My First Pair of Socks, or Why a Sock Knitting Class Might Be a Very Reasonable Investment

These socks have been quite an experience. I started them in January 2007, only a few weeks into my fascination with knitting, and I hope I can finish them by August. I was ashamed of how slowly I was getting through this project until a friend told me she still had a sock on the needles 30 years after starting it.

While browsing at a LYS, I fell in love with a knitted sample sock tacked to the wall, so I bought my first skein of sock yarn (On-Line Supersocke). As I was checking out with my one skein of yarn, the lady at the desk said, "of course you'll need a pattern." I told her that I was planning to use one I had found on the internet. "Oh no," she replied, "you'll need a better pattern if you're just starting out." I decided that since she clearly knew a lot more than I did, I should listen to her, and I actually trusted her when she picked out what looked like a reasonably plain pattern and charged me $4 for it. Later that day, I discovered that she had picked out a pattern with 3/1 ribbing from top to toe.

Not knowing any better, I started plugging away on the sock (using US size 2 DPNs), and even made the sorry choice to make the leg part especially long since my feet are so short. I made slow but steady progress until I got to the heel. I then put the sock away for 2 weeks while I gathered the courage to face the dreaded heel flap, which I had heard was so difficult. It turned out that it went quickly and I really enjoyed the process of making a 3D object from a piece of yarn.

The foot was interesting, too, and I was very proud when I grafted the toe of that first sock. Only then did I try it on, and it turned out to be REALLY uncomfortable. I was too disappointed to cast on the second sock. Several days later, it finally occurred to me that I could probably figure out what the problem was, and maybe even take my sock apart and fix it. Wow!

With a fresh surge of motivation, I took a good look at my foot and the sock, and realized that the sock was about an inch too short. I had measured my foot as instructed, but hadn't accounted for the extra length my high arch/instep required. I ungrafted the toe, frogged back to the last round before the toe decreases, and tried it on again. Aaahh...much better! So far, I've knitted to the prematurely cut end of the yarn, and I still haven't begun the toe decreases. I'm going to add the toe after I make sure I have enough yarn for the second sock.

I've gone ahead and started the second sock, but now all that ribbing seems even more tedious, and I have more interesting unfinished projects calling to me from other needles. However, I'm not letting myself start another sock until I finish this one. It's not a question of discipline as much as the fact that I still really like this yarn, and, darn it, I want a good pair of socks after all this work! By now, I've accumulated enough other sock yarn for at least 10 more pairs, and I expect that I will complete those pairs in a much more timely manner than my first. I plan to use smaller needles, magic loop, minimize ribbing, and try them on VERY frequently.

Aran Weight Victorian Lace Poncho

Here's another work in progress. I offered to make my daughter a lace shawl to take to college this fall. She said she'd worry about wearing a shawl properly, but a poncho would be a lot easier to handle. She wanted a style to emphasize the lace stitches, thus this project.

The pattern was from the Elann website, by Michelle Ciccariello. It's an awkwardly worded pattern, especially for a new knitter; it took me several tries to finally understand how the increases worked, and why I should change to a larger needle after every ball of yarn. (Note to fellow knitting newbies: increasing needle size increases the circumference of the poncho from top to bottom.) I haven't found any errors in the pattern, just vague and/or missing instructions.

I'm using KnitPicks Andean Silk yarn. I have used circular needles in US sizes 7,8,9, and now 10. KnitPicks Options interchangeable cables and needle tips make this a lot easier, especially when I remember to attach the larger tip only on the right needle for the first round, then wait to change the left tip until after I've knitted a round of new, larger stitches.

The collar is moss stitch, then there is a section of English mesh lace, then 5 repeats (the pattern says to knit 3) of horseshoe lace. I'm now working on the section that should have mini-vine lace, but I have substituted florette lace from an old needlework book, just because I think it's easier and prettier. The last section is to be a border knitted flat, by picking up stitches from the last round. My changes to the pattern have been toward denser lace to make a warmer poncho.

I haven't figured out my gauge because the lace patterns and needle sizes vary with every ball of yarn. Because of my changes to the pattern, I'm running out of yarn early, and I've had to order more. I'm also worried that the poncho may end up too long. I plan to block it before adding the border, just in case. The pattern calls for 9 balls of yarn, and I'm finishing my eighth now, only about 2/3 of the way into the project. I thought I was being really careful by ordering 10 balls. Ha!

I've been using lifelines on the first row of every lace repeat, and markers between each repeat within a row. I didn't start out keeping track so closely, but after frogging the poncho severely several times, I decided to play it safe. The work has gone more quickly since then, because if my stitch count is off, I can find the discrepancy much more easily.

Feather and Fan Afghan

Here's a picture of my first afghan, a work in progress. It's not as garish as it looks in these pictures; imagine much darker, saturated jewel tones like sapphire, garnet and jade, as well as more subtlety overall. I'll try to post a picture with more accurate colors over the next few days.

The pattern is Feather and Fan, also known as Old Shale. It's a very easy lace pattern with 18 stitches and 4 rows per repeat:
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: (K2tog) three times; (yarn over, knit 1) six times; (K2tog) three times
Row 4: Knit
It has a garter stitch edging of 5 rows along the bottom and 4 stitches on each side.

I'm using Mountain Colors Weaver's Wool sport weight yarn in 6 different colors. After each repeat, I randomly pick the next color by shuffling 6 index cards, each labeled with one yarn color, then seeing what card is on top. There are a few places where a color is repeated once, but I won't use the same color 3 times in a row.

I'm using a KnitPicks options circular needle, US size 7, 42" long, and I could have easily used a longer cable. The afghan is 44" wide, and so far, it's 12" long. I'll stop when I run out of yarn. The (unblocked) gauge in this pattern is 24 stitches and 32 rows per 4".

Beginning

The internet has revolutionized a lot of things, including formerly low-tech activities like knitting. I started this blog as a medium to show off (and perhaps complain about) my knitting projects. Only time will tell what else it turns into.