What I've Learned About Knitting Socks

I've found my pattern! I've found the way I like to do socks! I particularly like to make toe-up socks two at the same time. I discovered that this week as I started my July pair on Sunday when we left for Texas and was more than half way across the arch of the foot by the time we got back to Kansas. Travel time is really great for concentrated knitting time. The best part is when I'm finished, I'm finished with the entire pair.

Here's what I posted on KansasKnits about my sock knitting experiences.

I will add to this Jo's comment that acrylic socks retain foot odor. (Ok, they can STINK!!) I'll be looking for cotton/wool blends that are machine washable for my 9 pairs of grandkid socks. The sock challenge mentioned is Jo's challenge to the KansasKnitters to knit a pair of socks a month for 2007. I said I'd knit a SOCK (singular) a month and haven't even been able to do that.

Posted to KansasKnits:
I haven't kept up with the sock challenge very well. I did finish 1 sock of my second pair. It looks pretty pathetic, but I learned a BUNCH making it. I can now make toe up socks!!

Rather than making the mate to this poor bedraggled survivor, I'm going to retire it as a learning experience. You see there is this 1/2 inch jog to the right where the heel begins. It fits okay when you put it on, but it will never be pretty or fold properly. I think my row markers drifted at some point. This caused the edge of the toe to not line up with the edge of the heel. (Ah, but I'm so much smarter now because of it all. . It hurts to cry. )

Things I've learned:

1. I like knitting toe up socks!

2. IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE where you place the row markers. Keep them in the same place!

3. Knitting black toes and heels is for the birds. It's hard to see the stitches in black yarn.

4. Tighten the edge stitches as you make them to keep the gaps to a minimum.

5. Short row heels are a lot easier than the heel flaps and gussets used on the top down socks.

6. Totally stockinette socks are monotonous.(Jo says they are more fun with varigated or self stipeing yarn).

7. Knitting socks with circular needles beats the heck out of double pointed needles!

8. To prevent grabbing the wrong circ. when you are knitting with 2 circular needles, use sets that are not identical.

They can be different colors, the barrels can be of different lengths, or the cables can be of different lengths (or any combination of these characteristics.) The purpose is to have quick visual identification of the circ you are using at the present. For example, one of my circs. is silver, the other magenta. The silver one happens to be a 32" Susan Bates and the magenta is a 24" Boye. The cables look totally different. There is no way I'll grab one end of the Susan Bates set when I am working stitches off the other end of the Boye set. I will immediately know I have the wrong needle.

No more working to the end of the row and having one set of circs fall free in my hand because I stitched with the wrong set!

9. Don't try to use my body as a measure for knitting socks for someone with different sized feet than I have. I thought I was making Pat's socks bigger than my measurement, but when we tried on the black heel and toe sock, it fit me, not him.

SO -- I have started the July socks. Again for Pat. I'm going to get a tape measure and get real numbers this time, not comparisons between him and me. AND I'm knitting two socks at the same time. It's fun. I'm really enjoying it.

Of course, when I showed my work in progress to my daughter this evening, she asked if I was making a bra for a doll or ear warmers for the German Shepherd. There is nothing on the needles yet but these two small cones held together by circular needles. (I hope it starts to look like socks soon...)