Tabi no Monogatari Part 8

Since I finished my "test" sock, I've been steadily working on Hubby's left sock. :)  Here's how far I'm at:

Looks like I'm ready to work on the toes!  *yay*

And, here they are!

Look no hole!!!

I basically followed the same pattern I used on my first sock and just altered the toe portion. So, to summarize, here's what I did:

1. I casted on 72 stitches using a knit and purl long tail cast on.
2. For the cuff, I did 6 rows of 2x2 ribbing.  It came out looking a bit short so perhaps 10 rows would look better.
3. For the leg, I also did 6 rows and it definitely was too short.  I think I should try 10 rows on my next sock.
4. For the heel, using the German Short Row method, I did a total of 43 rows.  That came out perfect.  Having 10 ultimate stitches on each side and 15 "regular" stitches makes the perfect heel for Hubby. :)
5. For the foot, I did 69 rows and that gives just enough stretch so that it's snug but not cutting off any blood. :) 
6. Here's how I did the tabi part:
• I had 23 stitches on each side for all other toes (a total of 46 stitches), leaving 13 stitches on each side for the big toe (total 26 stitches). Place the big toe stitches on a stitch holder or a large safety pin. 
• Starting from the "front" or top side of the sock, 
• Rows 1-6, knit to the last 3 stitches, slip slip knit, and knit the last stitch.  This leaves you 22 stitches.  Turn your work around to the "back" or bottom of your sock then, knit, knit 2 together, knit to the end (also leaving you 22 stitches).  Continue to do this for another 5 rows.  By the 6th row, you should have 17 stitches on each side (a total of 34 stitches).
• Rows 7-8: knit.
• Rows 9-10: follow the same instructions as Row 1 for Rows 9 & 10.  You should have a total of 15 stitches on each side (a total of 30 stitches) by the 10th row.
• Row 11: knit.
• Rows 12-13: follow the same instructions as Row 1 for Rows 12 & 13.  You should have a total of 13 stitches on each side (a total of 26 stitches) by the 13th row.
• Row 14: knit.
• Row 15: follow the same instructions as Row 1 for Row 15. You should have a total of 12 stitches on each side (a total of 24 stitches).
• Row 16: knit.
• Row 17: knit, knit 2 together, knit to last 3 stitches, slip slip knit, then knit the last stitch.  You should have a total of 10 stitches on each side (a total of 20 stitches).
• Bind off.  I used the Kitchener stitch to close off the toes just to see how easy or hard it'd be.  It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it'd be but I did have a few false starts before I finally figured it out. :)
• When you're ready to work on the big toe, pick up all the stitches then starting from the "front" or top of your sock:
• Row 1: knit 1, yarn over, then knit to the last stitch, yarn over, and knit the last stitch; you should have a total of 15 stitches now.  
• Then pick up a stitch from the other toe and knit it. You should have a total of 16 stitches now. 
• Turn it around to the "back side" and pick up a stitch on the back side of the other toe and knit it.  
• Then knit 1, yarn over, knit to the last stitch, yarn over, and knit the last stitch.  You should have a total of 16 stitches. 
• Row 2: Now you're back on the "front" or top of the sock; knit to the last 3 stitches, slip slip knit, and knit the last stitch.  If there still seems to be a hole, pick up another stitch from the other toe and knit it.  If you do pick up another stitch to close the hole, on the back side, pick up a stitch from the back side of the other toe, knit it, then knit 2 together, then knit to the end. 
• Continue Rows 1-2 until the hole seems to be gone.  For me it took 4 rows until the hole seemed to look closed. 
• Then knit another 22 rows. Basically, knit until you're at the top of the toe.  
• For your last row: knit 1, slip slip knit, knit 1, knit 2 together until you have no stitches left. 
• Bind off.  I also used the Kitchener stitch on the big toe.

I must admit, using the Lion Brand yarn is much softer than my junky yarn.  However, with that said, I can't wait to try out my stash! ;)  Once I finish up the toes, I think the other side will be faster.  Then, I can try another ball of yarn. ;P  Although, from the look of it, it looks like I hardly made a dent in this ball.

So the verdict on Top-Down socks ... Well, it's ... ok ... It's neither harder or easier than a Toe-Up sock but, I think that in some way, it's a less accurate way to measure as you go.  While it's true, that you can "try on" the sock as you go using the Top-Down method; because there's no toes, it doesn't quite give you an idea of how much stretch the sock has.  Plus, if you're a new knitter like me, unless you know exactly how many rows you need for the cuff and the leg (and you're trying to customize your sock right off the bat and not completely follow a pattern to its entirety), you can end up with a shorter than expected sock (like this one). :P

Since it looks like I have a lot of yarn left, I think I'm going to try to make another go at a pair of socks again.  It looks like I may be able to squeeze 3 socks out of a ball of yarn. :D  This time, I'm going to try to figure out how to do a Toe-Up tabi sock.  If I can't figure out how to start the toes first, I might do a frankenstein method in which I start the foot part a little bit first (using a provisional cast on), then do the toes, then go back to the foot and move my way up from there. :)

Tabi No Monogatari Part 7

Since my last blog, I asked my Tabi Kami (aka my other sock goddess), Dawn, to see if 81 stitches was way too big for my hubby's foot.  Since I know she's used him as a foot model/tester for some of her socks, she'd have a better idea of how many stitches would work.  She recommended 72 stitches (so, this would mean that I should calculate in negative ease).  So ....

