Chat Back for October 30

Responding to comments left since the last time I did Chat Back.

NMJewel asked . . .

Do we have a candidate in favor of this? (Blocking political phone calls)

If we do, he/she hasn't called yet.

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Kellie asked . . .

I am curious as to how the Simply Solid sock yarn would compare to other "house brand" sock yarns that you may have tried?

Good question but I haven't tried any others in the past five years so I don't have an answer.


I can tell you a little bit about the Simply Socks Yarn Company Solids from my limited experience with only two colors, burgundy and gray.

The gray I used for Chain in Pieces was not smooth but not too fuzzy either. There is good stitch definition at the tight gauge used for socks.

The light spots you see in the picture are places the dye didn't saturate. If I had been doing a project that required a "solid" solid color, I would have been disappointed in that.

It would make great sticky yarn for colorwork. The color selection is extensive and a color card is available.

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Anonymous got my sympathy with his/her vent on political calls . . .

I thought political robocalls at 6:00 PM were annoying. Turns out it's nothing compared to the robocalls in Nevada at 1:00 AM from Arizona resident Sandra Day O'Connor trying to influence the way Nevadans choose their judges.

The only calls we ever get in the middle of the night are when something awful has happened to a family member. I would be very angry about a robocall at 1:00 AM.

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Papiokc asked . . .

Good to see Gloria and Pappy again too. How is Sunny doing? Hope all is well with her too.

Sunny appreciates your question. She is doing well and keeps herself busy monitoring everything in the house and reminding us when it's time to eat.

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Julia in KW asked . . .

It looks like when you knit two socks at a time, you are knitting them on two separate sets of circs...is that right? Have you ever tried them on one needle? If they are in fact on two sets of circs, how do you decide at what point to move to the other needles?

And Nancy asked . . .

I have a questions about knitting both socks at once. How many rows do you knit of each sock before going to the other sock? I guess it could be one repeat of pattern? Just curious.

My knitting time is relaxing time. In order to make it as stress free as possible I use two separate sets of needles because for me it's the simple way to do it.

No hard and fast rules about when to change socks, but here is the routine I normally follow when I don't feel like doing it some other way.

• Cast on sock one. Knit the ribbing and enough of the stitch pattern to tell if I want to finish the pair or frog and do something else.
  
• Cast on second sock and knit until I have to get up for something.
  
• When I sit down, I pick up the shortest sock and knit until time to stop.
  
• If I'm knitting without a pattern I'll do one heel flap immediately after the other to insure they're going to match. Same with turning the heel and picking up the gusset stitches.
  
• Then it's back to working on whichever sock foot is shortest when I sit down to knit until both socks are ready for toe decreases.
  
• Every other row toe decreases on sock one, then sock two.
  
• Every row toe decreases on sock one, then sock two.
  
• Kitchener, weave in ends, and both socks are done.

Chat Back for December 5

Answering questions from comments and email.

Diane asked . . .

How and where do you join the extra yarn you need?

I split the ends of both pieces of yarn and twist half the plies of one piece with half the plies of the other for two to three inches to make new yarn. Then knit.

This leaves four thin ends to weave in and a very very solid join that's never going to come undone.

I use this join for everything, not just socks.

For single ply yarn like Lopi, I hold two strands together and knit for a few stitches.

For knitting in the round, the join can be anywhere. Using dps or two circulars, it is easiest to manage away from the end of a needle.

For back and forth knitting, I try to do it near the side but finish it before the edge.

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Sherilan asked . . .

Isn't it a good feeling to knit socks for someone like Gail, who shows how much she likes them by wearing them all the time?

Yes. I'd rather see a pair of gift socks worn out and in the trash than see them pretty and unworn in a drawer.

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Marie asked (about the Eunice RIP) . . .

Oh no!? Frogged back to only two repeats, or frogged back, as in, you now have two balls of yarn again?

No regrets.

