A Big Change

So I knitted in the 9th and 10th CC tiers (plus the MC's that went along with them) as 8 stitch tiers and the sock fit, but it's a real pain in the ass. Getting it on is okay, except for the part where I've got to get it over my ankle, but getting it off is a major bummer. I have to tug on the heel a bit, and then tug on the foot portion and then the heel again and then the ankle part, etc...until I slowly loosen it bit by bit so that I can get it off my foot. There is no 'give' to it at all, and it's so tight on my calf, even with the 8 stitch tiers that I worry that the fibers are going to break down really soon.

I went with chittavrtti to a coffee shop this weekend and worked on the sock some more. She suggested that I try and knit another one, either using size 2's for the whole thing, or switching to them after I got to the ankle. I decided that she was one smart cookie, so I'd give it a try. I started another sock on 2's. I got to the 2nd CC tier and just got totally bummed. The knitting up to that point was sligtly see-through and it still didn't seem to have very much give to it. I tried it on over my toe and it just seemed kind of loose.So, I started thinking that I just wished that there was some elastic in my yarn. That would solve all of my problems. I was getting gauge on this sock, but that didn't seem to be enough for this pattern for some reason. Just like brainymom said, different yarns seem to have different pliability, and it seems as if the vintage yarn I was using had super sucky pliability. I decided to give up on the socks for a bit yesterday and think about it and we went out to lunch. During lunch I decided that it would only cost me 10 bucks to go to the yarn store and get some Cascade Fixation and give it a shot. I didn't think that it would work, but my babe wants a headband to match his daddy's, so I figured I could always turn it into that.


Well, I'm up to the 2nd CC tier in the sock. I am loving it, and hoping that it's going to work out. I picked orange and a stripey green, cause that's pretty much all they had besides purples and pinks. The cast on and the toe were super hard because I kept pulling the yarn, which made the stitches way too tight to knit them on the 1's. I thought about switching to #2's, but figured that would be a major mistake, since I am getting 20 stitches /inch with this yarn and 1's. That's right...way bigger than gauge for this pattern. However, what I've got so far is fitting perfectly. Once I stopped stretching the yarn to knit it, and started knitting it slack it was much easier and obviously made for a much softer feel.I'm going to keep up with the Fixation until I finish the heel and see how the fit is. I'm kind of stoked that I went and got this stuff, because not only is the elastic seeming to make these fit better, but the cotton will enable me to wear them in the summer without worrying about the heat, and I can throw them in the washer (gasp!) with the rest of my clothes.

Here's hoping that this works, cause I really want a pair of these socks.