back to the drawing board

One of my goals for this season's Southern Summer of Socks was to do some of my own designs. So far this has worked out well. The footies in the sea cell and Charlie's Sock, both shown below a few post, worked out well and I was pleased. ihave lots of ideas crowding around in my head but I thought I would try something different.
One of colours in washable merino was called Spring. Subtly varying shades of greens.

I wound it yesterday and thought that the colour looked like Granny smith apples. Never mind that apples are autumn fruits and the wool was called Spring! LOL. I sketched, then charted out an apple. I'm not at all capable at drawing, never have been, but an apple can't be all that difficult. I made a lovely picot hem with one of the neatest hems I have ever done and set about the apple. One on each of four needles, done in purl against the stocking stitch background.

Hmmm, not quite what I was expecting. I turned the sock inside out and it looked a bit better in stocking stitch against a purl background. Perhaps it would look better in moss stitch, that may stand out. Perhaps a lager apple like clocks up the side of the sock. Anyway, I was not happy and have frogged the sock.

I'll let some ideas run around in my head and try again. I know I could have done a swatch. That would have been about as much effort as working on the sock. If it had worked out, I would have been ahead.

Off to console myself by drooling over some of the socks on Ravelry now, as if I didn't have enough stitch books of my own and ideas too, as well as numerous sock books.

charlie's socks done and dusted

Here are Charlie's socks, all finished. The wool is Voodoo colourway from Katie at Live2Knit. It's somewhat washed out here with late afternoon sun coming in my room from the west and camera battery was fairly flat. A much better idea of the pretty colours in this yarn can be seen here.

Charlie? King Charles who was executed in 1649 by Cromwell apparently wore a vest to his execution with a pattern now known as King Charles brocade. The Barbara Walker stitch books have this as a raised diamond. I didn't know that when I designed these socks. I adapted the stitch from Lace and Eyelet Stitches, E. Knight, Collins & Brown, London, 2007. The stitch has an easy eight row pattern and I adapted it to be knit in the round. Eight repeats down leg and seven on the foot. The stitch repeat is eleven stitches and I added an extra five so I had sixty four stitches in total. If more were needed, the pattern could be centred with stocking stitch at each side.

The wool is lovely to knit and despite reasonable longish legs, I have some left over.

pass the slipped stitch over