Yup, you guessed it .... I ripped out what I did and re-casted 72 stitches. :P  I finished the cuff then hemmed and hawed about how to do the heel part.

So, instead of working on hubby's sock (using the good sock yarn), I went back to my junky yarn (the one I started as my test subject for top-down and found out I couldn't squeeze it over his foot but discovered that it fit my foot fine, if a bit loose) and decided to use that to work out the kinks on how to work a German short row heel from the top down.  The funny thing is, you work the German short row exactly the same way as toe-up!  What does this mean (in English)?  It mean that it doesn't matter if your sock is toe-up or top-down; making the German short row is the same.  Shocking! :)

Then, since I was on a roll, I just decided that I'd just make this sock fit me (sort of) to see how a tabi toe would look like and how to actually make it.  I used Tabi Socks by Andi Smith as a guideline on how to do the toe part.  As I was merrily going round and round for my foot part, I realized 10 rows too late that the foot part was really too wide for my actual foot and that if the width of the foot is too wide, it might throw off my toe!  So, I (suddenly) started decreasing the foot and created small "wings" on the sock. :P Then I polished off the toes! :)  It wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it was going to be. :)  Here's what it looks like:

See the "wings":

And, here's the catch:

Do you see the hole?!  It's driving me nuts and I should've realized that (especially after learning about holes and closing 'em up while working my German short rows) so, even though it's a one-sided sock (no, I'm not going to make the other half), I think I'm gonna darn in the hole (darning is the yarn version of sewing up a hole, not like that darn/damn thing - even if I was thinking that there's a damn hole! :P).

Funny thing is Hubby initially said that a regular toe was fine, now he's seen the tabi toes, he wants tabi toes now. :P  So, I finished his heel and am now merrily doing the rounds for the foot part.  Then, I'll work on his tabi toes.  Here's how far I've gotten:

More to come! :)

Tabi No Monogatari Part 6

After painfully and slowing starting again on my hubby's right sock, I'm finally really getting started (again - for real this time).  My sock goddess, Ariana had gone on a yarn run during a recent business trip and gifted me Lion Brand's Sock-Ease in Rock Candy.  So, hubby's really going to get a pair of socks that he can really wear while I can practice on real sock yarn! :)

Here's how the Lion Brand Sock-Ease looks like:

I re-measured Hubby's foot twice(!) and it was still 9" wide and I still had a gauge of 9 stitches per inch so ... I first casted on 81 stitches (9" * 9 stitches per inch) and measured it against his foot.  I thought it was too short at first so, I decided to cast on 96 stitches so that it at least would go on his foot and over his heel.  But, then it looked  too loose at the cuff by his ankle.  So, I ripped out the 10 rows I did and re-casted 81 stitches.  It's still kind of loose but it looks like it fits better now. :)  I wonder if I should put in negative ease ...

To cast on, I found a great knit and purl long tail cast on tutorial video by Nancy Wynn via Sweet Georgia's sock blog and it seems to be working well.  I was initially having problems getting off the cast off row and again, thanks to Ariana, she untwisted me and got me going. :)

I'm actually done with the cuff and getting ready to start on the leg section. Thank goodness hubby just wants a sport sock! ;)

Here's my results (so far):

I want to do a top-down sock with short rows so that it'll be similar to the sock that I did toe-up (although, I must say ... so far, toe-up seems like a better and easier way to make socks than top-down! :P  But, I'll hold off my biases - for now! :P). :)  So, I'm a bit stumped ... do I start on the leg part and do I do the same number of rows like I did with toe-up or, am I suppose to start the heel already?  Thank goodness I work tomorrow so, I can ask my sock goddess what she thinks I should do ... :P

My Very First Knit-Along ... Part 4

I've got some catching up to do with my KAL ... Well, since my last post, I did go up to US 8 needles and my squares are now a 22cm square. I re-used Week 1's Bias Garter Stitch Square to obtain gauge:

Then, I finished ...
Week 5's Stockinette Cable Square:

This was a cool square ... I love sweaters with this look and now I can do it! :D


Week 6's Horseshoe Panel with Twist Square:

It was interesting working this square. I found that I don't care for 1x1 cables (or at least with the yarn I'm using); it doesn't look as nice as the Week 2's Basic Cable. And while working the horseshoe part wasn't too difficult, it's not a cable I love very much. :(

Now, I have a total of 7 squares: 4 in the shorter 20 cm square and 3 in the larger 22 cm square, I figured that if I made a total of 48 of the larger squares and 16 of the smaller squares, I might have enough to make a double sized blanket (really, this size is the most comfortable size for a person - you have enough blanket to wrap around you without it being too short or not quite wide enough). I just need one more square to line up a row to see if it'll really be wide enough and to give me an idea of how long it'll really be to see if my estimated count is correct. :P

Who knew that one would need so much math to knit?! :P