I relearned an important lesson in what stitch patterns don't make good socks if "good socks" are defined as something that looks nice and fits a human foot.

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Sherilan asked . . .

I want to knit the More Fun Than Cables sock pattern on 56 stitches. Any ideas how to modify the cable to work with 56 stitches instead of 64?

Reduce the k2 column to make it a k1 column, to reduce the stitch count by 8.

You will probably want to rechart the ribbing on top so it flows into the reduced stitch count attractively.

Knit 3 Together Alternative

Barbara Walker is my most referenced knitting guru. Her first three stitch treasuries are full of valuable technical information and tutorials as well as hundreds of stitch patterns. Her book Knitting From the Top Down is a wealth of information on how to do just that - including set in sleeves from the shoulder down. But I've digressed. Let me start this post again.

I have tense shoulders and a bloody middle finger on my left hand from making Vilai k3togs with a 2.25mm needle.

In Barbara Walker's Third Treasury (the yellow one) there is the most handy chart where she gives alternatives for stitches as well as telling what will match them when knitting on the reverse side of the fabric or converting stitch patterns from in-the-round to back-and-forth or converting back-and-forth stitch patterns to in-the-round. I'm not sure how any knitter who likes to improvise can function without this reference.

After knitting a swatch to see if I could tell the difference between k3tog and the alternative, I've decided I like the looks of the alternative better and may never knit a k3tog again.


The swatch was knit with DK weight Cotlin and #5 needles. It's probably important to note that I knit Continental. Your results may vary.

This is a k3tog. It was difficult to get the stitch through all three loops. The top loop is small and doesn't completely cover the other two loops.


This is the alternative right leaning double decrease. It looks neater and is much easier to execute.

1) Knit 2 together
2) Slip resulting stitch back to left needle
3) Slip next stitch on left needle over the knit 2 together
4) Move the resulting right leaning double decrease to the right hand needle



This is a sssk, a left leaning double decrease.

I have no problem knitting sssk, but will switch to the alternative to be consistent.


The alternative to sssk:
1) Slip 1 as if to knit
2) Slip, slip, knit
3) Pass slipped stitch over



The Sock Innovation KAL forbids any pattern modifications except converting to toeup, heel, toe, and modifications for fit.

Although I haven't asked, I'm thinking using the alternative stitches will disqualify a sock from the KAL. Fine with me. My priority is my knitting pleasure so from now on I'll mostly be one of those several thousand lurkers on the KAL forum.

Knitting Socks That Don't Bag

Susan asked . . .

What suggestions can you give for knitting socks that stay up? Do you have a secret? My son who is in the Army loves the Olive Drab socks that I knit for him, but he says they slide down. Yikes! Any advice?

Lots of advice! I hate baggy socks and that's one of the first problems I learned to avoid when I started knitting socks ten years ago.

As an extra benefit, when socks stay in place they are much less likely to get holes worn in them.

Here are my suggestions for knitting socks that fit right and stay in place.

Use a firm gauge.
If the gauge is too loose, the socks will bag. If the gauge is too tight, the socks will be hard to pull on and uncomfortable. Almost always, the gauge on the ball band is not tight enough.

After some trial and sagging error, these are the needle sizes and stockinette gauges I use for socks. The gauge is the critical number. Needle size to get gauge may vary for each knitter.

• Fingering weight: 8 stitches/inch using #1, 2.5mm needles. I've also been happy with 8.5 stitches/inch using 2.25mm needles.
  
• Sport weight: 7 stitches/inch using #3 needles. I haven't knit many sport weight socks, so this number may need to be tweaked.
  
• Worsted weight: 5 stitches/inch using #5 needles.

Use the right number of stitches around.
To find the ideal number of stitches around use 90% of the ankle measurement times stitches/inch.

For most socks a certain stitch multiple is required. It's OK to add or subtract a few stitches to get a required multiple, especially with fingering weight yarn.

