Knit is a Four-Letter Word

I’m working on my first pair of socks. I’ve had sock yarn for much longer than recently – bought my first skein over 3 years ago, but this year has been the plunge. Partly because I don’t think I could go to Sock Summit without actually having knit at least a pair of socks! It’s a step forward in my knitting development – both the physical skill of working with DPNs and the accomplishment of making an item of clothing that isn’t a hat or scarf.

The first sock went mostly OK. I had some help from Carla at Knitting within Borders – she did the long-tail cast on, and knit the first foundation rows of rib. She also helped me come to the conclusion that using three US#4 7″ bamboos was not as easy for me as 4 US#2 (2.75mm) 5 inch Brittanies.

I know, it seems counter-intuitive that smaller needles, both length and size, would be easier to knit, but they just were. Will (a Millville Stitchers knitter) said the difference between the first week (withe the wrong needles) and the second was night and day. The first was all snarling and swearing and fretting and grumbling – enough that another knitter who had yet to do socks wondered aloud if perhaps she really might not *want* to do socks. The second week, it was sunshine, roses and comfortable knitting. Amazing.

I finished the first sock in a Stitchers knitting class a couple of weeks ago, and instantly cast on the second. I’m keen on avoiding the dreaded SSS, aka Second Sock Syndrome, and would quite like to end up with a complete pair of socks. Mary (one of our Stitchers knitting teachers) taught me her revised version of the long-tail – not so much waving the needles and yarn about, much easier for the spatially challenged me, and I was off.

The second sock drama started at last Tuesday’s knit night. I zoomed past and through the 2″ of rib and 5″ of plain knit, and got to the heel. Still knitting on 4 needles, I attempted to follow the recipe, and add 32 stitches onto one needle.

And promptly dropped 2 stitches, one at the end, and one in the middle, which I didn’t noticed, and it pulled itself back 3 rows. After horror and swearing, I stuck the 5th Brittany in it as a stitch holder, and put the sock away.

My KnitPicks order came with their set of nickel sock needles, and I pulled out the size 2 needles, and set about rescuing the errant stitches. This in the midst of my monthly Michigan Rummy card game, so it was slow going.

Happily fixed, I kept the stitches on the size 2 needles, and continued knitting the heel flap.

I discovered today, on finishing the heel flap and about to commence turning the heel, at the hairdressers with much more light, that I’d in fact been knitting with 2MM needles, aka US Size 0.

Ah.

That would explain the firmness of the heel flap. It’s a little bit shorter than the one I knit on US#2 needles, on the first sock. I picked up the stitches, and transferred everything over to the US#2 and plowed on. BBe buggered if I was undoing that last 28 rows. That way SSS lay.

So now, the second sock is not quite the same as the first. At the stage of the sock I’m at, I can’t try it on my foot – it’d be forcing it past the ball of my foot. I’m really not inclined to push it and make a potentially odd situation into a dramatically crap one.

So, best case scenario, I have two weird feet, and both socks fit one or the other. Worst case scenario, I have to buy more of this yarn, and knit 2 matching socks.

I’m not actually sure I can do that. I’m sold on the KnitPicks #2s, and it’s easy working on three.

We’ll see when I get past the arch decreases, and can try it on!