Now With 50% More Sock!

I'm working away on my second Mischief Sock, and as you can see, I'm past the halfway point and working on the foot.  I actually just finished the gusset decreases last night so it's straight to the toe now.  This is such a fun sock pattern, and in addition to mixing the two designs within a pair, you could also just use your favorite design for both socks in a matching pair.  Options are always nice!

As much as I'm enjoying the socks, I find myself wanting to finish my Sous Sous sweater and start other sweaters.  I'm going to get the socks finished first (they're technically for the ESK Third Quarter Craft A Long), but then I think there will be sweaters happening around here!

Christmas Candy Mischief Socks

I've finished my first sock, the zig zag one, and now I've started the checked one!  These are the Mischief Socks using additional contrasting colors for the cuff, toe, and heel.  I've knit these socks before, but I feel like I've finally perfected the fit thanks to some project page comments left by other knitters who knit the gnome socks I made at the first of this year.  I thought I'd make sure to share this here, in case anyone else is struggling to find the sweet spot for fitting stranded socks.

For the majority of single color sock patterns* using fingering weight yarn, I use around 64 stitches per round and US 1's (2.25mm).  If I'm using a fine fingering weight yarn (Hedgehog Fibres Sock, the old Lorna's Laces Sock, Cascade Heritage Sock) I prefer to use about 72 stitches per round and US 0'S (2.00mm).  I find these combinations work well for my feet, which are on the narrow side of normal and have high arches.  Tweaking the stitches per round either plus or minus by two or three stitches doesn't cause any fit issues for me.

*Heavily cabled and certain lace designs where the increases and decreases are widely spaced are the exceptions to this rule as they have less elasticity in the fabric.

Then I started knitting stranded colorwork socks.  I actually used socks to figure out how to knit stranded colorwork because if there are tension issues (and there always are when you're learning), they don't really matter if they're stuffed in a shoe and no one can see them.  Stranded colorwork introduces two issues you don't normally have in a single color sock.  First, they're less elastic than stockinette stitch is in a single color.  That goes to the floats.  They need to be long enough not to pull the sock in, but if you make them too long your stitches look sloppy and the sock won't wear well.  Secondly, (and again because of the floats on the wrong side) the interior diameter of a stranded colorwork sock is smaller than the outer diameter.  The floats make the fabric thicker, thus the inside of the sock isn't as big as it looks from the outside.

So, knowing and understanding these things - my own feet, my generic sock recipe, and how stranded colorwork changes the fabric - I can adjust the fit.  Here's what I do:

• Use the 72 stitch (or the closest the pattern has to this) size
• Work the top ribbing in US 0's (2.00mm)
• Switch to US 1's (2.25mm) for the leg colorwork and usually heel flap/heel turn (this gives me extra height for my high instep)
  
• Switch back to US 0's for the gusset and foot colorwork, as well as the toe

This system gives me a looser lower leg with a fitted heel and foot.  It does mean I'm working with several different gauges, but by shifting needle size around I'm able to get a sock that fits my feet properly.

If the sock only has colorwork on the leg, after working the colorwork section I switch back to the US 0's (2.00mm) for the lower leg and keep using them for the rest of the sock.  If it still feels a bit big, I can always decrease a few extra stitches in the gusset decreases so the foot doesn't have as many stitches as the leg.  (See my Christmas Dudes socks for an example of these things.) Does this change the gauge between the colorwork and the rest of the sock?  Yes it does.  The colorwork section is slightly larger, but it's also smaller on the inside, so the fit is right.

Obviously, different shaped feet are going to have different fitting needs, but most of us don't start knitting colorwork socks for our first pair of socks.  Hopefully, after knitting a few pairs of regular socks, you'll have some idea of what does and doesn't work for your feet and can use these techniques to get a good fit in colorwork socks!

I hope this helps someone get their socks to fit better!  Have a great weekend!

Finished!