Example with my measurements in case you want to knit me a pretty pair of socks:

• 7.5 inches (ankle measurement) times 8 stitches/inch (gauge) = 60
  
• 60 times .9 (way to calculate 90% of a number) = 54.
  
• I use 56 since I usually knit patterns that are a multiple of 8.

Remember that some stitch patterns will change your stockinette gauge. Lace patterns are usually looser fabric than stockinette. Cable and twist patterns create a tighter gauge than stockinette. Calculate accordingly.

I have narrow feet. For years I've been knitting myself 56 stitch socks on 2.5mm needles and they fit perfect. I can use as many as 60 stitches around before the socks get too big for my leg but then I do the gusset decreases down to 56 to fit my skinny feet.

It is perfectly acceptable to have a different stitch count on the foot than on the leg if foot shape or cuff stitch pattern dictate. The number of ideal foot stitches is calculated the same way as number of cuff stitches. Measure around the foot at the smallest foot circumference.

Make the heel depth long enough:
The height of the heel flap usually needs to be taller than the pattern dictates. If the heel flap is not as tall as the human heel, the sock will want to go down into the shoe creating sockwide sagging.

I have smallish (size 6 shoe), narrow, flat feet and I knit my heel flap 2.5 inches tall.

My daughter-in-law is a tall lady with larger feet. I knit her heel flap 3 inches tall.

For my very tall son (6'6"), I knit his heel flap 3.2 inches.

If the sock recipient is available for measuring, take the actual measurement from the floor to the top of the heel. You may be surprised at how tall the heel actually is. Knit the heel about 10% less tall than the actual measurement. Socks need to stretch a bit in order to fit well.

Don't skimp on the ribbing.
The less ribbing that's going to be in the leg of the sock, the more ribbing that needs to be on the top of the cuff.

I use about two inches of k1p1 ribbing to start a 7 to 8 inch cuff. Sometimes I do vary the ribbing to flow into the stitch pattern I'm going to be using.

I've read that k2p2 ribbing is more elastic than k1p1 ribbing. That's not my experience. Maybe it's just the way I knit, but I believe I knit normal stitches.

Ribbing based stitch patterns are perfect for socks.
Whenever possible I like to use a pretty stitch pattern that has purl columns in the pattern to provide the elasticity of ribbing.

The free patterns offered on this website are all based on a ribbing.

Basketweave Ribbing Socks

Shetland Lace Rib Socks

More Fun Than Cables Socks

Even when I don't run the stitch pattern down the top of the foot, I like to continue the purl troughs all the way down to the toe to make the foot more elastic.

How I Wash Woolens

The two rules for washing woolens are:

1. DO NOT AGITATE.
   
   
2. DO NOT ABRUPTLY CHANGE WATER TEMPERATURE.

Other than that, woolens are much hardier than most people think, although I believe most knitters have figured this out already.

My woolen washing routine is a great exercise program. It requires five trips up and down the basement stairs to the washer. This is how I do it.

For this system to work, you need a washing machine that will agitate but not spin with the lid up.

If you have any concerns about the outcome, try your washing technique out with a swatch.

1. Trip 1.
   
   • Set washer for small load (optional), warm wash, and warm rinse.
     
   • Start wash cycle with lid up.
     
   • Add 1 capful of baby shampoo.
     
   • Do NOT add the items you're washing.
     
   • Go back upstairs, letting washer go through wash cycle with lid up and no woolens. It creates bubbles from the shampoo. It stops before it spins out.
   
   
   
2. Trip 2.
   
   • Washer is now ready to spin out.
     
   • Add woolens to warm water.
     
   • Carefully swish around to throughy wet, but DO NOT AGITATE.
     
   • Go back upstairs leaving woolens to soak for 10-15 minutes.
   
   
   
3. Trip 3.
   
   • Woolens have been soaking.
     
   • Give a final, gentle swish around in the water.
     
   • Shut washer lid.
     
