My first project for Stash Dash is done!  Finally, after three months, I finished the Bex socks by Cookie A.  I made them for my daughter, but as she continues to grow exponentially, if she outgrows them (a distinct possibility), they fit me too!  (happy smile)


Cookie A designs beautiful socks.  She has several books and appears to be starting a sock club soon.  You should check out her books and designs.  Her patterns are thorough and highly accurate.

I have Cookie A's first book, Sock Innovation.  In this book, all the socks are knit top-down.  I recently knit my first pair of toe-up socks (An American in China by Gryphon Perkins a fantastic free pattern from Knitty) and may be a convert to that method, but I nevertheless plan to knit all 15 patterns in Cookie A's book.  They are varied in design and complexity, but all beautiful.  The Bex socks were my third pattern from this book.  Now, I’ve made a few pairs of socks in my time -- at least 8 pairs -- but these socks really put me through the process!  I’m a fast knitter, but these socks took me a long time to complete.  The reason I had so much trouble is because the cable pattern was not intuitively predictable.  As you can see from the photos below, the cables are elaborate.  Because of this, I had to constantly refer to the chart in order to work the next stitches.  The pattern is excellent and resulted in a beautiful pair of socks that my daughter really likes so I recommend knitting these socks but know this will not be mindless knitting.  You’ll need to dedicate your attention to knitting these socks and be present for almost every stitch which, aside from providing beautiful socks is also its own reward.

So I went back to the stash and I found a carnivorous fish hat that I hadn’t finished!  This is a very well-written and excellent pattern by Thelma Egberts that was published in Knitty in Winter 2008.  I made one for my daughter and one for a friend of hers in Winter 2014.  I adjusted the hat to add teeth after watching Ice Age 2 when Scrat fought the toothy fish for his beloved acorn (minute 2:20 is when you see the fish).  I'd started a third hat for another friend, but somehow forgot about it!  Finishing that hat would add about 280 meters, so I am adding that to my projects.