Thank you all so much for your suggestions. I did rip it out, rather gleefully I might add. And as I did so I wondered why I always find it so hard to decide to rip when I have such fun doing the actual ripping and really don’t mind re-knitting at all once I am doing it?

The second attempt is much better. It’s a better length. I wrapped an extra pair of stitches which I think has improved the fit in the ankle. And I did a far better job of closing the holes when joining back into the round.

I am totally in love with this toe up on circulars business.

So the sock has been growing nicely, the short row heel was fun. But I think I made it a little too soon, and I am worried that even if I rip it out and add another centimeter (or two?) before the heel that there still won’t be enough room in the ankle. It seems like it will be really snug. Is this a feature of short row heels? That they have tighter ankles than a heel flap and gusset? If so what does one do if you have a largish instep or ankle?

Does it look too small to you? I have never seen anyone wearing hand made socks so honestly I am not sure what a well fitting hand made sock looks like. How much are the stitches supposed to stretch before it is too stretched as compared to snug? And will the fit change as I knit more of the leg? Or if it seems a bit short in the foot now should I rip and add more before wasting any more time? I guess I need to go and look at everyone’s pictures of their perfectly fitting socks…

Isabelle just asked me if this was a bag. So I put it on to demonstrate it’s sockiness and it occurred to me that now was a good time for a photo. It’s Steph’s Mata Hari sock pattern, toe up. The toe up part is Wendy’s toe up sock pattern.

I joined Cara’s Jaywalker KAL and I am planning to do knit them toe up because I am worried about running out of yarn with the Koigu that is simply screaming to become Jaywalkers. I thought the Mata Hari socks might be an easier introduction to toe up sock knitting and I was right! They are so much fun. Well actually I have no idea how easy or hard the Jaywalkers will be but the Mata Hari socks are definitely a great way to learn toe up socks! I see more in my future. I am loving both the two circs and the toe up thing. It’s all good.

In other news we had our first ultrasound yesterday and there is one baby in there and it’s heart is beating. I cannot tell you how relieved and ecstatic and awed we are. Can you believe that something the size of a grain of rice can have a heartbeat? A visible heartbeat? Amazing. I had oh so hopefully taken the sock with me for a little waiting room knitting, of course I was shaking way too much to have been able to knit a stitch, but the 40 odd rows I have knit since then is a testament to how much better I am feeling! Will these socks be done before the next scan (in just under two weeks)? I think so!

Apparently knitting four baby shoes to get one pair was not enough to put me off Moss Stitch Shoes for life. One of my friends was very taken with the baby shoes and asked for a grown up pair. This was the swatch.

This is me in the car trying to make sense of the instructions I wrote over the top of the original pattern when I was guestimating how to make a slipper fit a much larger foot, in different yarn on different needles. The notes I wrote over the top of those guestimations as I actually knit the “Swatch” were not necessarily that helpful.

Never the less they sort of match. Unfortunately they are too big, though hopefully it is nothing a strap won’t fix. As long as they don’t grow in the wash that is.

Perhaps a real swatch might have been a good idea?

Pattern: It was featured on a this website, but is now gone.
Yarn: Rowan Big Wool in shade #06
Needles: Pony 12mm logs.

This scarf took about 4 hours to make and has blocked out quite nicely. It is nice and soft and will be very warm. Now I just have to start frequenting markets until I find a suitable pin to hold it in place, as it is a bit short for wrapping or tying (and would be both too hot and too bulky if it were longer).

If only my camera coped a little better with photographing this particular shade of red. Note to self buy new camera or less red yarn.

So I am too slack to show you photos of what I am knitting at the moment but I am already thinking about the next big thing. After looking at yiaAnn’s gorgeous socks this morning it struck me that Elfin might be a much better pattern for my Koigu than Jaywalker because it is toe up and I am worried about yardage. But there are issues and I need help from more experienced sock knitters.

