Chat Back for June 12

Answering questions from comments and email.

fiftympg said . . .

I for one would be interested in seeing some in-progress photos of the top down sleeves you plan to knit.

I'll try. I use the guidelines for top down set in sleeves in Knitting from the Top by Barbara G. Walker.

For me it's an art, not a science and I often frog the first attempt. But when the pattern permits top down, I like the looks of it better than sewn in sleeves.

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Betty G. asked . . .

I was just wondering .......... I have never knitted a pair of socks that was particularly complicated, like Cookie's, mainly because I wonder if they'd fit. I just like them to be easy to wear. I know you've knitted a lot. Have any stood out as interesting to knit and easy to wear?

In general, the more a sock is interesting to knit the less it is easy
to wear. That's if you define easy to wear as fitting snug and staying
up and not bagging.

So, if you're a practical person wanting to knit socks to wear, simple
is better in my opinion. I knit the more complicated ones for fun. My more fancy Cookie socks are lovely to look at, but I seldom wear them.

Knitting a sock with a ribbing base to the pattern works best. Even if
it's only a purl column every eight stitches.

My favorite Cookie socks to wear are the BFF Pattern.




The BFF pattern instructions are a good example of how to increase for a sock cable after the ribbing is finished and decrease for the heel or toe once the cabling is finished. I confess to never having done that before, but I like it and will try to remember to do it in the future.

Of the dozens of hand knit socks in my closet, these are my favorite. I wear them every time they're clean since they go with jeans and I wear jeans almost everywhere except to church.

The yarn is Slackford Studio Stalwart, color Billie Jean. The socks get machine washed and machine dried and still look like new after six months. No pilling. No holes, No fading.

This is my favorite sock yarn. Smooth to knit, great stitch definition, and gorgeous colors hand dyed by Susan. And I've never encountered a knot in the yarn.

No affiliation, just a happy customer.