SideWinders Discussion

Today I want to talk about the SideWinders Sock Pattern by Nona of nonaKnits. 

A while back I got turned off of the whole making socks thing.  Tiny needles, tiny yarn, same 'ol construction and it took forever to make a sock.  Meh.  For me, worsted weight yarn + bigger needles = quicker project, mainly with sweaters, which I needed, so that was a total win.

This pattern does have some of the things I don't like: tiny needles and tiny yarn.  But the cool thing about it is the construction.  This pattern is done flat, not in the round.  There are no dpns or two circs to deal with.  It very much reminds me of the Baby Surprise Jacket that EZ created.  It looks very weird as you are knitting it, but when it comes together,  you just have to say, Wow!

To be upfront, let me state that I have not finished the pair socks.  One sock is complete and the other is on the needles.  This post is both my notes to myself and to get your input on the changes that I want to make on these socks.

The completed sock above is done on US Size 1 needles in Malabrigo Sock Yarn in the Stonechat colorway.
When reading about how other people did this, I found that most were talking about how fast the pattern was to complete.  I was shaking my head in confusion because mine were not moving quickly off the needles.  Then I went back and checked.  Most people are using thicker fingering yarn and US Size 2 needles.  So, I've totally been doing this to myself by picking smaller yarn and needles.   That's okay, I'm still getting gauge. 

The pattern is well done.  When it was published, it was done serially with one section of the pattern being shown a day.  During the Olympics I tried to challenge myself to getting one section done a night and it was great fun doing it that way.  It didn't work, thanks to life and children interruptions, but I did try.

Each line of the pattern is broken down thusly:  Cuff, Leg, Heel, Foot, Toe.  I used a different color stitch marker for each section so that I could better remember the stitch patterns in that section.

Cuff:  Done in a Garter Rib

The cuff is probably the most difficult for me out of the whole pattern.  Evidently, remembering which row comes next, even though it written down in front of me, is too much of a mental challenge.  It looks fine from this view, but trust me, it's not.  It doesn't bother me enough to go fix it though.

Leg:  Has calf shaping:

There are three times that you must stop and put in some short rows to shape the calves.  You can see the shaping up above pretty well.  Probably the simplest short row technique that I've done in any pattern.

One odd thing about the leg section though, is that the back of the leg is done in garter stitch while the rest is in stockinette.  I would like to know why the author did it that way.  I'm curious.  The garter did an excellent job hiding all the grafting.  Ewww!  there's that word, "grafting".  More about that bad word in a minute.  On my next set of socks, not this pair, I would like to do the whole thing in garter stitch, just for fun.  But would the bottom of the foot catch on too much stuff? 

Heels:  Done only with increase and decrease stitches:

Notice anything different about the two sides of the same heel?  One is done with increases and the other with decreases.  This is my first issue with this sock pattern.  They look completely different.  Also, one side has major holes, especially when the fabric is stretched to accommodate a foot.  I am not a fan of the M1 increase.  I don't like the look of holes in my fabric.  I am considering using a kfb or pfb increase in the second sock.  I might even use Techknitter's invisible increase.  I haven't decided.  What do you think?  The two sides would still be different, but at least one side wouldn't have large holes in it.

Toe:  Look how pretty the top looks:

I love the look of the toe section in the top of the foot.  Look how clean and pretty that is!

But the bottom? 

 

Not so much.

In the toe part, the author has you use a slip stitch edge.  In a perfect world, each of those edge stitches would be exactly the same size and quality.  Not in my world.  Just look how awful that turned out.  On the second sock, I am omitting the slip stitch edge altogether.  When it comes time to graft the two sides together, I plan on using the Bickford Seaming Method.  I love it for making almost invisible seams.

Grafting:  Now comes the dirty word.  By the end of this pattern, if you haven't conquered grafting, you never will.  There is a section of seemingly never ending grafting.  You will learn it, learn it well, and never be fearful of grafting again.  There's nothing like repetition as a teaching tool.  I got to where I was saying "In down, Off needle, Out up, Now the other side!"  Tedious, but if you embrace the whole thing in a zen kind of moment, it's not too bad.

