Socks that Begin to Rock
I seem to have developed a mild case of startitis in the past week. Maybe it's just the cool weather in Chicago and watching the leaves fall from the trees and knowing that the real chill will be coming soon. I just can't help myself. I had to start another pair of socks for my winder wardrobe. Do you remember this yarn
? I've been petting it on a regular basis since I got it well over a year ago. I finally got tired of petting and decided that it was time to skein it up and move those socks from yarn stash to my sock drawer.
This picture marks the sum total of my sock-ly accomplishments yesterday. I'm knitting these socks on size 1 needles, and I'm getting 8 stitches/inch in the stockinette portion of the sock. This yarn is a nice, thick, soft merino yarn, so I chose to go down one needle size from where I might have been tempted to start to help maximize durability, even though it means that the overall fabric is a little denser. For this sock, I'm going back to my old sock knitting ways -- 64 stitches cast on using the Twisted German Cast On, followed by 2 inches of K2P2 ribbing and then 6" of leg, a Dutch heel, and straight ol' stockinette down to the toe. Since the pattern the yarn makes is so lovely, I don't think it requires any special knitting to dress it up.
And just a little pointer for those of you who haven't experimented with the Twisted German Cast On -- my recommendation is that you do the first round of stitches after the cast-on in all knit stitches. The "twisted" part refers to the fact that the stitches end up twisted on the needle after you cast them on. It's a real pain to deal with purl stitches on that first row, and you can't tell the difference anyway, so you can save yourself a little pain and suffering just by knitting that first row all the way around.
Happy fall socks to everyone!
P.S link to Twisted German Cast On is fixed now.
Broken link to twisted German caston. I love the colors, very autumnal.
I do the Twisted German Cast-On too and I used to have your issue. I realized that I was grabbing the index finger yarn the wrong way with my needle, which resulted in a combined mounted stitch. It was probably illustrated this way in some magazine or other. You can actually have the resulting stitch mounted in the standard or the combined way. Go up and over the index loop and you will have the stitch mounted the standard way. The base loop will still be twisted.
I also came up with a way to purl the cast on so that I can do a twisted k2p2 cast on that is beautifully supple and stretchy.
I love the Twisted German and use it on all my socks. I find it so much neater and stretchier than a long-tail CO.
By the way, I just used one of your archive posts to walk me through my first afterthought heel. Thanks for the tips!
Since I was concerned about total foot length and didn't want to guess, I decided to knit the foot until I got close to where I thought the toe would be, slip the toe onto a smaller circ, then make the heel. This way I could perfectly judge my toe decreases with no guesswork!
Love that sock! I have startitis and I think it's chronic. What to do? More socks?
I love the colors in that yarn, very nice. I just cast on for my first sock and well I think I have to rip it out already, oh joy, I'll keep trying though! I can't wait to see these finished.
I didn't care for that yarn when it was in hanks. It's definitely not a colorway I would have chosen, but I sure like how it knits up. Just illustrates the point that I am bad at visualizing how colors work together. I suspect I'm missing out on a lot of beautiful yarns as a result!
Merino sure is wonderful to work with (just try spinning with it!) I rarely use needles larger than size 0 for socks, though with merino I might, just to emphasize the softness. I'll have to try that cast-on. Always nice to have more than one stretchy one in one's repetoire for sock cuffs.
Ok, that does it. Now I officially regret not taking a closer look in the Socks That Rock booth. Tiger Eye?!!! Fine. Gives me something to look for next time. ;-)
Your sock is lovely!
I think something is wrong with your execution of the German Twisted Cast On if your stitches are twisted...the "Twisted" refers to the extra twist of yarn you give to each stitch by looping it under the thumb loop and then the second loop over the thumb (as opposed to the single loop of the long tail cast on) I use the GTCO almost exclusively for it's extra stretchiness and all my stitches are correctly seated from the start and I have no trouble purling (or ribbing) the first row. I think you may be scooping in the combined fashion and twisting your stitches but the cast on technique itself should not twist the stitches!