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Isis Wings and Totoro: Old and New Handknit Socks

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Yesterday I got a welcome package in the mail from Three Irish Girls: a pair of handknit socks.  Now, these weren’t just any two pairs of socks.  This pair of socks were the samples made for Three Irish Girls’ back in the day when I designed Totoro and Isis wings for them – two of the very first patterns I ever designed for them.  Seeing these two pairs of socks was like meeting old friends you didn’t know you had – both these samples were made by hired knitters, and sent straight to TIG headquarters.

Meanwhile, since I was new to the designing, I also created my own pairs of the socks, testing out the idea before I wrote it into a pattern.

I thought it would be interesting to compare the two samples side-by-side.

Two handknit socks, both the same pattern, one heavily worn and darned, the other new.

Isis Wings: Old Pair on Bottom, New (to me) pair on Top

Here you see Isis Wings, in both variations.  First, note my pair, worn with many washings and faded to grey from a sit in the sun.  There’s a stitch I noticed I need to mend marked by a stitch marker; the bottom is more darn than original sock.  The yarn I made my sample for was a little larger than the final yarn used for Isis Wings – the motif on mine ends up looking more open and bold.  For the final Isis wings I decided to set the heel decreases in a little, and I created a little bit of rounder toe.  The ribbing for the cuff on the final version is shorter, and I did something simpler and less distinctive than the 2×2 ribbing on my sample.  You might notice that one of my Isis Wings socks is taller than the other: I’ve mentioned before how I forgot a repeat on one of my socks.

Two handknit socks, same pattern, older one faded, newer one still vibrant.

Totoro; Old Pattern on Top, New Pattern on Bottom.

On Totoro the differences are a little more subtle.  The patterning with the slipped stitch V is the same; I changed the heel from a riverbed heel to a short row heel.  At the time, I couldn’t figure out how to write a Riverbed heel and grade it the way I wanted.  I added more repeats to the top on the final version.  Again, I couldn’t figure out how to wrap the pattern around the leg and grade it for different sizes, so the cuff of the sock has a column of missing V’s up each side.  If I were to go back, I’d either re-grade the pattern, or add some other feature up the leg on the side so it doesn’t look so empty.

Inspirations and Influences: Isis Wings

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Isis Wings, published by Three Irish Girls, is now out.  Boy, this pattern has been a long time in coming!

Isis Wings was created four years ago, and was one of the very first patterns I designed.  It was created before I had even considered the idea that I could have a business based off of selling my knitting and crochet designs.  Isis Wings was conceived on the porch of the house my now-husband, Michael, I and two other friends rented.  The three of them were in their last year of undergraduate studies; I was working for the college Theatre Department at Davidson College.  During those hot summer days as I began my first full time job, I discovered that I suddenly had a profusion of free time: I was suddenly released from most of my extracurricular activities as well as my academic studies.

I had actual time to knit and crochet.  I no longer had to snatch precious moments from my studies and socializing time to work on my hobby.  I had whole evenings where I could have a hobby.  And I also, for the first time, had more pocket money than I really knew what to do with.

So I bought yarn.

I commenced knitting.  I think I finished them in just over a week – which was pretty impressive
for me.  I know the first one was finished in a weekend. You’ll note below that the original pair was worked entirely in twisted stitches – I’d just switched to continental knitting, and didn’t realize that I was twisting all of my stitches.  That realization would come two projects later.

Twisted Stitch Detail Shot

And then I let them sit.  You see, at the time I didn’t know how to write a pattern.  But I wore those socks a whole bunch.  I got a lot of compliments on them, and it’s about that time that I began to just think that I might be able to make some pocket money off of this hobby.

Later, I would answer Three Irish Girl’s design call, and my new roommate in Washington, DC, would help me name them Isis Wings.  I’d work to reconstruct what I did the first time – and only realize a year and a half later as I’m studying them, that I did an extra repeat on one of them (so they are not the same height).

See? Different Heights.

Isis Wings

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by Jennifer Raymond

Published by: Three Irish Girls
Craft: Knitting
Category: Feet / Legs → Socks → Mid-calf
Published: September 2013
Yarns suggested: Three Irish Girls Glenhaven CashMerino Sock
Yarn weight: Fingering / 4 ply (14 wpi)
Gauge: 9 stitches and 14 rows = 1 inch in stockinette or lacework
Needle size: US 1 – 2.25 mm
Yardage: 350 – 420 yards (320 – 384 m)
Sizes available: Women’s Small (3-6), Medium (6-9), Large (8-12)

This pattern is available for download for $5.95.

Isis Wings was created almost three years ago, on a porch in North Carolina. It was summer, which was sock time, and I wanted a pattern that was easily memorize-able while still being interesting. Isis Wings is the result. The socks are worked toe-up with an afterthought heel– one of my favorite ways to work socks. The little fun challenge lies in the yarn overs. Instead of working them like the rest of the stitches, whenever you come across a yarn over from the previous row, you knit it through the back loop, creating a twisted stitch. This pattern is written using the magic loop, though it could easily be worked with dpns or two circular needles.

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