01/01/09: This is the mystery sock for the SKA January Sockdown… and my first attempt at beaded knitting.

I’m using pretty purple, transparent glass seed beads by Blue Moon and a teeny, tiny crochet hook to put them on the stitches. It’s a size 12 and I can barely see the head of it to grab the yarn! But, I’ve managed and have already finished the first clue on the first sock.

01/04/09: I decided that what I’ve done so far is going to be too snug to go more than 3 or 4 inches up my leg. This wouldn’t normally be a problem for me (I don’t mind shorter socks), but I’d like to be able to knit these as written (or as close as possible). So, I redid the first clue on size 1.5 dpns. I switched back down to size 1s on row 8 of the first clue.

01/09/09: Started the second clue. I started working full-time again a few days ago, so this will probably go a lot slower now.

01/15/09: Finished the second clue. I decided to add three rows of the optional beads on the leg. So, I did 9 rows of the optional beading pattern (which is 3 rows of beads), then another 12 rows of plain k3, p1 ribbing. Including the cuff, the leg is about 5.5 inches long.

01/17/09: Started the second sock. The third clue is out, but I decided it would be easier for me to be at the same place on both socks before going on.

01/24/09: Finished the second clue on the second sock, so now both socks are at the same place. On to clue three…

I’m a bit annoyed, though, because the first sock is obviously darker than the second sock. I did each sock from a separate ball of yarn (same dye lot), and the balls looked really similar before knitting. I’m not going to rip back over it, but it does make me kind of cranky. I’m hoping it won’t look so obvious, though, by the time they’re finished.

02/16/09: Finished! The color difference is more noticeable than I’d like, but that’s ok. If I’d realized that the balls were so different, I would have done the cuffs, heels, and toes in the darker skein and the rest in the lighter. Oh, well… I still like them.