Friday, September 11, 2009

Tartan Socks: In the Name of Knowledge

mock sole Although I had decided that I really did want to frog the moccasin sole and go with a traditional construction, I forged ahead for a few more rows.

It was one of those situations where I had come so far and to turn back with so many unanswered questions seemed wrong.

What if some poor sole, I mean, soul working EZ's pattern ends up on my blog with these same questions? Fat lot of help I would be to them.

I knit around 5 more rounds last night. I have decided: it has got to go.

Happy Toes
As suspected, the extra fabric, combined with the distance from the needles, did indeed improve the fit around my toes. It's doable, but still not perfect.

Looking for Closure
Also, as you can see in the picture, I was able to divide the stitches evenly on two needles. This means I could probably kitchener the bottom shut without using the drawstring method at any point.

Cut Me Some Slack
My new complaint is probably more to do with the shape of my foot and less to do with the poor technique.

You see, my heel is narrower than the ball of my foot. When I saw this last night I identified it as one of those things I probably always knew just never thought about.

What this means for the poor sock is at this point the section by my heel can be pulled together and closed comfortably. However, the section at the toes still needs more fabric. Oh, I can stretch what is there and pull the sides together, but it is definitely stretched.

And that makes me wonder how it will stand up to wear and tear if the fabric is already strained.

If I work more rounds to accommodate the ball of the foot section, then there will be too much fabric at the heel. Of course, my little brain started pondering whether some form of short rows would help. Stop working the area at the heel and just up the sides, but still work the rest of the sides and toe area.

I squashed that idea right quick. It's a sock, it shouldn't be this difficult.

As it is (I don't know if you can tell in the picture), there is already slack at the heel and I'm wondering if it will bunch up when I kitchener it. I don't know about you, but I always get those corner peaks at either end when I kitchener a toe shut. That won't be fun at the bottom of my foot.

And have I mentioned that I'm not terribly happy with my original decision to go with a black sole? I think it's too much of a contrast. I suppose that is part of the fun of this construction, but it's a bit too stark for my taste.

Down It Goes
There you have it. I think I have beaten this technique to death (as opposed to beating it into submission). And I think I've laid out a compelling argument justifying frogging it. Which I shall probably do tonight.

Of course, don't rely on me alone. Things might turn out differently for you. Plenty of other people have used this technique and seem happy with it.

Maybe they just aren't as fussy as me. sniff.

1 comment:

  1. I agree with you. I thought about short rows too, and then said, no way. Too much work. What will you do now?

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