Upstream Architecture in Lorna's Laces (Jeans)

Lorna's Laces Socks
Originally uploaded by virginia99

I'm using Cat Bordhi's Upstream Architecture, with 2x2 cables growing out of the increase lines. I'm seeing some nice pooling, which I love. After many false starts, I finally broke down and started keeping track of my increase and cable rows on a piece of paper. When I was younger I could tell when to cross cables just by looking but I can't now. Notice the cables are closer together at the beginning. I'm going to pretend I meant to do that. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Multi in the jeans colorway.

Trying to Force Pooling-An Experiment Probably Gone Wrong

Now that I've done all the work, I'm afraid I may have miscalculated, but time will tell. I thought I had this figured out, having drawn little diagrams and such. to begin, I cast on 72 stitches and knit a few rounds, then mark the beginning of each round with a Sharpie. Later, I do one with 64 stitches, but didn't take a photo of that.

I unknit the sample and make a hank big enough for 4 rows. This may have been a mistake. I cram it into a baking pan, divide it into approximate quadrants and set it to soak for about a half hour in warm water with a bit of dish soap in it. Then I take unsweetened Kool-Aid and dilute it in a convenient amount of water and pour it where I want it, trying to keep my quadrants quadranty.


I covered it in foil and baked at 350 for about 15 minutes. Notice that the water is clear, all dye has been absorbed. I'm not terribly fond of the purple bleeding into the green, so I may divide the quadrants better next time. Now it's hanging to dry. It may take a couple days, then I'll knit it up. Update, 15 minutes later: Now I see that what I will get is just a lot of 1-row stripes. I'm going to knit it up anyway, it'll be fine, but it won't be forceable pooling. Back to the drawing board.