Voila!

They're done! I used Koigu as the pattern suggests, but I made them shorter than knee socks. They are a little tight to put on, but other than that they feel very comfortable and I really like them. I've never done toe-up or short row heels before, so all the advice here on the KAL was really useful. There are more details on my BLOG

(A little more than) halfway there!

One down, about half of the second sock to go! I haven't blocked it yet, but as you can see the first sock is done. As is also readily apparent, it's just in time as the innards of my center-pull ball have spilled themselves out all over everything and if I don't rewind it soon I'll have one heckuva mess on my hands, if I don't already.

To make the socks fit my legs I have tapered the size of the squares from the ankle to the top as follows: I worked 5 CC tiers at 6 stitches each; 3 CC tiers at 7 stitches; 1 CC tier at 8 stitches; and 1 CC tier at 9 stitches for a grand total of 10 tiers of CC squares. Since my squares had more stitches at the top than the pattern specified I had to fudge the directions for the ending triangles a bit. Eunny picked up 8 stitches to begin each end triangle on a 7 stitch square , so following the logic of picking up 1 more stitch than the squares had, I picked up 10 stitches on my 9 stitch squares for each triangle. When I picked up stitches for the ribbing I had forgotten to count how many stitches I had, but it was on the loose side so I a) decreased right away down to 92 stitches total, and b) did the ribbing in k2 p2 instead of a single rib. I also did just 12 rows instead of the fold-over cuff with the tassle thing. I used a bind-off that's very stretchy but I don't know what it's called - it's been used on every lace shawl I've made and makes a beautiful elastic edge. I think the socks could be more snug at the top but it will do. But that is a clue to me as to why that tassle/drawstring was part of the pattern in the first place - I don't think they could be really snug at the top without some help.

I must say that I am VERY glad that the 2nd sock is already done to above the ankle so that I don't have such a daunting time to finishing the pair, and that the yarn untangling has been completed.

Stick a fork in 'em...

... 'cause they are done! :)



More details over on my blog. Thanks to everyone here for sharing your experiences on this one. You all definitely helped clarify the pattern for me and inspired me to soldier on with these. Can't wait to see more awesome pairs of socks here in the coming weeks. :)

*crickets*

Its been quite in here this week. I'm working on the heel of my second sock, I did a flap instead of the short row heel and it worked out quite nicely. I increased the blocks for the last CC row and then did a reverse dutch heel. I think that the short row heel looks better, but I like knitting and the feel of a flap better. I'll post up some pics after I finish the second one.

Making progress

I've been working hard on my socks, and have gotten sock #1 along to about 4 tiers of CC, so it's nearly a crew-sock length. More of my thoughts on the socks can be found here.

Chugging Along

I am chugging along. Knitting socks two at once wears at me sometimes since the progress seems so much slower. (on top of the fact I'm slow anyway) I keep at it since I feel like I might never make the second one if I did them one at a time. I think my entrelac is a bit quirky and perahps I could use some pratice. I think some of these quarks will be minimized by the time I'm done. (and hey no one sees the feet anyway.) Lucky for me these quirks don't show up too badly on the pictures.



The other one looks exactly the same, so you get one pic on the foot :)



And a closeup.

I've been a bad participant!

I joined this group last month, but except for leaving a few comments, I haven't even introduced myself! So hi! I'm Jessica and I've already finished my first of these socks:




It's been an interesting knit since I had never done entrelac before trying this sock. You can read more about my thoughts on these on this personal blog post. One question for the group right now, for those who have finished and worn these, how does the bottom of the foot feel? That's one of the things I found the most odd about this pattern, all those lumps and bumps on the sole of the foot. I'll be curious to hear all your thoughts. Thanks for the KAL and I look forward to seeing more of these! :)

Hi!

I just wanted to say "Hi!" to the group. I will be making these socks, but won't have my yarn for four more weeks when my knitting group goes on a shopping field trip. However, I will be reading along to learn from those who have gone before me on these awesome socks.

