Christy wrote that her very first pair of socks came out big enough to fit her dad, but then she noticed a dropped stitch and hasn't handed them over yet. She can't decided if she should leave them as is because they are her first, or frog them and rework them to fit herself.
My first instinct was to tell her to open up the toe, pick up the dropped stitch with a crochet hook, and then give them to her dad.
I suppose how much she likes the yarn would come into play. Of course she could always get another ball of it and then they would have matching socks. snicker.
She could, of course, rework them and call it practice. But she should look up articles about reclaiming yarn to get out the kinks, I think Knitty had a good one.
First socks are, apparently, notorious for being difficult and coming out weird. I base this assumption on the regular parade of first socks on the Yarn Harlot's blog whenever she is on tour. (And some day I'll figure out how to get blogger to link properly for me, for now I remain linkless.)
My own first socks where done using some self patterning Regia and a free pattern from Mary Maxim.
(Thanks Flickr for making the picture so huge.) Anyway, there they are. As you can see, they have a mutant shape. The cuff is a bit big and the foot is a bit small, but they fit and I wear them on a regular basis. My sock knitting skills have improved considerably since this pair, which were a necessary first step in learning the construction. Still, I think they are pretty good considering I was in the wilds of New Hampshire without contact with other knitters for guidance, using just books and the internet to guide me. People really need to take advantage of classes and guilds and knitting/crochet groups, it makes life easier.
And, to date, I've only reknit one pair of socks. The first pair I made using Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock yarn. I calculated the gauge incorrectly. They fit but they were a little big. I think I wore them twice before I ripped them out and reknit them at a smaller gauge.
Actually, is there a statue of limitations on frogging finished projects? I made a pair of socks from Lana Grossa Cotton Fun. I'm not sure if I did that gauge wrong as well, or if they have just grown since they are cotton, but they are starting to get on my nerves and the last time I wore them I was seriously thinking of frogging them. I have enough left over for a second pair, maybe I should make those first—at a smaller gauge—for comparison before I assault the original pair.
In the mean time, I realized on the train this morning that the foot row count from the first Joy of Charlene sock should still apply to the second sock and I'm going to aim for it. I'm thinking I'll do the short row toe, both for consistency and because it looks nice. (Whether or not the first sock is going to meet a bad end will depend on how they both end up fitting once I can wear them.) I'm closing in on the toe on the second sock, but I won't be able to try the sock on until late tonight or tomorrow. First, I'm wearing my Doc Martens today. Second, I acknowledge that trying on socks on the train is a bit creepy for those around me. Third, Hubby invited a bunch of people over for burgers before we all troop downtown for the fireworks so little knitting will probably be done at home tonight.
(Yeah, my town is doing fireworks tonight. It makes no sense.)
No comments:
Post a Comment