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Sock Madness, Round Two

Sock Madness Round Two began on Thursday afternoon at 5 pm. I had my yarn all ready and I cast on before Dale got home from work. We went out to supper that night and I brought the sock-in-progress with me and worked on it between bites. By the time I went to bed Thursday night I had completed the cuff and leg.

Friday morning I got up early and knit the heel flap and gusset before work. I did the gusset decreases and much of the foot during lunch and sock one was finished shortly after I got home from work Friday afternoon. I immediately cast on sock two and worked on it throughout the rest of the afternoon and evening. I really thought I could finish it that night but by 11:30 pm I couldn’t keep my eyes open and my hands and wrists were screaming for relief so I called it quits.

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Saturday morning I was up at 5 am and sock two was finished a little after 6 am. I beat my opponent and I have now advanced to Round Three.

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The pattern is called Madtini and it was designed by Karin Bole. I really love the cuff and the leg is a series of oblique spirals which work really well with handpainted yarn. The foot is all stockinette and it was nice to see how the yarn worked up in that as well.

madtini2.jpg

The yarn I used is from Scout’s Swag in the colorway “Snow Bunny” and it went so fast because it’s sport weight. It’s an excellent color combination and I found it quite entertaining to watch the blue, brown and white alternate. There was no pooling or flashing and, even though I have made my peace with pooling, I do prefer that it doesn’t happen at all.

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I’ve been rather surprised at how seriously I’ve taken this competition. Going into this I just thought I wanted to get past Round One and I thought I’d be satisfied with that. But once I did that I realized that I really wanted to advance another round and pushed myself way beyond my normal knitting boundaries, taking Tylenol for the hand discomfort and staying up late and getting up early just to stay ahead of my opponent. I’m telling myself that I won’t do this when Round Three rolls along but, being the overachiever that I am, who do I think I’m kidding?

This Post Has 52 Comments

  1. That’s a lovely sock. I can’t bleive how quickly you knit it! You are a speedy knitter and fierce competitor.

  2. Wow. My hands hurt just thinking about it. That is pretty amazing (not the hands, the finish).

    Round THREE? Ohhhhh no.

  3. Sport weight really makes a big difference in speed. I love the yarn! I checked yesteday to see if you’d won…I just knew you wanted it…could taste it. Good work;-)

  4. I’m exhausted just watching you all in “Sock Madness” I don’t think I could have taken the stress!

  5. That is some beautiful yarn – and those socks came out great! A little competition is good for the soul sometimes.

    It is a fine line between madness and total craziness though 🙂

  6. Oh I love how they turned out Carole! They are so pretty. I’m glad they didn’t do any crazy pooling for you. 🙂 And you totally rock for getting them done so quickly! Was there a lot left over?

  7. Wow, that was really fast! My hands would never let me knit that much, even with Tylenol. It’s a very pretty pattern. I love the cuff too.

  8. 2 days – whoa!! Way to go. They are lovely! That pattern and handpainted yarn do go very well together. And, hmmm, you’re the competitive sort, eh? Good luck!

  9. Beautiful socks! But I gotta tell ya… this sock madness thing is starting to sound like a recipie for tendonitis. Do be carefull!

  10. I’ve been amazed with how competetive I’ve gotten with Sock Madness too. Although I haven’t (yet) had to sacrifice sleep… Congrats on making round 3, I’m through to round 3 also.

  11. My shortest sock-finishing time has been a week. I should have joined just to give someone an easy victory. You clearly don’t like your victories too easy, so you can bask in well-deserved glory when you win. You bask, grrl!

  12. Yay! congrats on the success – It’s incredible how fast you knot those up. Awesome. and they’re pretty too!
    Rock on girl!

  13. I absolutely love that blue-and-brown combination, but the sock madness thing is CRAZY! 😉 Still, I bet you’ll be in the fray for a while. I remember how quickly you knit that Moth shawl. 🙂

  14. The OTC drug of choice for joint pain is 800 mg of ibuprofen, but read what the label says, too — there’s a limit to how much one can take per day. And don’t do it if you have any liver problems at all. Just sayin’. Your hands are your [knitting] life — treat them with kid gloves. (*snerk*)

    /lecture

    Beautiful socks, love the colors — a bit reminiscent of Wendy’s STR Lucy. I love to knit socks in heavier weight yarn because they go so fast. Too bad they are only useful on the feet during the coldest months.

  15. YAY!! I’m so glad you are going onto the next round. 😀

    This is getting really exciting. I’ve been checking back on your blog to see if you were done or to get an update. PINS & NEEDLES! Please don’t make us wait that long next time. I’m not sure I can take it. *L*

    I’m only half kidding. o.0

    My shoulders and hands hurt for you. I hope you were able to relax a bit after the fact.

    The pattern is so neat looking. The yarn knit up great with it too. Great Job! I hope you do well next time too. So exciting!! 😀

    *OtterHuggles*

  16. test test test yep. the test works! hehe

    Yay for your super speedy sock knitting!! I’ve heard sport weight makes a big difference but I haven’t tried any yet – I have a hard enough time getting fingering weight hand knit socks into my shoes! Yippee – can’t wait to see the pattern for round 3! I know Dale is there massaging your hands and putting smelling salts under your face when you start drifting off to sleep and all that, right? 🙂

  17. I am impressed! You are quite the fierce competitor! I just bought the same colorway from Scout and now I want to cast-on!

  18. None of us, that’s for sure! We know how you are. Think of all the great socks you’ll have when you are thru tho!!

  19. Beautiful socks but remember Carole, you only get ONE set of wrists! Please don’t sacrifice a life time of pain-free knitting no matter how competitive you are!

  20. You’re quite the competitive knitter, aren’t you? 🙂 I really like that pattern. I hope it is one that is made available, either for sale or not. I would definitely use it. Congrats on advancing to Round Three.

  21. Beautiful socks Carole! The pattern looks wonderful. I so could not do this although I am certainly competitive enough to want to do so (I would probably drop over just from the pressure). Enjoy your brief craziness; at least when your wrists are in recovery you will have some wonderful and finished socks to wear! I am totally rooting for you, you ‘crazy girl.’ (My favourite line from Bridget Jones’ Diary).

  22. Those socks are gorgeous! I have been eyeing that yarn for a while and seeing it “in action” may have just pushed me over the edge! So very pretty! 🙂

  23. Go, Carole!! Woot!

    PS Ibuprofin is good stuff for achey pain – helps me every time. Even if I didn’t spell that correctly, you know the one I mean.

  24. Congratulations! Those are beautiful socks, the patterning is really nice. I hope you don’t injure your hands while overachieving, though. Then no more sock rounds 🙁

  25. Well done! They’re beautiful socks.

    I must admit that I am beginning to wonder how many cases of carpal tunnel syndrome this Madness is going to spawn.

  26. I really love these socks – I think I really like slip-stitch patterns. But lay off the Tylenol – don’t want to have this competition kill your knitting for good!

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