RTFP!
Well, that didn’t go as expected.
So my mom’s having foot issues, and I thought I’d make her some socks for her birthday. Even if they don’t turn out so well, like the knitted equivalent of a kindergartener’s macaroni duck, she’s my mom and it’s the thought that counts. With Jayne hat orders back on the rise, I don’t know if I’ll have time to do these, but I’d like to at least give it a shot!
I thought the Koigu on the top would be the best color choice for her. Most of y’all liked it best, too! I don’t really get to flex my knitting muscles making the same Jayne hat over and over. So I wanted to try some new things. I decided that because I had a feeling I might fall prey to “second sock syndrome” and not want to knit the second one, I’d try knitting two at the same time. I’d do it on two circular needles, because while I hated the magic loop method, I’d never tried two circs before. I also decided to try a new cast-on, namely Judy Becker’s “Magic Cast-On for Toe-Up Socks” from Knitty. I picked out this pattern, “Straight-Laced Socks” from Knitty. I can do lace, no problem. (Color in the left-hand pic is true, by the way.)
Well, this was a lot to try for the first time, so I left my incredibly noisy house and went to Starbucks to give it a go. The cast-on worked great! I was doing wonderfully on two circs, too, which I can already tell is going to be my new favorite method. It did seem weird, though, that you’d have a k2p2 ribbing over the toes. Usually that’s just straight stockinette, nice and smooth. And it did seem like a lot of stitches to have for a toe – I mean, 60 stitches? Mom’s got wide feet, but that’s a little much. Maybe the ribbing makes it stretch? And I wonder if this is too loose a fabric on size 3 needles. I really should have done a gauge swatch first, but I just was so keen to start!
So I wandered over to Charlotte Yarn to get some advice on the width and density of the toe.
And that’s when the merry peals of laughter started.
What one word should I have read in the pattern? The very first freakin’ word before “Using one needle and a long tail cast-on” which I had chosen to ignore anyway?
LEG
Yes, these were cuff-down socks, not toe-up. So I had effectively cast-on right across the leg hole, closing it up. And no wonder the toe was so wide, it was meant to go around the calf.
Fortunately I have a good sense of the absurd, so through my embarrassment, I was laughing my keister off along with her. She was still cackling as I left the store. I’m going to get hell for this for a long time to come, I can tell.
So tonight, I rip it out, and either start the same pattern again or find something new. I still haven’t decided.
Jayne hat on the needles for Charlotte, then Australia and Pittsburgh!
BWAH! Sounds like something I’d do. My latest sock adventure seems to be downloading and printing out a new copy of the Dublin Bay sock pattern every couple days because I keep losing it.
The way I avoid SSS is to cast on for the second sock as soon as I finish the first one. Like don’t get up, don’t take a breath. In that same sitting, just cast on, place the marker, and do maybe a row or three of the cuff. I can put it aside then if I want, but the next time I go to watch TV or a movie I reach for it, because it’s already started and well, I have to finish it.
I just made Broadripple socks for my mom out of Koigu, in what looks like the bottom colorway in the picture you posted. I blame you for the Koigu addiction I currently have, since you sent me my first skeins. 🙂
BWAH! Sounds like something I’d do. My latest sock adventure seems to be downloading and printing out a new copy of the Dublin Bay sock pattern every couple days because I keep losing it.
The way I avoid SSS is to cast on for the second sock as soon as I finish the first one. Like don’t get up, don’t take a breath. In that same sitting, just cast on, place the marker, and do maybe a row or three of the cuff. I can put it aside then if I want, but the next time I go to watch TV or a movie I reach for it, because it’s already started and well, I have to finish it.
I just made Broadripple socks for my mom out of Koigu, in what looks like the bottom colorway in the picture you posted. I blame you for the Koigu addiction I currently have, since you sent me my first skeins. 🙂
Good idea on casting on as soon as you bind off. Good discipline there!
Good idea on casting on as soon as you bind off. Good discipline there!
I dunno, “discipline” makes me sound too… disciplined. 🙂 But I figure I’ve got the needles right there, the yarn right there… the biggest pain in the ass for me is juggling all the DPNs to get it started in the round, so I figure why not get that part over with so I’ll want to come back to it. Seems to work well so far, I’m on my fourth pair of socks. (Okay, two of those pairs were for babies, but still…)
I dunno, “discipline” makes me sound too… disciplined. 🙂 But I figure I’ve got the needles right there, the yarn right there… the biggest pain in the ass for me is juggling all the DPNs to get it started in the round, so I figure why not get that part over with so I’ll want to come back to it. Seems to work well so far, I’m on my fourth pair of socks. (Okay, two of those pairs were for babies, but still…)
Bwah!
Ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaa. I swear, the thought of it all weekend just made me grin from ear to ear.
Bwah!
Ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaa. I swear, the thought of it all weekend just made me grin from ear to ear.
Re: Bwah!
Oh, you didn’t hear the idiocy I put forth earlier today doing short row toes. I’ve done them before on baby booties, it’s not like I’m unfamiliar with the concept. But somehow I managed to slip *only* the first stitch and every single row. Making one uber-long stitch at the ends with a bunch of wraps around it, and keeping the same total number of stitches. “Boy, this should really be getting less… flat!”
I’m knitting on crack, I swear.
Re: Bwah!
Oh, you didn’t hear the idiocy I put forth earlier today doing short row toes. I’ve done them before on baby booties, it’s not like I’m unfamiliar with the concept. But somehow I managed to slip *only* the first stitch and every single row. Making one uber-long stitch at the ends with a bunch of wraps around it, and keeping the same total number of stitches. “Boy, this should really be getting less… flat!”
I’m knitting on crack, I swear.
Re: Bwah!
Oh God, that’s fabulous! See, you’re just more brave. Me, I sat with my reference books out when I did short rows the first couple times. I’m still working out how to get rid of the holes when I pick them back up.
Re: Bwah!
Oh God, that’s fabulous! See, you’re just more brave. Me, I sat with my reference books out when I did short rows the first couple times. I’m still working out how to get rid of the holes when I pick them back up.