Cable Entertainment

I had planned to start some toe-up, two-at-a-time, magic loop socks (to learn how!) but finding, as per the law of the stash, that I didn’t have the right circular needles, and unable to resist casting on for another pair of socks, (and generally loving cables) I went for the Candy Twist Cable Socks pattern on Ravelry. When I queued the pattern, I thought maybe I would need to buy a solid-coloured sock yarn in perhaps a turquoise (NOT pink!), but in the end decided to use the Texere Jura ‘Leather’ in my stash. I don’t know why it’s called ‘leather’ as it’s a lovely golden-green-brown, ticking all my boxes for colours which don’t know exactly what they are.

I planned a little knitting session on 12 October and looking at the pattern reminded me that I had queued a project for a cable needle holder. Out came the remnants of the old, cream Aran yarn and the cable needle holder was whipped up in no time at all. Such a good solution for holding the cable needle between rounds.


That reminded me about another queued project, an owl bookmark as a gift for a friend. Using a little of my stash DK and a couple of shirt buttons, unravelling a length of yarn into singles to use as thread to sew them on, it also took no time at all. I got a bit bored with the long section and despite slipping stitches as directed at the start of each row, I can’t get it to lie flat. I think it will need steam blocking before I wrap it up. No tassel - I think it looks better without.

Then I made a start on the first sock. The ‘candy twist’ cable is not very stretchy, so while the number of stitches seems a lot for the ankle, it’s right. The heel and toe both seem a little long and narrow, but the number of stitches as per pattern gives the correct size for my foot on 2.75 mm needles. The first sock was finished in a week. After that I was a bit too busy with other things to sit and knit, so the second sock wasn't finished until the end of the month.

They look a bit strange, lying there on the blanket, but it's only because the ribbed and cabled leg looks narrow compared to the stocking stitch foot, which hasn't been blocked.  It took me a while to work out why it was called a candy twist cable. Then I realised the design looks like an oval boiled sugar sweet in a twist of cellophane.

I'm finding the 'Jura' quite a coarse yarn. It's okay to wear, just feeling a little hard when I first put it on, especially the square heel. This 'leather' colour is a little softer than the 'pistachio' I used on the Estonian Crossroads socks.  Time will tell how well it washes and wears, and whether it will soften a bit (although the Estonian Crossroads socks have been washed a few times now and don't really feel any softer). I'm not sure I'll buy any more. The colours are lovely, but I was a little shocked to see that the 100g cones I bought for £3.99 each in June are now £6.50!