FO: Curses Socks

Another finished pair of socks! But you’ll know if you’ve been keeping up with the round up posts lately that I’ve had several WIP pairs of socks, so it’s about time some of them got paired off, and this month it was the turn of the first of two test knits that I have done for the lovely Zoe Carter of the Pinsandneedles podcast – the Curses Socks.

It will come as no surprise to any nerds reading that these were inspired by Harry Potter and his lightening bolt shaped scar. Zoe has managed to create the holy grail of knitting patterns – interesting enough to not get boring, but not so interesting that you can’t knit on them while continuing a decent conversation or watching something on TV. Perfect. The sock is knit top down, with a ribbed cuff, heel flap and gusset and a standard wedge toe.

I used a yarn that I bought at Edinburgh Yarn Festival in 2015, but not for myself. (Brace yourselves, if you’re of a weepy disposition, now would be a good time to grab a tissue…) At the time I bought the yarn, my best friend Jo had just been diagnosed with cancer. She was also a knitter, but couldn’t come to Edinburgh, so I promised to pick her up something lovely to knit with, and she requested fuschia pink. I found the yarn, discovered it to be squishy and gorgeous, and promptly bought it for her. She loved it, but unfortunately didn’t get chance to use it – her treatment left her very weak, but she seemed to be improving so we all started feeling more positive about things, but unfortunately she passed away rather unexpectedly a few months later.

While her Fiance was clearing out their house recently he found the yarn (which I’d asked him to keep an eye out for), and passed it back to me, so I knew I had to make something lovely from it for myself, because I’m a sentimental old bean, so now I have some gorgeous socks.

Anyway, about that yarn… It’s Debonnaire Soft Sock in the colourway Plum. Looking at their website, it seems as though they’ve renamed this yarn to Plush, which is a 10% cashmere, 80% merino, 10% nylon base, but the colourway is still available. It’s absolutely gorgeous to knit with, and it feels super soft on my feet.

I knit these up using my usual KnitPro Symfonie fixed circular needles in size 2.25mm, and on the largest 72 stitch size in the pattern, which generally comes out about right for my feet. These are maybe a touch on the large side (due to the yarn overs, perhaps, or maybe just my gauge is a bit off!), but they’re still perfectly comfortable. I’m expecting because of the cashmere content that they will pill a bit with wear, so I’m going to try and keep them for ’round the house’ only, rather than going out walking in them.

Overall, definitely a great pattern and a great yarn – I would happily knit both again!