Sometimes you see a pattern and you just can't imagine making it in any other color than the designer used in the sample. Even though I've seen many very pretty Baudelaire socks on Ravelry, I was so struck by Cookie A.'s original red ones that I had to make mine red. It helps that I like red. A lot. And that I had some Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in a delicious red in the stash.

The occasion for making these particular socks is an advanced sock knitting class that I'm currently teaching. The Baudelaire sock has got so many fun things going on (it's toe-up from a figure 8 cast on with a lace pattern, cables, a short row and gusset heel, and ends with a sewn bind-off) that it's pretty much a sock class in itself. It's all technique-y and show-off-y (in a good way, of course). So I decided that Baudelaire would be perfect for throwing ourselves into the world of advanced sock knitting and Wendy Johnson's Socks from the Toe Up would be the perfect guide for getting through it all successfully. I know I've gushed about how great this book is in the past, but pulling it out again, I can't help myself from gushing even more. It's f-ing fabulous. Really.

I'm digging the Baudelaire pattern so far. The lace is cleverly constructed and the result is lovely. I'm not in love with the figure-8 cast on, but Cookie A. can't be blamed for my frustration with that. Wendy's so-called "Easy Toe" was a nice substitute that saved at least one of my students' sanity. So much better than the strange, almost deconstructed, knitting that you have to do in the first few rows of the figure-8 cast on. You can't see what you're doing at all. Probably because half the time, there isn't anything but some criss-crossed yarn to see. It was a hard sell to the newbies. Now, I personally loves me the short-rows and would short row every toe and heel I ever made. But, then again, I'd be perfectly happy knitting a plain red sock from the top down.