I've been trying, unsuccessfully, until last night, to get a little knitting done at night, for its therapeutic calming effect and to be creating something. For the last week or 2, every time I sat down with my knitting, my eyes closed and I just couldn't do it. Last night I actually allocated time to knit. Well, in this case, it was to come to the realization that I needed to re-start my socks.
I know you're thinking I was just so overwrought with the day's happenings plus moving that I just lost my cool. That's not why I ripped them out. I have been making notes for myself as I have knit this first-time-ever toe up pattern (which I like a lot.) As I have been knitting and trying the socks on, a consistent concern has been that they are more loosely fitting than will fit properly into shoes -- even Birkenstock clogs, which are loose shoes. At first I thougth I'd just wear them around the house because they aren't the highest quality yarn nor the most expensive. I had to rip back a little way the last time I knit them. I have been thinking that although they are a great learning pair, don't I want to actually wear them as socks? Of course I do. Then, I recalled that the easiest way to tighten up a knitted garment/project is to decrease the size of the needles. So, I thought I'd rip back to just where the garter toe was done and change needle size there, so the foot and led fit better. As I thought about it, I concluded that the change in gauge wasn't going to be sufficiently smooth so I went all the way and unraveled them entirely.
My problem for those socks, was that I was impatient in my swatching, so I only swatched a small piece instead of 4". I already know that a swatch on straight needles is not usually the same on circs, so I did swatch on circs. I just didn't knit long enough to give myself an accurate measure of my gauge.
So, I'm happily, mindlessly, wisely knitting a tubular swatch that will give me truer gauge and therefore, socks that will fit with shoes. I'm still using the now discontinued, Lion Brand, Magic Stripes yarn in a blue, white, black and brown pattern striping colorway.
I think I understand the pattern well, too, which is going to make this 2nd try more rewarding and not too challenging. That's fine. I have all the challenges I need right now, thank you.
I know you're thinking I was just so overwrought with the day's happenings plus moving that I just lost my cool. That's not why I ripped them out. I have been making notes for myself as I have knit this first-time-ever toe up pattern (which I like a lot.) As I have been knitting and trying the socks on, a consistent concern has been that they are more loosely fitting than will fit properly into shoes -- even Birkenstock clogs, which are loose shoes. At first I thougth I'd just wear them around the house because they aren't the highest quality yarn nor the most expensive. I had to rip back a little way the last time I knit them. I have been thinking that although they are a great learning pair, don't I want to actually wear them as socks? Of course I do. Then, I recalled that the easiest way to tighten up a knitted garment/project is to decrease the size of the needles. So, I thought I'd rip back to just where the garter toe was done and change needle size there, so the foot and led fit better. As I thought about it, I concluded that the change in gauge wasn't going to be sufficiently smooth so I went all the way and unraveled them entirely.
My problem for those socks, was that I was impatient in my swatching, so I only swatched a small piece instead of 4". I already know that a swatch on straight needles is not usually the same on circs, so I did swatch on circs. I just didn't knit long enough to give myself an accurate measure of my gauge.
So, I'm happily, mindlessly, wisely knitting a tubular swatch that will give me truer gauge and therefore, socks that will fit with shoes. I'm still using the now discontinued, Lion Brand, Magic Stripes yarn in a blue, white, black and brown pattern striping colorway.
I think I understand the pattern well, too, which is going to make this 2nd try more rewarding and not too challenging. That's fine. I have all the challenges I need right now, thank you.
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