Auntie Ann Knits

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Sock Ease

I didn't knit much at family camp. I've been trying to knit my first "real" sock (not a tube sock), and I think it's too large -- too late, I remembered that a sock foot should have "negative ease" -- that is, off your foot it should measure slightly smaller than the foot itself. It's toe-up, so I think I have to rip back to the toe increases and do fewer of them.

I mean, just look at this thing:
Sock the first

I like the stripes, but it's clearly too wide. Also, the pattern called for casting-on 6 stitches, which was looking like a sock for a witch, or maybe it's just that my toes are short and stubby, so I ripped it and cast on 9 instead (just 3 stitches, but it's an increase of 50%!) and the toe looks much better. If only I hadn't gotten carried away with the increases.

Also, on a whim (which is how almost everything related to this blog happens) I added two new buttons in the sidebar allowing my many readers (both of you) to subscribe via something called FeedBlitz or something called Bloglines. I had some trouble with my subscriptions to my fave blogs via Bloglines at first, but I e-mailed them and they fixed the problem. This is going to save me much time in keeping up with my daily requirement, which includes more knitting blogs than I care to admit to in public.

We're back from family summer camp, and had a great time, but all of the pix worth seeing are on DH's camera, which I can't access (find) just now. DD is getting so independent, she and her friends just waved to us at mealtimes (if that) and were out of the dining hall before we had really begun. Alas, she did get one of her migraines one evening (her major trigger is lack of sleep, and kids at family camp run a sleep deficit all week, so much excitement), but it didn't turn into the rip-roaring kind, although it clearly had that potential. My friend (also Annie) the neurologist who was there with us always likens it to falling off a cliff -- you have to get enough meds in fast enough to keep them from falling off a cliff, once they're over the edge there's really nothing you can do. DD's presriptions for migraine meds have been upped recently, and I think that helped. That's not really what I had intended to blog about, but there it is.

We did some great hikes, re-connected with our camp friends (we consider them dear friends, although we see most of them only once a year, for a week), and enjoyed having no responsibilities. It was a warm week for camp, due to the heat wave here in Calif., but very pleasant up there at about 5,000 feet.

Sigh -- back to reality. But at least I've streamlined keeping up with my knitting blogs.

3 Comments:

  • The sock is gorgeous, but I think you are right...you need to rip. By the way, I have been subscribed to your site for some time now, you may be surprised how many subscribers you get.

    Ang

    By Blogger Angela, at Wednesday, July 26, 2006 4:27:00 PM  

  • The stripes are nice and far apart so the eye can rest. What sock yarn are you using? I love the colors!!

    Just start over. It'd have been much worse had you knit a cuff-down sock or 2 simultaneous ones before you hit on this design issue. It's only one sock and then too, toe up - you're in luck I'd say. ;) You just about made the case stronger for choosing to knit socks toe-up. :)

    By Blogger Deepa, at Wednesday, July 26, 2006 6:19:00 PM  

  • Thanks to both of you for your comments! I bit the bullet and ripped. Also, thanks to Deepa for the podcast link, which was very helpful. I have started over from the increases with what I calculate to be 10% negative ease (with toe-up, the sock basically is the swatch). So far, so good, although it's a bit early to tell for sure.

    By Blogger AuntieAnn, at Thursday, July 27, 2006 11:03:00 AM  

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