Monday, July 31, 2006

Socks from Saturday

It appears I was just kidding about lack of time for blogging: I have an FO. It's just a simple pair of socks with Regia yarn, but it's helped me through a number of books these last couple of weeks. I finished the foot Friday afternoon in the library (reading James Axtell's Invasion Within) and the toe that night, giving myself a break with the second-to-last DVD of Sex and the City.

Pattern: ye olde basic toe-down sock (60 sts, 8 st/inch, etc)
Yarn: Regia
Needles: size 1 bamboo
Yarn left over: 29g / 100g
Thoughts: This is my first time working with Regia. I have to say that the yarn feels a little itchy on my feet. I'm assuming it'll soften up in the wash, though, so more on that later. I'm very pleased that I managed to line the stripes up, although I think I'd be equally pleased with uneven stripes. I'm not quite satisfied with the pattern. I think that for future heel-flap socks I might need to use fewer stitches for the heel flap, or something. The heel feels loose right around where it turns and I'm not really sure why. I'm guessing it's just my small foot size: I wear a size 5 shoe.

Which brings me to two sock questions I've had:

1) Why are the toes on socks symmetrical? I'm fascinated that my big toe fits (for the right foot) in the left-most part of where I've grafted the toe together; that the decreases on each side of the toe are the same length, meaning that the distance from where the toe starts to where the big to ends is roughly equal to the long curve across the 4 other smaller toes. (Make sense?)

2) Am I the only one that stalls out at the heel? I'm knitting happily along on the leg and suddenly I have to break pattern and do something different. It usually takes me a ridiculous amount of time to do that darn heel. Maybe its time I tried a toe-up sock and I wouldn't be tripped up?

What's next in the world of socks? Socks for Coffeeboy using some Trekking yarn (color #100). They will be plain stockinette with some ribbing on top, the better to knit and read with. (They're not part of Trek Along With Me, because I started this blog business too late to join. Aww, phooey.) [I had a picture here but after about 10 *frustrating* attempts to get Blogger to upload the photo, I've decided to post without.]

Saturday, I took significant time away from the books to clean up for my mom's brief visit yesterday through today. We did a lot of work in the garden, in the 90-something degree heat, but it really, really needed it. More on that later, as I do have pictures!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know about certain heels fitting better on smaller feet. I do know that I'm constantly tweaking sock patterns to make them fit better. I always substitute a short row heel worked over 36 sts on all my patterns, and I do some increases (about 10 sts) at the all of the foot to accomidate my wide spot. Socks are so easy to futz with, and to make all sorts of minute adjustments to the pattern to produce the perfect pair. Once you find a system of toes, heels and increases that work for you, you can then substitute in fancy stitch patterns and make beautiful socks that fit perfectly.

Zarzuela said...

Great socks! You matched them so well. :) For the heel thing, you might try making the heel turn a little smaller. In other words, when you first start the heel flap and knit past the halfway point, turn and purl to a certain number before going back the other way, you might try making the number of stitches less there. (Kind of hard to explain without a visual). The last Harlot book talks about this and I'll probably have it with me on Wed. if you want to have a look. As for the toe thing, there is a way to make them "left or right" but other than that, I have no idea why they work that way! See you Wednesday. :)

Jessica
http://zarzuelaknitsandcrochets.com/blog

Anonymous said...

Hi there - as Jessica said, there is a way to make "anatomical" sock toes - a left and a right that are longer for your big toes and decrease for the others. The regular way is fine for me so I haven't tried it, but others swear by them. Your heel flap may be a touch too long, if the heel cup seems to fit otherwise. But the socks look great, and the Trekking will be fun for the next pair. I'm completely impressed that you have figured out how to study and knit at the same time- I've never managed it myself!

Lazuli said...

That's interesting about the left/right toes. I don't think I need them as the symmetrical ones fit fine; they are just odd in concept.

Hannah said...

What great socks! I love the subtlety of the colors.

If your heel flap is knitted in a slip-knit stitch (pretty common in socks as it makes both a cushiony heel and a stronger one), it will be a bit shorter. But certainly, you could cut off a few rows, too.