Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Tension and gauge

Hmm. I've been working on a gift sock while reading through my notes, mostly in an attempt at fidgeting productively. I think this was a bad idea. I just checked my gauge, and on size 0s with some Opal yarn, I'm at 9 spi. (9???! That's never happened to me before.) This would explain why the sock is looking much smaller (6.5" in diameter or so) than intended. The intended foot is size 7/7.5 (according to the boyfriend.) The gauge for the leg, knit last week before the massive stress kicked in, is 8 spi. Rii-iight.

When they call gauge "tension," they aren't joking! Tension in one's life can really mess with one's, well, tension!

I'm rather worried that this is going to be just too small. It's knit with 60 stitches in stockinette. I think I was assuming that my foot is a medium, it might work to do the same # of stitches I usually do, assuming someone's else's foot to be medium as well. A lot of people who presumably have bigger feet than I do seem to knit socks over 60 stitches. (Or maybe I'm imagining that.) I've reached the toes (actually gone past them, but that's a separate problem), so I thought I might finish the sock and then try to block it bigger, but I'm afraid that it's just not big enough. There's also the problem of having finished sock #1 a while back. I could frog 'em both, but...

If any of you out there have similarly sized feet and any hints, that's much appreciated!

Studying update: I think I'm feeling better than the other day. Yay! I can't wait to have this gosh-darn PhD exam over with. There's still quite a bit of review I need to do, but I'm in pretty good shape. Thanks for all your support!

6 comments:

schrodinger said...

They sound like they might be a little tight, have you tried putting them on your feet yet? I usually go up a size in needles if a pair seems a little too tight. As for amount of stitches if you wanted to up your stitch count, I'm not sure - socks always seem a little tight to me (either a tight knitter, or fat feet, or both), have you looked at patterns using opal yarn? Okay, I hope that rambling makes sense...

Zarzuela said...

Personally, I think what you really need to do is calculate the number of stitches you need for the given gauge your getting. Measure around the ball of the foot in inches, multiply that by your stitches per inch, then subtract 10 - 20% depending on how snug you like your socks. That will tell you how many stitches it need to be total to fit the foot that you want it to fit. It isn't a perfect formula (some people have big ankles for instance) but it's a good start. Glad you are feeling better about the exam. Good luck with it!

Jessica

Anonymous said...

When I'm using 0s and getting between 9-11 sts/in, I make a sock with 72 sts.

I remember reading somewhere that a sock's circumference should be 10% less than the diameter of your foot/leg.

Maybe it's time to do some measuring and math.

How did the toastmaster's speech go?

Sheepish Annie said...

I usually do a pattern with 56 stitches...but I knit so loosely I could use the extra tension! Not that I would trade places with you... I don't have it in me to go through the PhD process!! Good luck!

Lone Knitter said...

I usually go with 64 stitches with size 1 needles and then decrease four stitches with increasing needle sizes. So I use 60 stitches over size two needles, but if the yarn is more sport weight than fingering, then I use 56 over the size 2. For size 0, I would probably do 68 stitches. I'm a really tight knitter, however. I once suggested that someone do 56 stitches over size 2 needles, and they ended up with a GIANT sock!

Melly said...

No knitting help...just wanted to share my joy at finding someone who loves knitting and academics.