Sad Socks
Well, I finished one of my toe-up socks – still have to add the heel and finish off the second one. However, I’m not at all happy, so I may just frog the whole project and chalk this one up to experience. I learned several things – both what TO DO and what NOT TO DO when knitting a toe-up pair of socks, so I guess all is not lost, should I frog them. I’m making a list of things learned so I’ll see this is a learning experience vs. a “socksaster”:
- Learned to knit two at a time
- Learned Judith’s Magic Cast On for toe up socks
- Learned to do an afterthought heel
- Learned the suspected bind off
But here are the problems and how I should fix them:
- Dropped a stitch so early on that I had to pick it up through several inches of the sock, which left a ridge where the guage is significantly tighter. Note to self – count the stitches regularly to make sure none have been dropped.
- Got so excited about adding the waste yarn for the afterthought heel that I completely missed some ankle shaping in the pattern. I don’t think this shaping was critical though, but it might have helped the fit.
- For a longer sock, it might be a good idea to do some increases in the leg to go over the wider part of my calf. As it is, it’s too tight at the top!
Other observations
I didn’t like the afterthought heel decrease and finishing. It was don with evenly divided decreases like a hat and finished off just like one too, so there’s a bump at the heel. Doesn’t seem like it will wear well, and it looks sort of silly too. I think for my next pair, I’ll learn a short row heel instead. I think it will look much tidier. I don’t want to be discouraged and stop trying to improve my socks skills, which I could easily have happen after this project. Fortunately, I uesd really inexpensive yarn to make these, knowing that they were sort of experimental. I’m going to rest from socks for a few days, and then forge ahead with another pair.