When it comes to socks, I'm a bit of a one trick pony. Lorna's Laces (or yarn with exactly the same thickness) knit on US #1 DPNs, cuff down, with a standard heel flap and a really simple lace or rib pattern. The lovely and talented Lucy showed up at my Christmas party in December with a hostess gift of sock yarn! Is that not totally awesome? She gave me a nice fat hank of Cherry Tree Hill, plus two hanks of Koigu Kpppm, which I've never dared to use before.
I admit, I've been frightened of Koigu because of the slightly thicker weight and the recommended size 3 needles on the label. I'm not great at adjusting for gauge and I know that most sock patterns will work with my standard Lorna's Laces formula. So, I sought out patterns that specifically called for Koigu, starting with Crusoe, which I don't love the look of (it's a stranded slip-stitch pattern), but seem to do well with the Koigu.
Mistake. I didn't heed the word of the naysayers on Ravelry, who complained that these socks knit up way too small and overestimated the heavyness of the Koigu. After knitting the gusset and the heel I realized that there was no way that I'd get these socks on my feet. Way too tight. I never wear my Jaywalkers because there's no give, so even if I added more stitches or went up another needle size (which I'd already done), I was going to hate these socks. I frogged so quickly that I didn't even have time for a picture. So I moved on to Anastasia.
Again, I wasn't totally confident with my ability to guess on the gauge (and I can't be bothered to swatch with socks), so I went with the recommended needle size and, as you can see from the above photo, they were way too big. But, I'm so excited about my first pair of toe-ups and I love the simple pattern that I cast on with smaller needles and completed my first sock yesterday. And it fits. And the short row heel and toe don't look totally horrible. Hoorah!
I'll post pictures once I'm done sock #2 -- I really want to finish before the baby comes so that I can wear them for the delivery or pad around the hospital in them. Wish me luck!
1 comment:
Glad to see you lovin' the koigu. I'm quite addicted myself and I find I don't have to use needles that are TOO big.
If you take a look at my blog you'll see I had the same issues with the Crusoe sock pattern and ended up making them for Fiona (CO 44 for an adult sock? You've got to be kidding me) I have size 3 feet and there was still no way I was getting those puppies on.
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