You know that advice that people always give to new knitters? The one that goes something like :
'Read the pattern thoroughly and make sure that you understand it all before you start'.
Well, I think that I should had done that. You see, I was after a nice, conservative sock pattern, so that I can make my father-in-law something to keep his feet warm in the winter when he takes his pooch out for a walk. The yarn that the hubby picked is pretty, but dark, so the pattern would be very subtle. I leafed through my Interweaves and liked the look of the Cable and Rib Sock by Erica Alexander. On the surface it looked nice but not too racy. I cast on immediately and after a couple of days, turned the heel.
Unless you stretch out the sock, you can't see that cable.
Here's the cable, with a bit of greying.
So what's the problem you might add, aside from the dark colour of the yarn... and the not very interesting ribbing?
Well, Erica Alexander has you run the cable down the side of the leg, so that there are equal number of stitches between the 2 cables. She then has you do the heel flap and turning using half of the cable stitches. You pick up the gusset stitches and you continue to cable down the foot, usng half the live cable stitches and the other half from the instep stitches. I thought .. hello... that's not symetrical. (and gosh, darn, don't knitters try to make this kind of pattern symetrical?).. so I ripped the whole thing in disgust ..and I'm now seeking another pattern to start again. Is this me or do patterns like this bother you too?
I wished that this was more obvious in the photo, but more so than this, I wished that I hadn't been so annoyed, because if I saw this before I ripped, I would had done the same thing. In the words of Homer Simpson, doh!
Posted by atu at September 13, 2006 05:07 AM | TrackBackI made a pair of ribbed socks for Sockapaloooza that had a cable down each side and split in half for the heel and top of the sock. The pattern didn't write the directions well and wowza - sock 1 and 2 didn't match - rip rip rip on 2nd sock - the whole thing was slightly disappointing to me but not noticeable to anyone else without a LOT of close examination. I was too far into it to scrap the whole project and I'm glad I didn't. But yes - I really know that frustrating feeling!
Posted by: Laura at September 16, 2006 07:06 AMOh boy, I could literally feel your 'frustration vibe' as I read your post! Doh! is certainly the best expression except that I would have added some hair pulling and raving to accent it ;) if I were in your shoes..
Good luck with finding another pattern!
Posted by: Rain at September 15, 2006 07:22 PMOh boy, I could literally feel your 'frustration vibe' as I read your post! Doh! is certainly the best expression except that Iwould have added some hair pulling and raving to accent it ;) if I were in your shoes..
Good luck with finding another pattern!
Posted by: Rain at September 15, 2006 07:22 PMOh boy, that would have bugged me too. I probably would have either just stopped cabling at the heel or made the heel flap narrower so that the cable could continue. But I definitely wouldn't have ripped out! (I get attached to my knitting that way.)
Hope you find something nice and simple. Maybe something Thuja-esque?
Posted by: Cookie at September 14, 2006 07:53 PMI also suggest the Fall 2006 Interweave, the cable seems to stand out . They look very "manly" .. Good luck.
Posted by: lin at September 14, 2006 03:08 PMHi Polly! I had a look at the photo of that sock, and yes, that jog in the cable somehow seems wrong to me, too. Have you seen the Father and Son socks in this Fall's issue of IK? They have a chevron pattern running down to the toe and a nice cable from the rib to the beginning of the heel. I made a pair for my husband, enjoyed the knitting, and liked the way they turned out.
Posted by: Charlotte at September 14, 2006 02:20 PMSorry about the socks! I was always worried that the cable down the side of the foot would be uncomfortable in a shoe. What about the cable and rib pattern by Nancy Bush in the Fall 2005 IK? I am making that and it is turning out quite nice, and it is a conservative looking sock. It is sized for a woman, but you could add more repeats for a man.
Posted by: Brenda at September 13, 2006 11:26 PMEven though they aren't symmetrical - it is a beautiful sock!
Posted by: mrspao at September 13, 2006 09:14 PMI would have been annoyed by that too. It is a shame--the sock was awfully pretty! But you crank out the socks pretty quickly, so you could always cast on again... right? :-)
Posted by: Beth S. at September 13, 2006 03:46 PMSorry to hear about that! At least it's not like me, where I finished the darn thing and it didn't fit!
Posted by: Peggy at September 13, 2006 03:02 PMI'm not too fussed about making things totally symetrical (apart from sleeves and what not). I suppose is depends on personal taste really.
Posted by: AmyP at September 13, 2006 12:21 PMI was sorry to read that you had problems with the cable and rib socks - I love the pattern! After the heel, the cable just moves across and takes in one of the rib panels. I must have knitted at least 5 pairs in this design and thought they looked quite neat.