One foot to go

I think I have the hang of this sock knitting now.

I was determined to finish the first sock of the pair today. As you can see, I succeeded. Sure, there's room for improvement on the second one. Yesterday I wrote that I picked up stitches mostly through single loops, which has left some small holes at that point. There's a small hole where the gusset begins on the right and below the ankle. There's the hint of a ladder through the middle of the foot. (It looks OK head on, but viewed from an angle it's more noticeable. And of course I know it's there.)

The sock does fit, although getting it around my heel takes some work. When I tried it on while on the needles and when I put it on after weaving in the ends, I pulled the whole sock on and then wiggled the cuff over my heel. The sock fits really well, but the cast on row should be looser. It's a good thing I restarted knitting this twice because the final cast on is not as tight as the previous two. Would making the cuff slightly longer also help, or is it simply a matter of casting on more loosely?

But enough nitpicking over minor things. No one will be able to see the little flaws. What counts is that I like how the colorway knitted up, it's the right size, and I had no trouble making it. Since my first socks were made from worsted weight yarn--and thus used fewer stitches on bigger needles--I wondered how long of a haul it would be until I finished one of these with sport weight yarn. It took me about a week to make one, which seems reasonable considering from the heel to the tips of the toes the sock is 11 1/2 inches long.

My typical knitting routine has been to make the same projects over and over. Socks are a perfect example of the benefit of such repetition. I understand what was tripping me up on previous sock knitting attempts. I am improving from one sock to the next. Why, I might even be ready to tackle the oversized sock after completing this pair.