FO: Patriotic Socks

Specifications
Yarn: Fortissima Colori Socka Color by Schoeller and Stahl
Needles: KnitPicks Circular, Size 1.5
Pattern: Interweave Knits, Summer 2007, "Working Socks from the Toe Up" by Ann Budd
Verdict: Not a huge fan of the Eastern Cast-on, though it might get better with practice. I really liked the way the short rows heels were done with yarn-overs instead of wraps. I have done (I think) two pairs of socks with wrapped short-rows and used wrapped short rows a few times in other places and I have to have the instructions laying in front of me for every. single. wrap. The techniques absolutely refuses to stay in my head. With the YOs, though, I may need to refresh my memory if I haven't used them in a while, but while knitting them up, they make sense to me and I can remember how to do them! I also have decided that I do like going toe up, so I can use every last bit of yarn rather than trying to guess where to put the heel for the longest cuff without running out of yarn and having to rip back! Dudes, I wear size 10 shoes...reknitting the entire foot is NOT a trivial matter.

Throughout this project, I have kept my references rather oblique as I was planning from the start to gift these to a blog reader and didn't want to ruin the surprise. They are in (on?) the giftee's hands (feet?) now, so I can spill some more project details!

When I saw this yarn, I immediately thought of my mom. We have a thing going based on her fondness for a stars and stripes sweater, as well as a couple of other clothing and jewelry items with patriotic motifs. Combine this with the kind of abject humiliation that I can only hope that I am one day able to inflict on my kids ;o). You know the kind of inside joke/story that you get going with certain family members and friends. It's flamingos between my dad and me...I may spill that tale one day, too.

Anyhoo, I knew that these would be a gift for my mom at some point and when I found out that she was looking into surgery to address chronic back and leg pain sometime this fall, I thought that would be a good time. So I cranked away on them. However, when the surgery was scheduled, I found out about the Tuesday surgery the Sunday before. There was absolutely no way to get them done and mailed to the west coast in two days, so I hurried along, hoping to get them out by the end of the week, but I ran into the whole DPN and cuff fiasco, that added several days to the project.

So in the meantime, she had the surgery, everything went as it should and she is recuperating nicely. It will still be a few weeks before we all know whether it did all that it was supposed to, but the word is "cautiously optimistic." So without further ado, the socks on the victim's giftee's feet, only about a week and a half late:

Incidentally, the picture at the top is my feet modeling the socks. Yes, big feet are indeed genetic. And the last picture is the full, belated get-well package including leaf art from Bug and Bean and a card/picture of Mr. Beeb, since he is too little for art projects.