Thoughts on Knitting Olympic Gold (Ribbed Socks)

Finished the socks yesterday morning, and blocked them, although I couldn't help wearing them around the house for a few hours first.

As I've said, I used the sizing in Ann Budd's Handy Book of Patterns, which is set up perfectly to accommodate a variety of sizes, including my rather expansive feet -- I used the Men's L size for the width, shortened to the length of my own size eights.

The Cherry Tree Hill Supersock is lovely, very soft to work with, and it softened even more with the first wash.  It did turn the water quite blue, so I added a bit of vinegar to the rinse just in case.

As I mentioned before, I had to nudge the Spanish Moss' color shifts a little -- well, rather a lot, as it turned out.  After the third time of ripping the second sock down to the cast-on, I decided that slipping a purl stitch now and then (thereby gaining a millimeter or two of color) was enough to keep the pink lightning-bolt effect at bay.  This had the disadvantage of loosening the ribbing slightly, and making the whole thing look just a bit knobbly, but it did help the color shifts marvellously.  It doesn't match the first sock -- and I just let it go after turning the heel, so the two feet are quite different, but I've decided to look at this as a quirk, not a flaw!

To use an Olympic metaphor -- and why not? -- the first sock was like speed skating, as it raced smoothly around the curves and straightaways, and the second sock was like curling, with lots of frantic sweeping back-and-forth to get the thing to go where I wanted it.

So Sock Team USA and Team Ann Budd cross the finish line with a flourish! and here is a celebratory seed cake for Team Tea --

Seed Cake

2 cups/225g flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup/175g butter, at room temperature, plus extra for the pan
3/4 cup/175g sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup/75ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 teaspoons caraway seeds
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
a dash of mace

Preheat the oven to 350° F/180° C.  Butter and flour an 8 1/2-inch/18cm loaf pan or an 8-inch/18cm round cake pan, or butter and line the pan with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour and baking powder.  Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Gradually stir in the flour, mixing carefully.  Add the milk and vanilla, then the caraway seeds and spices.  (The batter will be heavy.)

Pour into the prepared pan, and smooth the top.  Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

Makes 1 loaf or 1 round cake.  This is a lovely, rather dense cake, very popular with the Victorians although versions of it have been around since at least the 16th century.  Caraway seeds may seem a strange choice to those of us who are more used to that taste in pickles, but here the spices combine with the seeds to make a cake that is rich but not overly sweet.  Spread the slices with butter, if you like, or eat them plain, with tea whenever possible.

Comments

[Elizabeth]

Congratulations! The first gold medal for Team Tea! I think I will make your Seed Cake to join in the celebration.
Lovely socks, in particular the brilliant colourway scored high with the Canadian Judge.

[--Deb]

Thanks for posting the recipe. Seed cake is one of those things I read about people eating all the time, but have never seen a recipe for it. Sounds interesting! (Caraway seeds, huh?)

[--Deb]

Oh, and of course, your socks look just great. Congratulations!! (How did I forget to say that a moment ago??)

[Marie]

Congrats on completeing the socks! I recently discovered your blog and have really enjoyed reading it. I have also recently discovered the knitting of socks and there is a ball of Trekking XXL and some Lorna's Laces burning a hole in my stash while I look for the right sock pattern.

[joy]

Congratulations on finishing your socks, and way ahead of schedule too!

BTW, the Elegant yarn store in Jordan has closed. It was such a sad surprise, as there was some good yarn there.

[Jennifer]

There is a good yarn store at www.knittinghabit.com and they ship world wide :)