New tricks for the repertoire

I'm still plugging away at the little leaves, though I'm not yet finished. Unsurprisingly I've gotten rather bored with them. So a while back I started looking at the sock pattern proper to figure out what I'd need. Turned out that it's a toe-up sock (not my favourite) and it's a toe-tip cast-on, rather than my usual provisional short-row number. The trouble with toe-tip cast-ons, as I discovered when swatching for another Tsock, is that you really can't do them on DPNs. Her Tsockiness prefers to knit socks with two circular needles, and while mostly the patterns are blessedly needle-neutral, there are times when it shows.

So, off I trundled to my LYS to acquire some itty-bitty circular needles in the appropriate size. Of course, having acquired the needles meant that the impetus to cast on was irresistable! It took me two attempts to master the Turkish cast-on, and then it was straight into toe shaping and pattern working. I ended up completely frogging my first attempt. (Pro-tip - mixing wine and a new needle technique and complicated instructions and a poor night's sleep is a recipe for disaster.) The second attempt worked, and I've now got a perfectly respectable Tsock toe! I did miss out one plain row (another pro-tip - read the damn instructions), but it's not noticeable.

The observant among you will notice that the needles sticking out of this Tsock-in-progress are decidedly not circular. Once I'd gotten past the part where that method was necessary, I swapped back over to my beloved DPNs. I want to finish and wear these Tsocks, and I see no point in slowing myself down with uncomfortable needles!