Sock Madness Notes
Welcome everyone to Sock Madness 13! Are we sitting comfortably?

Please welcome back Elizabeth White (ewhite3) who is giving us a lovely pattern, Smock Madness, for the qualifying round this year. Thank you Elizabeth!

Please remember to keep an eye on the Question thread. The header and first two posts will contain any errata and clarifications. Please make sure you read along in that thread as we go. New players, we keep that thread focused on questions to make it easy to follow and search. So chat, including thank yous and questions that are already in the thread are deleted. Please do not be insulted if we delete your post.

To qualify for a competition spot you must knit a pair. If you finish one sock or two through the heel turn if working two at a time, you qualify as a cheerleader and will continue to receive patterns but will not be on a competition team. Less than that minimum amount of knitting will mean you are, of course, welcome to follow along but you will not receive further patterns.

Submission Requirements:
The minimum size required is 66sts, the small size.
The leg must be a minimum of 2 full repeats (10 big smocks) long
The heel flap must be a minimum of 31 rows (5 big smocks)
The foot must be a minimum of 2 full repeats (10 big smocks) long
You may use any stretchy cast on.
You may use your choice of ribbed or smocked toe.

Photo Requirements:
You must have the following images on your project page (do not email photos with your submission, they all need to be on your project page):
a progress photo
a photo of all of the front of the sock
a side view of the leg and heel
a photo of both socks on adult feet, or on blockers with a measurement device (ruler or tape measure) showing the minimum length of 9 inches or 22.9cm
The 6 stitch smocks (the big smocks) need to be easily seen. If they cannot be they need to be marked by running a contrast strand under them. There will be an example of that in the question thread second post.
Ready, Set, Knit!

My Notes
Thus begins another year of knitting socks for Katherine!

3 March 2019
I left for church with no pattern and, when I got back, the pattern had dropped! Printed out. Still mulling over my stashed yarn choices.

I have decided to go with a self-striping option.

5 March 2019
I took some progress pictures are our Panera Knit Night. The ribbing makes the sock look very small, but it stretches out nicely, on demand.

9 March 2019
I got some good progress pictures over the past couple of days. I finished the first sock and started the second one today, before we drove home from our vacation with my daughter (another daughter!) and her family.

14 March 2019
I finished the second sock today, and will send my email off in a few minutes (wee hours of March 15). I used the rib toe option, and the German twisted cast on.

This was a very enjoyable knit. Once I stopped trying to make the smock stitches tight. The second sock is a smidgen bigger than the first one, but both will fit Katherine. Her older sister Teowyn is the adult model in these pictures, and their feet are roughly the same size. I don’t have a picture with a tape measure, but both, unstretched, measure about 9 1/4 inches.