In progress photo:
I love it and I loved knitting it. The Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino hand-painted yarn is a bit, well, more colorful than I'd usually wear, but all the different colors and frequent changes made it much easier to see what I was doing on the short row toe and heel.
I started out with a different pattern (Leyburn) but didn't want to be so worried about tension on my first pair, plus I wanted a bit of openness. I found Anastasia after much Ravelry hunting. I could've saved myself a lot of time just by looking more into Leyburn's creator: pepperknit.com designed both!
Rav notes/timeline:
2010.03.21 I’m getting pretty good at making sock toes. Maybe this will be the project where I finally make it to the heel…
2010.03.24 Halfway through the foot. This is a much better pattern for this yarn than Leyburn.
2010.03.25 Took a break from knitting for a bit to weave in the toe end. I didn’t skim the sts yet, just wove it a bit. Must remember to finish this before washing.
2010.03.26 7.25”, 4th spiral is at the end of the needles, beginning the heel with a purl row. Stop wrapping when 10 sts are live (6 wrapped sts on either end).
2010.03.26 7.25”, 4th spiral is at the end of the needles, beginning the heel with a purl row. Stop wrapping when 10 sts are live (6 wrapped sts on either end).
2010.03.27 Scratch all that. They don’t fit. I measured the ball of the foot as suggested in Socks from the Toe Up, did the -10% thing, etc. and it fits the ball fine. Where instep meets ankle, however, is about a full inch larger (8.5” vs. 7.5”) and the pattern gets very stretched and distorted trying to accommodate that. (Don’t think that changes my view on that awesome book--it was, after all, my fault for not measuring that in the first place.)
Option A: Rip out completely and start over with more sts. Currently, the toe fits (actually it’s a little big on the pinky side; apparently I have a big, big toe but that’s an issue for another sock) and the ball fits, and I don’t think either would fit if I upped the number of sts from the start.
Option B: Switch to a larger needle. I don’t currently own any other size dpn until going up to size 5. I already checked LYS availability for a 1.5 circular to switch to magic loop and found that the closest one is already closed for the weekend. I’m not willing to wait. Plus, I like my gauge as-is and think another size up will be too loose.
Option C: Do some math and increase somewhere in the middle. Then exactly repeat everything for the second sock. The most difficult to execute is, as usual, my favored option (wonder if I do that on purpose…).
Option A: Rip out completely and start over with more sts. Currently, the toe fits (actually it’s a little big on the pinky side; apparently I have a big, big toe but that’s an issue for another sock) and the ball fits, and I don’t think either would fit if I upped the number of sts from the start.
Option B: Switch to a larger needle. I don’t currently own any other size dpn until going up to size 5. I already checked LYS availability for a 1.5 circular to switch to magic loop and found that the closest one is already closed for the weekend. I’m not willing to wait. Plus, I like my gauge as-is and think another size up will be too loose.
Option C: Do some math and increase somewhere in the middle. Then exactly repeat everything for the second sock. The most difficult to execute is, as usual, my favored option (wonder if I do that on purpose…).
2010.03.29 Finally got around to ripping out the heel and half of the foot. Slowly working my way back up, increasing 4 sts in one row (one per spiral, including future leg spirals) so right now I have 8 sts between spirals. Might do one more increase round like this.
Increase Round: To be worked on round 14 of my chart (maybe I should upload that…). At the end of round 13, M1 st on the sole. Round 14 instep: k2tog, yo, K1, M1, K5, (k2tog, yo) twice, K5, M1, K1, k2tog, yo. Round 14 sole: begin with a M1 and then k around as usual.
Increase Round: To be worked on round 14 of my chart (maybe I should upload that…). At the end of round 13, M1 st on the sole. Round 14 instep: k2tog, yo, K1, M1, K5, (k2tog, yo) twice, K5, M1, K1, k2tog, yo. Round 14 sole: begin with a M1 and then k around as usual.
2010.04.02 Made it to the heel. Stopped at about 10 rows after the 3rd spiral, with 5 St sts at the beginning of each instep needle before the eyelets, and 4 pairs of eyelets completed for the 5th spiral. It fits much better this time.
2010.04.02 (later) Finished the heel. It still fits much better. Picked up 2 sts between the heel and the instep to close the gap, began knitting the instep in pattern and realized I messed up somewhere because there aren’t the right number of sts between the spirals. I’ve been tinking any mistakes made so far, but in this case it would mean undoing the heel to get to the rest of the instep. Or I can drop sts in lace work. Either way, the first order of business is finding out where it happened. This oughta be fun…
2010.04.03 Tried to fix the problem without ripping out, I really did. I can fix knit sts no problem, k2tog wasn’t hard to figure out, but even with techknitter’s guide to moving increases, I can’t figure out the moving yo’s and mixing those with the k2togs. I spent more time trying to figure it out than I did making the heel in the first place, plus the yarn’s starting to fuzz and stick together, so the heel is no more. Now my problem is with picking up a row of sts, which I surprisingly had no trouble with the last time I ripped out. I’m hoping a bit of sleep will help before attempting this again.
2010.04.03 Tried to fix the problem without ripping out, I really did. I can fix knit sts no problem, k2tog wasn’t hard to figure out, but even with techknitter’s guide to moving increases, I can’t figure out the moving yo’s and mixing those with the k2togs. I spent more time trying to figure it out than I did making the heel in the first place, plus the yarn’s starting to fuzz and stick together, so the heel is no more. Now my problem is with picking up a row of sts, which I surprisingly had no trouble with the last time I ripped out. I’m hoping a bit of sleep will help before attempting this again.
2010.04.04 Fixed the extra eyelets, re-knit the heel, started up the leg, and forgot to start making spirals on the back. At least I don’t have to rip back as far this time.
2010.04.08 Now that the heel’s done and spirals started, it’s moving along quite swimmingly. I’ve got a couple inches up the leg and seem to have enough yarn to get a good ways up the calf, if not all the way to the knee! May want to make an increase round or two before getting that high, though.
2010.04.10 Ok so maybe thinking I could make them knee-highs was a bit excessive, lol. I think I might take a break from the pattern to knit a cuff to see how much yarn it’ll take. I want to use up as much as possible on these.
2010.04.11 Save 40 feet for the ribbing
2010.04.10 Ok so maybe thinking I could make them knee-highs was a bit excessive, lol. I think I might take a break from the pattern to knit a cuff to see how much yarn it’ll take. I want to use up as much as possible on these.
2010.04.11 Save 40 feet for the ribbing
2010.04.21 Back on track. NOTE to self: there’s a lifeline after heel eyelet 49. If I need to rip out to there again, do another patt repeat as usual, then do the increase row.
2010.04.23 On to the ribbing! Trying TechKnitter’s slipping technique / Cat Bordhi’s hungry stitch at the end of each dpn.
2010.04.23 On to the ribbing! Trying TechKnitter’s slipping technique / Cat Bordhi’s hungry stitch at the end of each dpn.
2010.04.26 Bound off! I own a complete, hand-knit sock! Now to start all over again to make its mate.
