Sock knitting has struck me again! After I washed, and hung, all my socks last Thursday night, I realized I needed more socks. I pulled the Knit Picks Risata sock yarn (colorway Ahe) out of my stash. I think it's been hibernating there since last August. I had purchased this yarn to make the "Cable Rib Socks" from the Favorite Socks book. After the New Jersey yarn crawl last Saturday, I sat down and casted-on for this sock before I went to bed.
Saturday, March 15th - Cast-on and knitted about an inch 
Tuesday, March 18th - Good progress made. Not too much further until the heel.
Thursday, March 19th - Heel flap done. Pick up stitches for the gussett.Really getting to this part was no problem. The problem arose when I had to pick the stitches up on the sides of the heel flap and work them. Now, I have done this on 2 circs before, and while working the stitches before has been a little awkward, I was able to stick with the 2 circs only. This sock is another story. It was impossible to work the stitches with only 2 circs, at least for me (I'm not quite sure how my sis Mary Beth did it).
What was my solution? Well, I looked at my needle supply for size 1 dpns. Nope, didn't have any. Then I looked in my interchangeable needle case for size 1 needle tips. Nope, the smallest needle was a 2. At this point, I wanted to scream, but was afraid my upstairs landlord would think I was being attacked since it was 10:30pm. I refrained. My last option was to see what circs I had in my stash. Thank goodness I had another size 1 circ. It wasn't another Knit Picks circ (which I love using even more after last night). It was an Addi Turbo (now hate these needles with a passion compared to Knit Picks - yarn just doesn't slide smoothly over the needle - it was a bit of a struggle and just reaffirmed my love affair with Knit Picks needles). So for right now I am working with 3 circs to get past working the pick up stitches. It's just like 3 dpns.
So why did I have "Stab me with your best shot" running through my head at 11pm? Have you ever worked with 3 circs at once? I think this picture says it all.
At least at the tip of the sock, the 2 circs form a heart!**Editor Note: After resuming work on the sock, I realize that the heel flap is a bit long. Hmmmm. After further investigation I have determined that I doubled the number of completed rows for the heel flap length. A big OOPS! This is most likely the reason for the difficulty I was experiencing. I have successfully frogged back to the end of my heel flap. Now I need to remove 32 rows and I will be back on track.
The only way that could look more unpleasant to me is if you were to be doing 2 socks at once.
ReplyDeleteI didn't have a problem because I pulled Cat Bordhi's sock book out & referred to her advice on all things circular. It was a bit awkward, but she has you use other ends of the other needle & rearranges the stitches while you're at it. Must look at her book for specific instruction. You were smart to get out another needle. I did that on one of my monkey socks (1st one) because I couldn't look at Cat's book (I wasn't home) & forgot the specifics. Whatever works at the moment, right? Oh, & gotta love Pat Benatar. Now I have that stuck in my head.(:0)
ReplyDeletePat Benatar! Mr. Kim calls me the Queen of the 80s. That's cool how your plethora of circs formed 2 hearts. I have never been able to do the picking up stitches for gussets on 2 circs. I am a die hard DPN girl.
ReplyDeleteI've knit this sock out of some yarn Kim sent me. It may be my favorite pair of socks. I didn't use circulars though, just the thought of that is making my head spin. I have a friend that uses ONE circular to knit her socks and swears by her method.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your mishap. You can try magic looping with me, if you like.
ReplyDelete