Sunday, May 31, 2009

It's a Secret

June is a big birthday month in my family. My mother and father both have June birthdays, and I still owe my sister some knits for hers (last November, ungh). So... it's not that I'm not knitting. It's that what I'm knitting is secret.

So, instead of pictures of knitting, have a cat picture. Merlin, sleeping in his bed-turned-into-cat-tunnel. They love the Purr Pad bed!


In not-secret knitting news: Remember this toe? I don't know what it is about toe-up socks, but my gauge gets all weird. I often knit socks with a caston of 60 stitches for myself, and they fit just fine. Sometimes, they're a bit loose, but generally, if I'm using regular (i.e. relatively thin) sock yarn and size 0/2mm needles, they fit. No swatch required. Just knit and go. So... when this toe was done, I decided to use it as a gauge swatch and measure. The pattern calls for 36 sts/4", on US #2 needles. Guess what I got?


You probably didn't guess 26 sts/4". But that's what I got -- giga toe, on US #0 needles. Why? Why???? I don't understand. This is the third or fourth time this has happened to me: cast on toe-up sock, measure gauge/try on, my stitches/rows are enormous. Rip, cast on top down, knit... no problem. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but it's really starting to bug me.
Looks like I'll be knitting toe-up knee-highs on US #00/1.75 mm needles. Hang around for frustration and unladylike language. Or don't. Maybe it's better that way.

12 comments:

fleegle said...

Erm, how about just trying it on. Go to the very first post in my blog and see the instructions for building and measuring a toe-up sock. The only way to go--no casting on and no grafting.

fleegle said...

I'd love for you to have it. Why don't you email me directly at sglinert at aol dot com? We can work out the details. Thanks so much!

adrienne said...

Hmmm, that sucks! What type of toe do you use? (like... provisional cast-on and short rows, or magic cast-on and increases....) I always liked the turkish or magic cast-ons, I could never get the provisional short-row toes to work for me.

Beverly said...

I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I sort of have the same problem, and I just keep knitting. I try it on instead of measuring gauge and I somehow end up with socks that fit.

Kate said...

I wish my cat would sleep in a bed. She takes a perverse delight in sleeping in the most unsuitable place she can find, though!

As for the sock problem, knitting just doesn't have any reasoning to it sometimes and it is evil.

Becky said...

The size thing happens to me, too, but I really like toe-up, so I just adjust to it. Yours sounds pretty radical, though. Keep trying!

Rocky Moreno said...

I love toe up, I think it's the method of knitting toe up that changes your tension. June is big for me too this year, daughter turning 16, son graduating from 8th grade, oh and Fathers Day! 8)

Paige said...

Hmmm. I've never tried toe-up socks but that's weird about your gauge. Good luck with birthday knitting. Can't wait to see what it is!

weezalana said...

I generally don't measure gauge when it comes to socks, just try on as I go. Going with my usual counts for toe-ups, it sometimes *seems* too big when I try the toes on, but most of the time, it fits once I get a bit further down the foot.

Thea said...

Hey - the back to school vest looks great on you! and I like the pink sock too - am impressed that you have the patience to knit the current socks at ALL, with or without foul language. Am sure you'll get through 'em.... I'm kind of a sock dabbler myself. If I don't love the pattern, and it doesn't come super easy, I don't knit the sock.

Kathy Kathy Kathy said...

It's really hard to tell if your toe-ups fit until you're an inch or two past the toe shaping. Mine almost always seem quite a bit too big. I think you should just go with your usual 60. Three inches or so is not so bad to have to rip out. At least you don't have to rip the toe itself. I've got to go see what fleegle's up to. Good luck.

Unknown said...

Maybe it's the combination of how you knit and the yarn? I have gauge issues with Dream in Color, but I got the opposite way where I get way too tight.