Sock Ramblings

Yes, I knit as well. I actually dabbled in it before I took up crochet, but only enough to make a garter-stitch teddy bear and an iPod case that turned out too big. Only after I became proficient in crochet did I pick up the knitting needles again, and then things really took off.

Eventually I decided I wanted to make socks. At a Shakespeare reading I found myself next to a woman knitting a sock on DPNs (Double Pointed Needles), and mentioned I was considering getting a set of DPNs to learn sock knitting. Instantly she answered, "Get circulars. Knitting on double points is like wrestling an angry porcupine. The only reason I'm doing this is I don't have size 0 circulars." I laughed along, and privately determined then and there that I was going to learn to use DPNs.

A few days before I bought the needles, I picked up a skein of Serenity Sock Weight yarn from Jo-Ann, 50g of squishy sock goodness. Then I went to Walmart and bought a set of five size 2 double points. They are gold and shiny and I love them.

Since then, I have made three socks.

That's right. Three socks.

The first one was a training sock. It was worsted weight yarn and very small. It had all the parts of a cuff-down sock, but tiny. That meant I got to try out all the techniques without A) wrestling with very thin yarn and lots of stitches, and 2) worrying about ruining the socks. I finished it in two days.

The other two are the pair made of the Serenity Sock Weight. I started them on New Year's Eve, so I've called them the New Year's Serenity Socks. They are awesome. Well. The stitches picked up in the gusset should have been knit through the back loop, there's a ladder in the sole where the rounds began, and there's a hole where the heel stitches meet the instep stitches. But they're still awesome. They're made with less than 200 yards, so they're ankle socks.

Now I'm starting a toe-up training sock, which I had no idea existed until today. That will make four socks, which is a much more sensible number for a human with two feet. Even if two of the socks are too small to be worn.

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I see on Ravelry people who never knit socks on anything bigger than a 1, or people who knit socks on 00s, and I think I'm probably doing it wrong. I know proper sock gauge is 7-9 stitches per inch, and I figured I was probably getting closer to 7 with my bigger needles. Today I finally got around to measuring my gauge. I measured in three separate places, so I know it wasn't just a mis-reading. (And it was after the socks had been washed once, so I guess that could have made a difference.) What gauge am I getting? 9.5 stitches to the inch. My gauge is at the small end! I was shocked.

This supposedly means I will have longer-lasting socks. This is pleasing to me.