Striped socks

Recipient: DH
Designer: Debbi Young
Pattern: Sock It to Me Plain Toe-Up Socks for the Family
Source: elann.com
Completed: June 18, 2005
Colours: "Army Hot" (camouflage colours)
Yarn: Bernat Sox, acrylic/nylon blend?, sock weight
Size: Men's
Completed status: Given for Father's Day June 19, 2005
Pictures:

finished socks

yarn

2005-Jun-20

In desperation, I gambled that DH would not be able to see what I was knitting while he was driving and I was sitting right behind him. It worked. (And I shall file that useful bit of information away for future reference.) I knitted the sock en route to and from an SCA event on Saturday. I also worked on it at the event while DH was fighting and DD was in her playpen making a mockery of naptime. Unfortunately, DH came back briefly for some strange reason and I was hard-pressed to get the knitting out of sight fast enough. I sort of succeeded - he didn't see what it was, but he did see that I was knitting something and that I'd tried to hide it from him. #^@$*&#%. So the socks were not the complete surprise that I had hoped they would be. However, he did love them - he says he thinks they're even nicer than his birthday socks.

2005-Jun-16

Started in on these again on this morning's commute. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to finish the sock by Sunday. I'm beginning to find that I've exchanged one panic project for another. However, I might be able to whip out the knitting at my department picnic this afternoon. I very stupidly put on my regular heeled shoes this morning instead of the sneakers I had intended to wear, so playing baseball with everyone is right out (although admittedly, I'm probably too tired today to play sports, even if I was wearing the right shoes). Maybe I can knit while socializing with my non-baseball-playing co-workers. Let's hope.

2005-Jun-14

Last night's knitting on the commute brought me three-quarters of the way to my goal for today, which is to have 1.5" done on the leg. Since I am in complete panic mode for my co-worker's baby sweater, I am going to be satisfied with those three-quarters and stop work on the sock until the sweater is complete. Hopefully I will still be able to finish it in time for Father's Day, but I'm not sure. We'll see.

2005-Jun-13

Heel is turned and leg has begun. Sadly, the rejoining of the yarn to the instep on sock #2 was not as seamless with the striping pattern as with sock #1. These are definitely going to be fraternal socks rather than identical. But it's still looking good, and I'm hopeful that I can get it all done by Sunday.

2005-Jun-10

Here is a photo from a few days ago, of sock #1 next to sock #1:

I'm quite pleased at how similar they look so far. Since this shot was taken, sock #2 has grown by over an inch and I'm about 20 rows away from starting the heel. Not bad. However, I do have a gripe with the Bernat people. I bought two balls of yarn for this project because I knew that's how much I'd need. I was a good little knitter and pulled the yarn from the centre of the ball to start with. All went well, and the colours flowed through my hands in the order of: brown, light green, black, green. With me so far? (I bet you can already tell what's coming up next.) When it came time to start ball #2, I centre-pulled again, only to find that the order of colours was now reversed, thus forcing me to pull the yarn from the outside. And is it ever annoying. The last thing I need when knitting on the subway is a yarn ball which bounces around every time I pull more yarn for myself. Surely, surely the yarn companies should know by now not to pull this kind of crap?

2005-Jun-6

Sock #1 was completed on Friday, and I cast on for sock #2:

This morning I completed the toe and got about an inch and a half done on the foot. I'm pleased.

2005-Jun-2

Behold! Here is what the sock looked like this morning before my commute:

The leg is noticeably bigger now, and I have begun the top ribbing. There is a chance that sock #1 might actually be complete by the time I arrive home tomorrow evening! Of course, I realise that by putting that down in writing, I have tempted the knitting gods, and sock #1 will probably meet with a horrendous accident (e.g. fire, wild dogs with sharp teeth, badly aimed scissors, my own knitting incompetence, etc.) tomorrow evening when it is within five stitches of being completed. But hey, I like to live dangerously.

2005-Jun-1

2.5" have now been done on the leg. I'm aiming to finish sock #1 by the end of the week.

