kai-mei

i got this book the other day. the first couple of days were spent reading and admiring all the beautiful patterns. then, i was ready to cast on!


i chose kai-mei from interweave's new sock innovation cookie a. book. what i've enjoyed about this sock is the mindless knitting of the leg portion, with all the "fun" in the foot.

but, the foot was not as much "fun" as i thought it would be. i found the directions a little confusing, and had a few false starts getting the pattern established. it's not the lace that's difficult, it's the instructions on marker placement primarily. it just didn't make complete sense to me, so i went with what looked right to me.


the pattern got confusing again towards the toe. i wasn't sure what the instructions meant by "when panel and left markers are separated by only 1 st" ... because the panel proper is flanked by two knit stitches, so it will never get to within 1 stitch of the left marker. again, i just went with what looked okay.

.
once deciding where the toe should be (i essentially centered it based on the center bottom of foot), i started the decreases. but now that it's finished, i think i need to rip back and knit about 1/2" of plain rounds before the toe shaping. i need a bit more wiggle room.

so, it's a very very pretty sock! the next challenge will be knitting the mate. as with all first printings, there's quite a bit of errata... so be sure to do your homework before starting any design from this book. i am eager to get this pair finished so i can try out another pattern.

ps. the yarn is cascade heritage in col. 5603 and the needles are clover bamboo 2.25mm dpns. i had kinda forgotten how much i enjoy knitting with bamboo ....