Firstly colour wise I would prefer to use the Koigu I have for Jaywalker and something greener for Elfin (or another lace leaf patter). But we have large feet around here (my mother and I have a 9.5″ foot circumference and we are the smallest) and it makes me worry about getting enough sock out of a skein of Koigu, which makes toe up appealing. The question that is bothering me is what the circumference of a sock for a 9.5″ foot should be? Do I take off an inch and go for 8.5″ or 20% (as suggested by this knitlist sock tips page) which would be just under 8″. In which case a ladies medium sock would suddenly be the right size for our large feet?? 9.5″ seems to a really unfortunate foot circumference. All the socks I want to knit come in 8″ and 9″ sizes, until now I have been assuming 8″ would be too tight, but the Spearfish socks, which were the 9″ size, were too big (though not huge) - just as well they are not for me.

I guess the question is, how much negative ease do you think a sock needs? If I should be knitting 8.5″ socks and the patterns are all for 8″ and 9″ where do I add the extra stitches? To the sole? And how do you manage that at the heel, or when the leg is fully patterned with a one inch-ish pattern repeat? And finally, perhaps, could I knit Jaywalker toe up do you think? It seems like the pattern would look fairly similar in reverse?

I am starting to feel guilty for my lack of posting. I am still pregnant, in fact yesterday’s blood test was so impressive there is a chance there may be two in there, it remains to be seen. I am just somewhat preoccupied by the sleepiness, the queasiness and the need to catch up on all the work I didn’t do while waiting for the outcome of the cycle. I blocked the scarf, I have been knitting, I have even been taking photos of my work (though not very good ones) and I have a lot of bad pictures of pregnancy tests. Hopefully I will get organised and post something interesting in short order.

Today Jesse and I went to see my reproductive immunologist, not to discuss why I wasn’t getting pregnant, but how to stay pregnant. Pretty exciting stuff. Except for the part where it took all day. This guy’s practice is, shall we say, far from home and when we got there we discovered that I had the time wrong and we were two hours early. TWO HOURS. He then ran two hours late. That’s right people four hours waiting for the appointment*.

Just as well I had planned for a little waiting and fetched out my recently purchased logs and two balls of Rowan Big Wool to keep me company. I cast on in the car. I guess I got nearly one repeat done on the way. The first repeat took me a lot longer than the rest, partly because I was learning the pattern, but mostly because it just felt so weird to be flapping around 12mm straights after tiny little 2.25mm DPNs!

Not long after we had moved from the doctor’s reception area to the hosptial’s cafeteria** I realised I better document my progress.

Little did I know how glad I would be that I packed both balls of yarn, because what you see below was the end of the first ball and we were only half way through the wait.

I cast off about 20 mins before the good (great) doctor called us in and had to resort to reading very bad magazines. Which was stupid because I had this in my bag but my mind was so fried by then I had forgotten.

All it needs now is a little blocking and a really nice pin. And perhaps I might weave those ends…

* He was worth the wait, seriously worth the wait.
** So that Jesse could spread his gear out and get on line, yes, we are a sorry pair of geeks that can’t leave home without a laptop and a mobile broadband connection.

Thankyou all for your kind words and well wishes. I will respond to you all personally, but probably not until tomorrow. So for today, here’s a big group thankyou! And this is what we did today to keep me from going completely insane while waiting for tomorrow’s follow up beta.

I spent today knitting like a crazy person. The two lines you see above appeared this morning, so I rushed off for an early beta with my GP who, unlike IVF clinics, take ALL DAY to get blood test results. Two lines turned very rapidly into two socks. I had just pulled the card out of my camera after taking these photos when they finally called to say that I am officially pregnant. It may not last, heck, it may not even last until my period is due (on the weekend), but it is closer than we have been in nearly two years of trying. And that is something. Quite something.

The question is what will I knit while waiting for Thursday’s follow up result? Because you know it’s all about the knitting…

Pattern: Spearfish Socks
Yarn: Grignasco Bambi Merino Extrafine, shade #680
Needles: 2.75mm Pony Rosewood DPNS, 3.25mm Bamboo DPNs

One question I do have for the experienced sock knitters amongst you. How enthusiastically should I weave the ends? I have woven them in for now but haven’t clipped of the excess in case I ought to do some more weaving first. This is superwash wool so the ends won’t felt into place.