I finished my Insomniac Cowl!  The pattern itself is very straight forward and the knitting is easy.  Since I decided to use five full skeins instead of 12 mini skeins, I had to do some math to figure out how far to go with each color, but once I had done that, it truly was simple, brainless knitting.  The pattern has a textured stitch pattern to transition from one color to another, but I since I was making bigger color jumps, I chose to skip those, stay in Stockinette Stitch and stripe from one color to the next.

All of my yarns were Madelinetosh Tosh Sock and the colorways were Celedon, Cove, Jasper, Worn Denim, and Ink.  Celedon is the only one that is not discontinued, so this is essentially an homage to lost Madelinetosh colors.  I used 1,355 yards of yarn in total.

We're having a Cold Front here right now - it's down to the mid 90's for highs, and its in the low 70's in the morning!  It's glorious!  It will warm back up in a week or so, but we'll take what we can get when the heat breaks.

I have more knitting to show you, hopefully tomorrow!

A Little Understanding

Last time I blogged my Sous Sous pullover, I did some rambling about the pattern.  Forget all of that.  I reread the pattern, reread the errata, and found a KAL thread for Sous Sous buried in the Loop London group on Ravelry.  There, in post #740, Norah Gaughan, the designer herself says:

"The front may seem longer than the back, but they should both have the same # of rows. You might want to count rows to double check that.  So that is the same # of rows along the outside edge pre shoulder." (Emphasis is my own.)

This little post clears up everything!  My questions have been answered and the number of repeats in the pattern is correct.  I included links to the quote in my Ravelry page so if this is throwing anyone else for a loop (no pun intended), they can find this information.  Or if I decide to knit this again (the stitch pattern is pretty fun to knit).

Anyway, misunderstandings aside, I'm zipping along on the back.  I'm on my last full repeat before I start the shoulder shaping.  I think I'll actually finish this before the weather cools off!  (That's the end of October, or November around here - unless it's one of those weird Texas days that are warm between November and February.  Texas weather is weird.)

Socks!

Eat Sleep Knit's Third Quarter Craft-A-Long is colorwork socks!  I love colorwork socks - they're fun to knit and they use up the little partial balls of sock yarn you have left after single color socks!  This is the first of a Mischief Socks pair.  I've knit this pattern before, but only using two colors (see below).  This time I decided to use three colors, but as I was partway down the leg I found the turquoise blue and realized it would be perfect for heels, so four colors it is!

Someone had to get into the photo this morning, so you get a silver beak as bonus today!

A Little More Sewing

I made the Vivace Dolman top from Love Notions!  This was an easy and fast project to make.  I used a rayon challis fabric that I've had in my stash for a while, but I can't remember where I bought it.  The finished top is loose and flow-y.  The pattern details are getting lost in the print, but you can see them in the line drawings from the pattern page, linked aboves.  The pattern can be used for either wovens or knits, so there are plenty of options for whatever fabric you have on hand.  The design does look a little like scrubs (but there's no patch pocket - don't scrubs have pockets?), but depending on the fabric used and they way it's styled that shouldn't be a problem.  On the other hand, if someone was looking for a cute scrubs top pattern, this might work (if you added a pocket - for some reason I feel strongly that pockets are a thing on true scrub tops).  Anyway, I'll probably pair it with some cropped pants or a narrow skirt, and make sure to accessorize it well - not with a stethoscope!

Happy Fourth of July if you celebrate, have a great July 4 anyway if you don't!

Still Going

I'm still working along on my Insomniac cowl thing (according to the pattern, it's definitely not a poncho), and I've just started the fifth, and final color!  This has been a lovely, simple project using some of my favorite Madelinetosh colors (of which, unfortunately, four out of five have been discontinued).  It's been easy to pick up and put down and if Obi needs to show me his squeaky ball collection I don't have to worry about losing my place.

I'm still working along on the Sous Sous pullover and I'm trying to keep my notes straight on it.  At this point, I am pretty sure that the errata are pretty minor, but the unique construction and shaping is throwing people for a loop.  

Next Monday is the beginning of the Third Quarter Craft A Long for ESK and its Colorwork Socks!  I have so many pattern ideas and a bag of solid or almost solid yarns set aside for these!  Have a great weekend!