Finished! May 31, 2006
These are toe-up socks of my own design knit out of koigu. Interestingly, one and a half of these socks were knit on two circulars… One sized 1 and one sized 0. oops! Here is a detail of the pattern.
It is a slip stitch pattern that I thought kinda gave the illusion of a cable (slip stitch pattern from Barbara walker’s Second treasury)… I wanted to have the look of a cable but not deal with the extra needle. I used a short row heel for these, and while it was nice to put the socks right on when i finished knitting the cuff, I was cursing about it the whole time. Also, i tried wrapping the stitches and everything, but I just don;t like how the heel looks. There are still tiny holes along the increases. I thought i might write up the pattern (Gerald, I’m looking in your direction) which is a challenge for two reasons. First, my foot is pretty small, so I think that I would have to call it a ’small’ size and also figure out a medium size. Second, i can only really work out patterns if I write them as I go, so I have to make another pair…
But I already got started with that!
I started another pair in with the yarn that i dyed (the poppysocks color).
Edit:Tragically, this sock is actually a medium, and my foot is a small. I will have to rip back and undo some of the increases. poo.
I just finished a pair of socks based on (what I can determine is) the cable rib socks from Fall ‘05 IK. I googled a bunch of photos and figured out the pattern, then altered it enough so that the instep becomes symmetrical rather than offset in the cables and ribs.
My point? I was NOT liking using a cable needle. So I developed my own way of doing a Cable over 4 stitches! For instance: say you are working on Needle 1 and come to a cable (and this is for a cable held in the front of the work). Use the previously worked needle, Needle 4 for me, to slip off the 2 stitches that are to be held in front, let them hang in front on that needle (sometimes I push the needle through these 2 stitches a bit to make sure they don’t fall off) while you knit the next 2 on Needle 1. Now just slip the 2 stitches from Needle 4 back onto Needle 1 and work them.
This worked for me throughout both of the socks!
Of course now I am taking a brain break with a Trekking XXL in stockinette stitch!
I kinda a tried something like that when i was using DPN’s to make a baby sock. I never quite got used to it, but I can see how one could.