Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Ribbit ribbit

Yup... I'm doing something I rarely do... frogging. I was making pretty good progress with my socks, but the laddering at the beginning was really bothering me. Plus, I started knitting them on two size 1 circulars, then I decided to try the magic loop and bought a 47" size 1 ciruclar needle. Perfect... except the first size 1s were 2.25mm and the second size 1 was 2.5mm. So my gauge is off. I'm a product knitter more than a process knitter, so I'm usually willing to keep going in spite of mistakes just to get a project finished... but this was just bad.

So the socks that looked like this:

Now look like this:

But wait! There's more!


Now that I feel comfortable with the magic loop method, and I know that I need to pull the first couple stitches on each side really tight to stop the laddering... I decided to go deep... DEEP into my closet, under the box of Pattons, under the two boxes of Lambs Pride, down into the rubbermade tub of no return to resurect these:

The infamous closet socks. The first one started out okay... but then I went to Knit/Purl for their "Champagne & Chocolate Knitting Night" I don't know why I thought that was a good place to finish up the toe. After a glass of champagne, I stopped decreasing every other row, and started decreasing every row so the toe quite a bit more pointed than my actual toes.

However, I tried them on, and it's really not that bad of a fit, so I transfered the second sock off the evil DPNs and onto the circular needle. I think the DPNs were a 2.25 again... but I'm going to go with it. I've just started the heel so when I do the decreases for the gusset, I'll just make a couple other decreases.

Check me out! Knitting socks.... who knew?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't believe you haven't knit socks before with feet that small (or at least they look small in the photo).

Before you know it you'll end up like me--a "non-sock knitter" with a huge stash of sock yarn.

Bezzie said...

KIU, never a good idea. Although I've had a similar effect knitting with no sleep.

Zonda said...

Yay!! Go you! Lovely colors! Sending you happy sock knitting vibes! :)

Olga said...

mmmmmsooooooccksssss( drool leaking out of mouth) thats about all I knit now, mostly because I have alot of sock stash yarn and I can't afford to buy any yarn for,um.. like a sweater. So- socks!

Mag said...

Yeah, I haven't knit in a few days because I've been under the influence of Benadryl. I cannot knit lace without perfect attention and caffeine.

Hey, I never solved the issue of laddering while knitting socks on two circs or magic loop, that is why I am a confirmed 5 dpn-er. You try pulling tight only the second stitch from the break in order to tighten up your laddering. Tightening the first stitch can actually make laddering worse. And remember a tiny ladder can sort of blend after you wash your socks. Keep after it! Any person with your size feet really needs custom knit socks! Don't give up! It is just yarn and ladders don't matter so much if they are tiny, barely a stitch wide. (A ladder naturally forms in the basic 'wedge toe' formation anyway, and it is not noticeable after washing and during wearing.) The sock is the thing! Toasty, well fitting socks!

Rebel said...

olga - if I do end up going abroad, I need to learn to knit something small that doesn't take up too much room - socks it is!

Mags - my ladders weren't so much a stitch wide as they were an inch wide. =( So frog froggity frog they went. But rescuted sock 2 is going much better, I'm tugging the first & second stitch and it's much better.

Anonymous said...

Cables and socks checked off the list! I really like the colorway of the closet socks.