Darling Socks of May
I've been on a sock knitting binge lately: I've just finished two pairs this spring and I've got too more pairs on the needles.
The Umpu socks by Emma Karvonen was the official retreat pattern for the Kierot puikot 2018 knitting retreat in April. This was now the third time there was an exclusive pattern for the retreat goers — the first one was Villiviini socks by Tiina Kuu in 2015 (blogged here), the second the Tubisti cowl by Christa Becker in 2017.
The pattern was the perfect thing to knit on a retreat: it's small, portable, and doesn't require much brain power. The stitch pattern is made of tiny two-stitch cable turns going in opposite directions to create columns of leaves or buds.
The back of the leg has only one column of buds flanked by columns of twisted stitches.
The pattern has a type of heel construction that I hadn't tried before: the Fleegle heel. It's a good thing to step outside of one's comfort zone once in a while: I've been stuck in doing the Widdershins Revisited heel for so long a small thing like a different heel construction really unnerved me!
I'm used to doing a heel turn first and then a heel flap. In the Fleegle heel the turn is the heel flap (sort of) and creates a triangle shaped wedge at the back of the foot. I was worried about the fit of the heel and although it looks a bit weird, it fits surprisingly well. The socks are ever so slightly too long for me which makes the heel sit quite high on the foot. With a shorter foot the very tip of the wedge should be right under the bottom of your heel.
All in all I loved knitting the pattern and the yarn I chose was just spot on: semi-solid to make interesting to knit, yet subdued enough to let the stitch pattern show. Incidentally, I'd dyed the yarn myself two years earlier in Kierot puikot 2016.
On Ravelry: Umpu
Pattern: Umpu by Emma Karvonen, available for the general public in June 2018
Yarn: DROPS Fabel (75% wool, 25% nylon) dyed with reactive dyes, approx. 300 m (330 yd)
Needle: 2.5 mm circs in magic loop
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