Looooong Black Socks

Socks for Soldiers. I decided the long black socks would be just the thing for a long road trip (Tennessee to Arizona practically to California and back with stops in Oklahoma).

First sock after a day on the road, Grimsley, TN to Van Buren, AR.














The state of the socks upon arrival in Flagstaff, AZ. First sock completed with it's "toe chimney", ready for me to graft when I get home and can review the Lucy Neatby DVD that tells me how to do it this way. I think this is the end of day 4, but we did stop in Oklahoma City for a quick visit with the kids (more on that later). Second sock barely begun.





















Home again after 7 days of rafting on the Colorado River and the return trip from Arizona to Tennessee. I drove a bit coming home, didn't knit as much. The second sock at this point has about 4 more rounds before I begin the "toe chimney."





















Socks done two days after returning home. They've been washed and dried and are looking a bit rumpled. I decided I'd squish them out in Eucalan and dry them the way I always do my hand knit socks.




















I chose to make a pair to fit a female soldier in size 7-8. That way I could accurately judge sizing, etc. using my own foot. These are knit from Opal Uni Solids in ..... black! They're 14" from the cuff to the foot, and 9.5" from back of heel to toe. I knit tightly, so I used 64 stitches on size 2.75 mm KA bamboo double points. Except for the top 4" of cuff, which I knitted on 3 mm Brittany birch double points, to make that part slightly looser to fit better over the calf. These are knee socks! Before washing and drying, I measured gauge at 8.5 stitches per inch and 11 rounds per inch.



And they're off! In the mail yesterday. I'm going to make more black socks for our soldiers, but first I think I'll whip out a couple of pairs that I need for Christmas! In the meantime, this pair will find it's way into a Christmas package for one of our soldiers in the Middle East.