Sock Blank Tie-Dye

It started out with a sock blank knitted with the Addi express. Then came a big dye pot with water previously used to soak black beans. I used Epsom salts as mordant, knowing very well that I was going to get a light gray color thanks to a swatch I made sometime ago. The result was so ugly that I refused to even make a picture. So back to the dyepot, after a few rubber bands were involved, more bean water, and alum as a mordant. And this is what came out.

Not bad at all. Stripes will be more like flecks, since bands don't necessarily correcpond to rows:


Now onto the next problem: This is the second sock blank I dye, but I am afraid of knitting them up knowing that the color transition/banding will be disrupted when turning the heel. I've been searching for a way to prevent this that does not involve using a different yarn for the heel. This is what I found so far.

I remain unconvinced. I know it's hard to judge from a picture, but I have the feeling that this heel is too boxy. Then there is this pattern. If you look closely, the heel has increases, and then instead of a heel flap, a few more rounds, followed by heel decreases. While this looks like a very interesting construction, I cannot help but notice the crease on top of the foot when the sock is worn, so I will not even attempt to follow it. The increases are, however, very interesting, as they look like upside-down versions of decreases. Very symmetrical, and they are described in detail in this page. What if I combined both ideas (increases, boomerang short rows, then decreases) into a single heel?

Hybrid

Not long ago I made this shawl:


I never liked it. Not only was it very boring to knit, it also looked plain and tended to roll up. I wore it once and was uncomfortable with it, it did not work neither as a shawl nor as a scarf. So I ripped it and used the yarn for a new shawl that started out with the Belmondo pattern. After using up a little less than 2/3 of my yarn, I added the edging of the Lazy Katy pattern. Because it comes from two different patterns, I named it Hybrid. This is the result:

Surprisingly, it is a little bit larger than the original. It also looks far more interesting and it lies flat. I already wore it once over a dress and it stayed on my shoulders all night without a pin. Ripping that first shawl turned out to be a great idea.

Heat map

The spouse thought of the name and I think it's quite fitting, given the colors. The pattern is the Double Eyelet Rib Socks, by Wendy Johnson, modified to seven repeats around the foot instead of 8 (total 56 stitches instead of 64).


The yarn is something I bought in Germany many years ago, called Belday. It reminds me of a Regia colorway I once worked with, except that it has a bright red instead of orange, but otherwise the striping pattern is very similar, to the point that I am sure they were intentionally imitating Regia's colorway. Here's a picture without flash, but neither one of them captures the colors well.


Someone might wonder if 56 stitches are enough for an adult sock. They were just right for me and I have no complaints.