Sunday, February 22, 2009

The Flash

When I was a kid, I used to lie out on the sloping back lawn of my best friend Susie's yard and read through her vast collection of comics. One of them, a low-budget take-off on Superman, featured "Flash Kelly, Ace reporter". Flash was a particular kind of super-hero... smart, humble, helpful, and idealistic, able to leap small building with a single bound the help of a jet-pack hidden in his portable type-writer case...

Now I know my own Flash Kelly, and I've made him a pair of socks, size 10.5.

Photobucket

These socks are knit from a single skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock mediumweight on size 2 needles. They are toe-up and I made up the pattern as I went along. It went something like this...

Photobucket

Cast on 12 stitches and proceed with your favorite toe-up method until you have 17 stitches on each of 4 DPNs. Moss stich on instep only for 4 rows. Continue in St st for 6 inches, then decrease one stitch on each side of instep. Continue in St st until approx. 2 inch from end of foot (for the 10.5 size, this would 8 and 3/4 inches). Then, increase one st every other row on back two (heel) needles only until each of the heel needles has 27 stitches. Form gusset by knitting across 31 stitches, k2tog, K1, turn, Slip first st, Purl 10 st, p2tog, p1, turn. Knit across to one st before gap, k2tog, k1, turn. Sl first st, purl to one st before gap, p2tog, p1, turn. Repeat these two rows until all heel stitches have been used up. Knit two rows, closing up any gaps in the ankle stitches. Continue up leg with an interesting modified rib as follows:

Photobucket

Row 1 - K3, P1, K1, P1, repeat around
Row 2 - K3, K3, repeat around

Repeat these two rows for the desired length of the sock, or until you run out of yarn. I like this modified rib, because it's stretchy and has a nice ribby appearance, but it doesn't pull in the way the usual K3 P3 rib does. And I think it has a nice sort of masculine look, too.

Finnish with Sewn Bind off.

...and there you have it - socks just like Flash Kelly!

1 comment:

Vic-Jo-Rob said...

Sophia-
You brought back memories of reading action commics, something girls were not encouraged to do in the 60s and 70s. We were supposed to read Archie and the gang, or Caspar the friendly ghose and Wendy the good witch. The socks are lovely. Someday, I plan to knit a pair of socks but I am a bit skittish. Here's hoping your Justice Leaguer gets a lot of good wear of these.