Tag: toe up

Sock Addict.

Stripy Sock

I always thought it was a bit silly when people learned to knit socks and promptly gave up knitting anything else. I’ve made a few pairs for other people over the past couple of years, but it wasn’t until I made a stripy pair for myself that the bug really bit. As soon as I’d cast them off, I started the toe of this one straight away.

This is another Regia colourway, and I rather like the pink, red and orange stripes. I couldn’t tell from looking at the ball quite how the pattern was going to develop, but I’m pleased that it’s turning out so regular. I’m using my usual toe-up pattern with a slip stitch heel, and I’ve just reached the stage of increasing for the instep. This means I’ve just realised that the stripe pattern’s going to be disrupted as I keep increasing and when I work the heel. I’ll find out how much that bothers me as I go along. One solution would be to work the toes and heels in another colour. This avoids the pattern disruption to a certain extent (although the stripes will still get thinner as you work the gusset increases), and it also means that the toes and heels can easily be pulled out and re-knit when they start to wear out.

I have plenty of stashed Regia waiting for me, most of it earmarked as Christmas Socks for friends and family. I’ve also thought of a few basic pattern variations, so I don’t go mad from knitting the same socks over and over again.

I’ve also started looking at different sock yarns, although there’s not much available in the shops where I live. Noro sock yarn feels kind of scratchy, and I’m not sure I’d like to knit with it. I’m looking forward to seeing how my Schoppel Wolle Flying Saucer comes out. I’m on the hunt for some extravagantly purple sock yarn for a friend (recommendations welcome!), and I’ve spent a while looking for the perfect green-and-white self-striping yarn. Thanks to the Yarn Harlot I found it this morning, and have now ordered the last ball of Clorophyll from String Theory Colorworks. I also picked up a mini skein of plain white, specifically designed for the toes and heels.

So, I’ve just spent twenty-five pounds on the materials (and international shipping) to make a single pair of socks. For a friend who hasn’t asked for socks, doesn’t know they’re getting socks, and has no idea how long a pair of socks takes to knit. Clearly this isn’t a gift for them, it’s a gift for me.

I’m turning into a sock addict.

Stripy Socks

Socks

This was something of an exercise in nail biting – would it be possible to make a pair of socks from just 80 grams of yarn? The answer turned out to be yes – if you don’t mind them being short, and you’ve got a little bit of something else to use for the heels!

The stripes are just less than a single ball of one of Kaffe Fassett’s colourways for Regia. I didn’t think I’d matched the repeat when I wound the yarn into two balls, and had resigned myself to knitting fraternal rather than identical socks. I’m thrilled to bits that the stripes actually match! The heels are a little bit of Opal which just happened to match the purple stripes perfectly.

The pattern is Wendy D Johnson’s Slip Stitch Heel Basic Socks. I knitted them from the toe up on two circular needles, starting with a figure eight cast on and ending with a Russian cast off. I have a high instep so I like socks with a heel flap and gusset, as they give a little extra room. I also like the way that the slip stitch heel provides a thicker fabric where the socks will wear. I might experiment in future with slip stitch toes!

I bought new needles for these – Addi 30cm circulars with angled tips. I’d been using 40cm Pony circulars, but found the extra cable a bit annoying. I’d say that the 30cm needles are the perfect length for knitting socks in the round, especially with the angled tips, but I did find the purl rows a little fiddly when I was working on the heels. My gauge is much better for socks on 2.5mm needles – nice tight fabric, and minimal holes in the short-row heels. I might buy a couple more, so I can have more than one pair of socks on the go at once.

I think the only thing I’m not completely happy with is the cast off. I know from experience that I tend to cast off tightly, so I looked around for some stretchy solutions. Unfortunately I think I’ve gone too far the other way, and the socks are very slightly baggy around my ankles. Mind you, if the socks were longer the ribbing would be around a wider part of my leg, so the cast off would probably be just fine. Perhaps I’ll give it another try before I decide against it altogether.

I may have had a little falling down in the Hobbycraft sale just after Christmas, which resulted in rather a lot of half price Regia coming home with me. Looks as though everyone’s getting socks for Christmas, now I’ve got the hang of making them!