Way back in November of last year, I set out to make a pair of socks. I made one, and it turned out great. I then was so enticed by knitting in the round and finally mastering my double pointed needles that I moved on to knitting mittens and the second sock just never got made (I guess I could always say I lost it in the dryer...). At the time, I had picked up enough yarn to make two different pairs of socks, so when a friend's birthday came due, I thought I'd finally get around to making that second pair of socks. Of course, I tried to make them on a deadline, and well, that never seems to work out well for me. But I did finally finish them this past weekend, so I'll be giving them a little wash and putting them in the mail.
The great thing about the sock yarns are that they are often self-patterning, which means all you have to do is knit and knit and watch the pattern unfold before your eyes. I find this the most exciting thing about these yarns, and keeps knitting, which is a very repetitive motion, interesting and fresh. These grey and black ones turned out really lovely, and will keep your little feet nice and toasty. However, one turned out a little longer than the other, but this taught me a very important thing about knitting, and its something I NEVER do (partly because I'm a tad lazy).
All patterns tell you take time to check your gauge, and I do not (partly because I'm stubborn, partly because I'm just too darn anxious to get started on the project). But that little skipped step has bit me in the tush this time around. I knitted the first sock while measuring all the way, making sure that the sock came out the right size. I then looked at how many rows to an inch the first sock turned out (which is technically what checking your gauge is), and for the second sock to finish the pair, instead of measuring, I just counted the rows. Well, I guess my math and/or measuring is not that great, because not only did the second sock come out a tad bigger than the first, I also ran out of yarn! (I am certain that I am now cursed with this sad fact for the rest of my knitting career...) Luckily, I had a bit of black in my yarn stash and I was able to finish off the last little bit of the toe in a solid colour...whew! I have certainly learned my lesson.... isn't it great what we learn from trial and error?
Ha ha! I suffer from the same thing: too anxious to get started to bother checking the gauge! Like you, I've had that bite me! However, these socks look fantastically cute! Did the little dots of black in the gray just show up as you knit? It looks like it was planned!
ReplyDeleteHey Margaret! Nice to know I'm not alone in that little fact. And yes, the dots made themselves! They are pretty easy to make if you have mastered DPNs... give them a try!
ReplyDelete