Making progress

Here's my progress so far. The yarn is Koigu which I love. This is my first toe-up pattern, so I'm glad to have this KAL to refer to. I used the easy toe from SKS because it seemed like the simplest way to get started. I'm nervous about the heel, but I've printed out all the tips I've found here so I'm sure I'll be fine.

Knitting along

Hello, fellow Entrelac Sock knitters! I just joined this knitalong so I've got a bit of catching up to do. I really enjoyed reading everyone else's thoughts and input - it's great to know that some of the problems that have rattled around in my head weren't just me - it looks like many of us are experiencing some of the same things.

I have come to realize that sock designers as a breed must be really tight knitters. I know I knit loosely, but there's no way I can get my gauge to match many of the beautiful socks that I see in Knitty, knitting magazines, other blogs, etc. And I do find that getting a dense yarn like Koigu to knit up at anything less than 6.5 st per inch or so to be impossible on any size needles. I used some Cherry Hill Farm sock yarn that I had on hand,which is definitely thinner than Koigu, but even then I couldn't get my gauge to be any less than 7.75 st per inch, even on US Size 00 needles. As I wear a size 6/6.5 shoe I knew I wanted the socks to be smaller than the pattern, but my gauge was already bigger, so what to do? (this is where it might have been good to read all those knitalong entries about size issues before I started!)

I ended up deciding to do the pattern as described but with % stitch blocks instead of 6. Since the toe-up design allows for trying on as you go, I found that after 3 CC tiers I needed to go up to the 6 st blocks called for. I've now gotten sock #1 done through just past the heel, and have decided that as all of the really tricky parts are in the foot that ultimately I would be a happier person (and one more likely to end up with a pair of socks rather than a singleton) if I went ahead and started sock # 2 now, and get it up to the same point before I start on the leg section. As of tonight I am a couple of tiers into the 2nd sock and am glad to have that toe cast-on done with.

More to follow soon! (sorry for the goofy picture order; I've just started blogging and find the picture inserting to be really problematic!)

Eunny Sayz

"Hey, I just found this! It's great that there's a knitalong, though
I'm sorry to hear that people are having elasticity issues.
I have a couple things to note:

1) DO NOT SLIP THE FIRST STITCHES OF YOUR ROWS. Seriously. Bias fabric isn't terribly stretchy anyway, and over the whole circumference of the sock, this will severely limit how much lateral stretch the sock has (i.e., how easily it will pull over the heel). The directions specifically call for NOT slipping the first stitches of the rows, and the accompanying article notes this. It will help, I promise.

2) The sock is written with a classic short row heel because it fits seamlessly into the entrelac structure, and because I think it looks cool to have a heel that first into the surrounding blocks like a puzzle piece. You *could* knit a gusseted flap-style heel, but it would require increasing the size of the bottom three blocks leading up to it to act as the gussets.

3) If you have big calves (like me - there's no way I could have worn the socks pictured), you will want to add another set of increase rows. Basically, when the sock reaches to the point at which your calf begins to widen, work your first set of increase rows (7 stitch/14 row blocks). Halfway between there and the widest part of your calf, work another set of increase rows in the same way (8 stitch/16 row blocks). This will give you another inch and a half or so of calf circumference. I did this for the ones I'm knitting, and it's working great.

4) Swatch, swatch, swatch. If your sock is too tight, go up in needle size. If it's too big, go down. Add or remove a stitch and two rows to or from each block. Make little adjustments to fine tune the fit.

Happy Knitting!
Eunny"

Hi all

I started my socks Friday and (for some unknown reason) decided that it would be a good idea to knit them two at once. I'm using Knit Picks Essential in Navy and Ash.

You can stick them with a fork

Guess what? I finished my socks!



I used just over 3 skeins of Koigu; 2 for the main color and 1 plus a smidgen of the second skein for the contrast color (so if you want them a bit shorter, you can definitely get away with 3 skeins all together and save some $$). I didn't do quite knee-highs -- more like calf-highs. I'm not really sure I would recommend that, but my goal was to knit as high as I could with one ball of the main color. They fit ok. I mean, I knew when I started that I don't have size 8 feet and that is what size the pattern is written for, but I think they probably fit me better than they would a true size 8. I can get them over my heels. They are a bit snug going on and coming off, but it is just a quick tug, not a 3 or 4 minute procedure like Bex had with her first sock try.


