Round 3 of Sock Madness has ended and round 4 is in full swing. I did manage to finish the round 3 socks and make it into the next round.

Longing for Spring socks

The pattern is Longing for Spring, designed by Caoua Coffee, and the yarn is Panda Cotton in colourway 2301 Rosewater. They are knit toe-up, and use a pretty standard heel turn and flap.

Although the pattern wasn’t particularly difficult, I made several very silly mistakes that really slowed me down. The biggest was not checking my row gauge (and I should know better since I knit very tightly) and ending up with a sock foot that was much too short. I had started the gusset increases where the designer suggested when I should  have added more length to compensate for the fact that I was getting more rows per inch. That mistake set me back several hours, and also sent the sock into the naughty corner for an evening.

So, as for round 4, well…

Broken Needle

Unfortunately, I broke one of my needles on the second round of the first sock. And, that’s it for me. I don’t have any more needles that size and if I used smaller needles they would only break too. The sock uses a tricky stitch that is hard to do with wooden needles because you really need to dig your needle in to grab and manipulate all the stitches. Sadly, I don’t have any metal needles because they hurt my hands. Oh well.

Nonetheless, I still had fun with this year’s Sock Madness. And I feel better good since I made it through rounds 2 and 3 with lots of time to spare, and based on how the stats strand right now, I think I would have made it through round 4. Of course, there is always next year!

Oh, Sock Madness, why do I keep signing up for you? My poor hand doesn’t like being forced to knit socks so quickly. Thankfully, in the early rounds, there are enough slots that I can take a break between socks and still have a chance to make it to the next round.

Cable Madness socks

The pattern is Cable Madness, designed by Karen Buhr. It was released on the afternoon of Friday, March 20th. I had finished the first sock by the following Sunday afternoon, but took a few days off before being the second sock. That one was completed on March 26th, and I was able to move through to round 3 with no problems at all.

Cable close-up

The yarn is Berroco Comfort Sock in colourway 1763 Navy Blue (the first picture is more true). The sock is a wee bit narrow, and fits a bit tight, so I think once everything is done, I will be ripping out the toes and knitting them a little longer. (A narrow sock can fit short because of the way the fabric pulls up.)

This round finishes up on April 3rd, or sooner if all the spots are filled. I’m looking forward to the next sock and really hoping I can get through to at least round 4, which would be a personal best.

(I know today is April Fool’s Day. I am ignoring it because I don’t like it and because I am no fun. 😛 )