2005-May-31

With great relief, I got on the train this morning, cast aside the celtic cable sweater fiasco and picked up the sock, which at that point almost had its heel completely turned. And what did I discover? That the pattern has an error, and, consequently, my heel shaping was shifted over by one stitch. I had to tink all the way back (which by that point was such a job that I didn't finish tinking until partway through my lunch break) and redo the turning. (Incidentally, for those interested in using this pattern - heaven only knows why you would be, but who am I to tell you what to knit - the error is on round three of the heel turning: It tells you to "Sl1, K 14/20/24, SRW, turn." That "Sl1" should not be there. The instructions for the round should actually be "K 14/20/24, SRW, turn.") Finally, by the end of lunch I'd finished the heel and had started on the leg. Triumph.

2005-May-30

I finally took a picture. Here's what sock #1 looked like early Sunday afternoon:

I am pleased to say that it is much bigger now. Foot is complete and I have begun the heel shaping (although not the heel turning). Still diggin' the stripyness. (Stripiness? Stripeyness? Who cares.)

2005-May-27

These small pointy needles are killing my fingers. However, the good news is that the final attempt at the pattern actually worked. I blame the pattern for the confusion - the instructions are really murky. But I have persevered and triumphed (for now). Toe is complete and I have about an inch done on the foot. This self-striping thing is pretty darn cool. I like. I will try to sneak a picture of it onto the blog without DH seeing what I'm doing.

2005-May-26

I did some math. Here's the deal. The sock pattern I want to use for these socks states that the foot of the sock in the man size will be 72 stitches around. At the listed gauge of 28 stitches per 4", this would give me a foot circumference of over ten and a quarter inches. ?!? Damn, but that's a really thick foot! By comparison, the blue socks that I just finished knitting for DH (and which certainly look like they'll fit him) have an eight inch foot circumference. Therefore, I should be trying to get 36 stitches per 4", not 28. So my hope of using 3.25mms has officially been crushed. However, I do have a lot of 2mm DPNs, so I started swatching with those, to see if I could come close to 36sts/4". Good news - I can! The gauge is about 35sts/4". TRIUMPH. I don't have to buy needles before I can knit the socks. And, bonus, I am happy to say that bluFELICIA is right - this is great yarn! It says 100% acrylic on the label, but it kinda feels like it might have some wool content. Very nice feel on the knitted-up fabric. Very nice to knit with. And that's about where the good news ends. Now that I have actually begun the socks, I am experiencing extreme frustration with the pattern. I've tried twice now to start it, and have ripped it back. The instructions are kind of weird, and I'm not sure whether I'm following them wrong, or whether the beginning of the sock really is this tricky. I am giving the pattern one more chance - if I get so frustrated this time that I rip it back again, I'm going with my backup pattern instead. Cross your fingers for me.

2005-May-24

I have a few dilemmas here. First of all, the pattern I've got calls for 2.5mm DPNs, which it refers to as US size 1. The problem there is that US size 1 isn't 2.5mm, it's 2.25mm, or so I am led to believe by various needle conversion sources as well as my own needle gauges. So...do I need a set of 2.5mms, or a set of 2.25mms? (Neither of which I own, by the way.) Dilemma number two: the pattern out-and-out states that my gauge should be 28 stitches per 4" in stocking stitch. Hello? In my universe, to get that gauge with fingerweight or sock yarn, you use 3.25mm needles. So which needle size is it?!? 2.25mm? 2.5mm? 3.25mm? Heaven only knows. Even if I do a swatch with 3.25mms and get my expected 28 stitches, who's to say - what with all the screwiness seen in the pattern so far - that the gauge listed in the pattern isn't wrong? That my husband's poor feet won't end up drowning in way-too-big socks? Geez. I know, I know, the solution is obvious - just use another pattern. But the only other pattern I was able to find for man-size socks using sock yarn asks for 2.25mm needles...which, if you've been following story, I don't have (and which, I'm willing to wager, Lewiscraft doesn't carry). I would far rather be able to use 3.25mms - I've got tons of those. Le sigh. Stay tuned. The drama will no doubt continue.

2005-May-22

I searched through my entire DPN collection and I don't have the right size needles. F***. I so want to start these socks, augh! Well, maybe my circular collection will yield better results. Stay tuned.

2005-May-16

I found two patterns that I could use for this, and now I'm really itching to start. I just keep having to remember - first socks first. First socks first. Deep breath. First socks first...