Saturday, September 27, 2008

One foot to go

I think I have the hang of this sock knitting now.

I was determined to finish the first sock of the pair today. As you can see, I succeeded. Sure, there's room for improvement on the second one. Yesterday I wrote that I picked up stitches mostly through single loops, which has left some small holes at that point. There's a small hole where the gusset begins on the right and below the ankle. There's the hint of a ladder through the middle of the foot. (It looks OK head on, but viewed from an angle it's more noticeable. And of course I know it's there.)

The sock does fit, although getting it around my heel takes some work. When I tried it on while on the needles and when I put it on after weaving in the ends, I pulled the whole sock on and then wiggled the cuff over my heel. The sock fits really well, but the cast on row should be looser. It's a good thing I restarted knitting this twice because the final cast on is not as tight as the previous two. Would making the cuff slightly longer also help, or is it simply a matter of casting on more loosely?

But enough nitpicking over minor things. No one will be able to see the little flaws. What counts is that I like how the colorway knitted up, it's the right size, and I had no trouble making it. Since my first socks were made from worsted weight yarn--and thus used fewer stitches on bigger needles--I wondered how long of a haul it would be until I finished one of these with sport weight yarn. It took me about a week to make one, which seems reasonable considering from the heel to the tips of the toes the sock is 11 1/2 inches long.

My typical knitting routine has been to make the same projects over and over. Socks are a perfect example of the benefit of such repetition. I understand what was tripping me up on previous sock knitting attempts. I am improving from one sock to the next. Why, I might even be ready to tackle the oversized sock after completing this pair.

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4 Comments:

At 9:52 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh wow! You finished already. :) For the cuff you may try a different cast on, cable cast on has some stretch and then there's tubular cast on which you can use with ribbing. Also, your sock legs look long to me (but hey, I am short) so perhaps it's the spot at which they are hitting your leg. Are they as snug further down your leg? I can't wait to see this pair all done. :)

 
At 10:04 PM, Blogger the secret knitter said...

I've been doing the long tail cast on. That's worked OK for other things (and the other socks). The problem here is that it takes the full stretch to get the sock around my heel.

Yeah, the socks I'm making look clownishly big. I followed the directions, which call for a 7" leg. They hit my leg at mid-calf, the same as store-bought crew socks, so I think the length is right for me.

I can't wait to be done! Hopefully in a week, although I'm taking off knitting the rest of tonight.

 
At 12:55 AM, Blogger Jennifer said...

great sock...love the colorway and the knitting looks awesome. i will have to do a little reading in my many how-to books and online before i go picking up the stitches on the last sock i abandoned when i have some time to work on it, which might be awhile...baby is due two weeks from today, so it could be anytime now :)

 
At 10:32 AM, Blogger Karen said...

Wow! that looks fantastic! I am so impressed. My guess is that your confidence is growing along with your skill. :-)

 

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