Serengeti”. It’s a very unusual choice for me color-wise, but I thought that having a neutral solid sock yarn might come in handy for Sock Madness too. The blue and purple yarns are Shadow in “Vineyard Heather” and “Jewels Heather”. Again, these are for Sock Madness because they revealed that one of their patterns calls for 2 coordinating colors of lace weight yarn, and Shadow was one of their recommendations.

As far as online yarn shopping completely unrelated to socks, I also finally ordered a kit to make the famous Elizabeth Zimmerman Baby Surprise Jacket. It seems that particular pattern is a rite of passage for knitters, and I thought it was high time that I gave it a shot. That, and my friend Rachel is expecting her first baby later this month. Hopefully I can knit fast enough so that the baby won’t have outgrown the sweater before it’s finished!

So, our new apartment is still in shambles of half-unpacked-chaos. It’s improved, but still a mess. But ya know, those boxes will be there another day. For now, I’d rather knit.