I really did enjoy making these. I learned how to knit back backwards which besides being fun to say, is fun to do and I did that a lot on the second sock. There are also far far fewer mistakes on the second sock!

I am teaching these as a class at my LYS at the end of the month and I have to knit a shop sample starting like tonight. I'm a bit worried about the sizing issues. Maybe I just need to cross my fingers for more process knitters than product knitters, right?

I like Bex's idea of using stretch yarn like Fixation. The shop does not carry that, but we do have Lana Grossa Point Print and Solid which is really close and a bit lighter even... Hummmm.... That is a good possibility. Ok, I'm starting to feel a bit better now....

Elastic Entrelac

The Cascade Fixation is working much better than the wool yarn that I originally used. The pattern gauge calls for 17 sts/2inches, which is what I had...though my wool sock was not easy to pull on, and almost impossible to pull off. I had to modify the pattern to get it to fit my foot, etc. However, the Fixation was giving me a gauge of 20sts/2 inches on the size 2 needles, and I haven't had to modify much at all.
I absolutely agree with brainymom that the heel sucks. Even with the elastic yarn, it takes a good tug to get it on my heel, and it is the tightest part of my sock. I modified it a bit by fixing the messed up count on the short rows, but that was about it. I was able to get a really nice fit with the 5 CC tiers in the foot portion, and unlike my other sock, I will be able to get by with the increases in the leg that the pattern calls for.
I picked a striping yarn for the CC, so it does some kind of fun things as the pattern goes on.
If anyone has not started these socks yet, I highly recommend using an elastic yarn, like the Cascade Fixation. I don't think that entrelac is really meant for a knee-high sock without some kind of synthetic fiber help. I am, however, in suspense over here...waiting to hear back from the knitters using the koigu!

First post here!

Hi guys!
Here's my entrelac socks in progress...

The pink yarn in Regia silk and the burgundy yarn is Regia silk shine. I've tried using both yarns to make socks but it just never worked out, but they work great together, don't you think?
I've since finished the 5th CC tier and am supposed to work on the heels, but I put it on and I think it's not quite long enough. What should I do?

I am done with sock #1 and ya know what? I don't like it.
damn.
I didn't like knitting it, I hate the way she did the heel, it has no elasticity (I don't think entrelac is a very good choice for a knee-high sock really)
it's cute, yeah, but my time and yarn could go to better uses. blah. I hate being disappointed, but I'm not doing the second sock.
son of a bitch

Finished!!!!!!!

YEAH!!!! This pattern has caused me some trouble, I had to add an extra CC tier in the foot, and then I had difficulties getting the sock over my heel. So to solve that I started my leg increases early. Then, I didn't feel like doing extra leg increases for the sock to fit over my large calves, so I decided to end the sock at a regular crew length. I am SOOOOO glad to finally have finished this pair of socks. In the first pic, one sock looks bigger than the other. This is because one sock had just come off my foot (and had been stretched) and the other had just come off the needles. So, now I guess I can say that my entrelac socks were based on the Entrelac socks from the Spring 2007 Interweave issue. Since I barely followed the pattern.

I used Knitpicks Gloss yarn in Burgundy and Serengeti, using only one hank of each. I did enjoy knitting these, and I think I might make another pair to pattern specs when I've lost some more weight.

Almost ready to start

I've been wanting to knit the entrelac socks, and I think this KAL will be fun and motivating. I just have to finish up the pair of socks I'm knitting now and wait for my yarn order to arrive. It's not like I really need more sock yarn - I have enough for something like 51 pairs of socks. However, I looked through my stash, and even though there were some yarns that would have probably worked, none of them seemed to be quite right for this project. So I ordered some Koigu - it seemed like a perfectly logical choice for an obsessed knitter like me! I'm looking foward to working on these socks and seeing everyone's masterpieces.