Case in point, remember these socks from a few weeks ago? Well they were just too plain simple. After attempting to turn them into these, the socks proved to be too tight to even go over my foot and I was 3/4 of the way done. So I ripped it out and turned them into these socks.
The pattern is quite lovely and if I spent some more time with this project, I'd memorize the pattern after 1 or 2 more stitch repeats. I'm worried that the sock will end up too lose, but I figured if they are too big, I'll give them away to my husband's aunt up in Saskatchewan, who appreciates hand knit socks like nobody's business (don't you love people like that?).
Revelation
It took me 2 weeks of ripping and knitting to figure this revelation out. I'm a product knitter, so that means it was frustrating as hell to have to rip back after hours of knitting. However, on the bright side, I learned a lot about the importance of gauge. For my whole knitting life I thought I was a loose knitter so I usually go down a size without even thinking about it. I was knitting Jaywalkers on US 0 needles (which is crazy). Turns out that I'm a tight knitter and need to go up a needle size or 2 (or just need to freakin' relax). I figured this out because I had knit a swatch for a sweater I'm going to start soon. I used the needles called for and I got 26 stitches in 4 inches. The label said I should get 24 stitches. Then I started to notice that as I knit with the needles called for, the work was stiff and did not lay nicely. It was hard to push my needles in and out of stitches, and I was using Addi Turbo's.
Long story short, I would recommend that you figure out if you're a tight or loose knitter and do it fast. It will make your knitting experience so much more enjoyable and your hands, arms, and shoulders will thank you for that. Plus your knitting will look better, and more professional looking.
Now off to work. It is Monday you know!
3 comments:
You're absolutely right. I found out early on I am a loose knitter and it's saved me a LOT of time and frogging!
I love the pattern you've chosen for this yarn -- really shows it up.
I'll have to go see what your last posting was and figure out why I didn't comment...
Vaya si que se ven lindo lo poco que llevas... una pena tener de deshacer todo pero la idea es tejer algo con lo que quedes conforme :D
yo personalmete suelo tejer apretado, asi que casi siempre uso palillos un numero más grande de los recomendado ...
Cariños miles!!!
Such a refreshing blog you write, Kelly, and those Inside Out socks look tempting, to say nothing of that wonderful yarn. More pictures of your progress, please!
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