   • Stand by washer while it drains and spins with woolens inside.
     
   • Before washer starts to fill for rinse cycle, remove woolens and set them aside.
     
   • Go back upstairs leaving lid up.
     
   • Washer fills with rinse water and agitates with no woolens in the water. It stops before it spins out because the lid is up.
   
   
   
4. Trip 4.
   
   • Washer is ready to spin out.
     
   • Add woolens to water and gently swish around. DO NOT AGITATE.
     
   • Put lid down and go back upstairs.
     
   • Washer will drain and spin with woolens inside.
   
   
   
5. Trip 5.
   
   • Grab woolens out of washer.
     
   • Lay them out to dry on a flat surface, patting them into the desired shape. This is my version of blocking.
   
   

Getting Socks to Match

**This is a slightly edited republish of a post from November, 2003.**

Occasionally I get asked how I get my self-patterning socks to match so perfectly.

This past week, February 20, 2008, Marianne asked how I got the stripes to match on John's Redskin Birthday Socks. She didn't say anything about the match being perfect.

The "perfect" match is an illusion, but "close enough" looks perfect when the socks are on two separate feet.

First, let me say that I find exactly matching my self patterning socks a fun challenge. For those who find it more frustrating than fun, I see nothing wrong with socks not matching if that is the knitter's intention.

Then there are some yarns with short color bursts where trying to get an exact match will only result in a headache: yarns like Opal Crocodile, Opal Handpainted, Opal Cool Ocean, Regia Line Steps.

For those yarns I just weigh the skein on a kitchen scale, wind until half the skein is in a ball, cut the yarn and start winding a second ball.

That said, this is how I get the perfect match as displayed here in the pair of green Opal Magic socks I knit for my mother.

Take the band off the skein and weigh the skein on a kitchen scale.

Put the skein in a slippery bowl with tall sides or a wastebasket so it won't roll all over when winding. I usually wind from the outside of the skein.

Write the color changes down on a piece of paper as the yarn is wound so you can get a feel for the pattern and the repeat. Write whatever it takes so you can recognize the repeats.

It might look something like this:

• White with one inch black blobs
  
• Light green
  
• Light green with navy dots
  
• Dark green
  
• Etc

Use the kitchen scale to determine when half the skein has been wound. Cut the yarn at the end of a color band.

Sometimes when I have a picture of a finished sock, I know where I want the cuff to start, so I make sure that stripe is the last color wound.

The second ball wound is not likely to end at the same spot as the first. But if the socks are going to match, it's necessary to have it end at the same color band as the first ball. Frugal people will have a hard time with this, but there will be a little ball of waste yarn at the end of the second ball.

Once you have two balls, very carefully measure the distance from the caston knot to the end so the second sock is caston in exactly the same place.

Winging Worsted Weight Socks

As promised, here is my formula for winging charity socks in knitting worsted. Whatever size they turn out, they will be in human proportion and will fit someone.

This is NOT a pattern. It assumes you know the basics of sock knitting such as how to turn a heel and decrease for a toe.

The sock in the picture was knit on #5 needles using the instructions in the example sock below. The yarn is 1.4 ounces, 85 yards, of Paton's worsted weight wool. The cuff measures 5.5 inches and the foot measures eight inches from back of heel to tip of toe.

It fits me, a woman's shoe size 6. For the CIC big kids challenge, I would call it a medium.

1. Cast on an even number of stitches from 30 (toddler size) to 48 (large teen size).
   
   Example: Cast on 40.
   
   
2. Rib until the number of rows = ~1/3 the stitches.
   
   Example: 1/3 of 40 =13. I like even numbers so I ribbed for 14 rows.
   
   
3. Finish cuff so total rows = number of stitches around.
   
   Example: 40 total rows - 14 cuff rows = 26 pattern rows.
   
   If you're doing a stitch pattern, adjust the number of rows so the bottom of the cuff ends on a pattern row that looks nice. All these numbers are approximate.
   
   If you've got plenty of yarn, the cuff can be a little longer. They can always be turned down at the top if the child is short.
   
   
4. Work heel on half the stitches.
   
   Example: 1/2 of 40 = 20 stitches heel and 20 stitches instep.
   
   Once again, a stitch or two isn't going to ruin the shape of the sock. I often do a cuff stitch pattern I want centered and end up with 19 stitches on the heel and 21 stitches on the instep. A make one in the middle of the first row of the heel brings the heel stitch count back up to 20.
   
   
5. Knit heel flap back and forth with the number of slip rows = ~ 1/3 number of total stitches around. On the last slip row, don't purl back.
   
   Example: 1/3 of 40 = 13 slip rows and 12 purl backs.
   
   Slip 1, knit 1 across right side. Purl back on wrong side. Repeat these two rows 12 times, then knit the slip row a 13th time.
   
   
6. Turn heel.
   
   First Row: Slip 1, purl # of stitches = half the heel stitches, purl 2 together, purl, turn.
   
   Second Row: Slip 1, knit 3, ssk, k, turn. Continue turning heel.
   
   Example:
   First Row: Slip 1, purl 10 (half of 20 = 10), p2tog, p, turn.
   
   
7. Pick up gusset stitches. # gusset stitches on each side = #slip rows or whatever works so you don't get a hole.
   
   Example: Pick up 13 or 14 gusset stitches on each side.
   
   
8. Reduce gusset stitches every other round until back to original number of stitches around.
   
   Example: That would be 40.
   
   
9. Using the gusset pickup row as Row 1, work foot until number of rows = number of stitches around.
   
   Example: Work 40 foot rows from gusset pickup.
   
   
10. Toe decrease every other row until half the stitches are gone.
    
    Example: Toe decrease every other row until a total of 20 stitches are left.
    
    
11. Decrease every round until 10 or 12 total stitches remain.
    
    Example: Toe decrease every row until a total of 10 stitches remain.
    
    
12. Kitchener and done.

Dividing Yarn for Matching Self Patterning Socks

Occasionally I get asked how I get my self-patterning socks to match so perfectly.

The "perfect" match is an illusion, but "close enough" looks perfect when the socks are on two separate feet.

First, let me say that I find exactly matching my Opal socks a fun challenge. For those who find it more frustrating than fun, I see nothing wrong with socks not matching if that is the knitter's intention.

Then there are some yarns with short color bursts where trying to get an exact match will only result in a headache: yarns like Opal Crocodile, Opal Handpainted, Opal Cool Ocean, Regia Line Steps.

For those yarns I just weight the skein on a kitchen scale, wind until half the skein is in a ball, cut the yarn and start winding a second ball.

That said, this is how I get the perfect match as displayed here in the pair of green Opal Magic socks I knit for my mother.

Take the band off the skein and weigh the skein on a kitchen scale.

Put the skein in a slippery bowl with tall sides or a wastebasket so it won't roll all over when winding. I usually wind from the outside of the skein.

Write the color changes down on a piece of paper as the yarn is wound so you can get a feel for the pattern and the repeat. Write whatever it takes so you can recognize the repeats.

It might look something like this:

• White with one inch black blobs
  
• Light green
  
• Light green with navy dots
  
• Dark green
  
• Etc

Use the kitchen scale to determine when half the skein has been wound. Cut the yarn at the end of a color band.

Sometimes when I have a picture of a finished Opal sock, I know where I want the cuff to start, so I make sure that stripe is the last color wound.

The second ball wound is not likely to end at the same spot as the first. But if the socks are going to match, it's necessary to have it end at the same color band as the first ball. Frugal people will have a hard time with this, but there will be a little ball of waste yarn at the end of the second ball.

Once you have two balls, very carefully measure the distance from the caston knot to the end so the second sock is caston in exactly the same place.