In summation:

I'm loving the pattern.  I love weird construction.  These are also, by far, the best fitting sock (soon I can say socks here in this sentence) that I own.  I have a very, very narrow foot. Most socks slide all around on my foot and slip at the heel.  Not these babies.  Nona breaks down the pattern into narrow, normal and wide and I absolutely love that.  I just paid attention to gauge and shoe size and now I'm a happy camper knitter.

One complaint that I have seen from most people is that it's too tight at the top of the foot while putting it on.  I found that if you point your toe the entire time you are putting the sock on, it's not bad at all.  If I put it on without that toe pointed though, yeah, there's no give at all.  Some people are adding a few stitches in that section to combat that.  I'm leaving it alone, I'm not messing with the perfect fit that I've gotten. 

What changes would I make?  I'm still going to change the increase section and I really want to do leg in garter stitch.  My Dad requested some socks and he may get the next pair like that.  I am also going to do the different toe graft on the second sock and I'll let you know how it goes. Other than that?  I wouldn't change a thing. 

Seriously great day

Today was a seriously good day. I ditched all motherly duties and responsibilities, foisted them off on the hubby and went shopping for makeup and purses and cheesecake. We're talkin' serious heaven here folks.

AND, I got a sock off the needles:



Taking a picture of a sock on your foot and making sure the picture is clear is not the easiest thing I've ever done in my life. The second sock is already on the needles, but may take a while to complete since I'm only working on it in the afternoon school car pool lines. Oh the joy of being a knitting mom. Doesn't my life sound exciting?

So, I'm going to make myself sit down in the evenings and start working on the corset again. I got seriously bummed by ripping it off the needles 4 times. I WILL finish this. I want it, I have to have it and I will look so sexy-fine wearing it too! :)

Happy Dance, New Sock

Use your imagination for a moment and picture me at this moment doing a major happy dance. YIPPEEEE!!! School has started once again!

HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY.

Ok, I feel better now. I was sick to death of hearing "Mom, what can I do?" said in a whiny tone of voice. When I made suggestions, they were never the ones Eldest wanted to hear. I swear, People with no children will never understand the joy that school starting again can bring.

Proud of himself!

I promised I'd show the new sock that I'm working on. This is from Charlene Schurch's book, Sensational Knitted Socks. This is the Laburnum Socks. I'm using the red and purple yarn that I dyed here. I've been itching to try the yarn out and see how it would work up and I love it! Lookee - stripes! Even the gray is getting in on the act. I'm impressed. I wasn't even looking to make self-striping yarn.

OOOH, AAHH!

Look closely at the terrible Microsoft Paint addition to the photo. See, I do my best knitting if I have something to listen to. The Green is what I managed to do at my Mom and Dad's last week during idle chitchat. The Yellow is the heel I completed watching Mission Impossible 1. The Red/Blue was done watching M.I.2 Have I told you how much that movie sucks? Consider this my first movie review. (Yes, if you didn't know before, you know now - I'm like umpteen dozen years behind in movies.) Why did I get so little done? I walked out of the living room after about 20 minutes or so. I left the hubby to torture himself with the rest of the movie.

Sock update and what I found in the puppy kennel

Sock Update: This may be TMI for the un-knitterly folk out there, but this is also my working notes. If I don't write it down somewhere, I'll never get a second sock like this one.

I told you I had the first one finished and here it is. It's a hybrid of sorts. I did the magic cast on for the toe. Sounds fancy doesn't it? The circumference of the sock started at 30 stitches. I, however, have an incredibly narrow skinny foot. So, after the toe was complete, I did 6 rows of 30 then decreased to 28 sts. This actually worked pretty well.

I did plain stockinette on the body of the sock then did a short row heel. See, here's the problem with being a self-taught combo knitter, there's no-one to consult when you get stuck. Short rows and I currently do not get along. I wish, desperately, that I had someone to show me the proper way to wrap these. I really need to find a sock knitting class somewhere. These turned out okay, just not exactly good. Maybe I'll catch on when I get to the second sock. I was pretty disgusted with the heel thing so by the time I got to the top of the foot I gave out of steam and turned them into ankle socks with a 2x2 rib.

One lesson learned with these: when the directions say you may want to pick up an extra stitch when working the heel, do it! I have a lovely little hole on either side of the ankle that I now get to go back and sew up. great. just great.

Love the colors in this yarn!

In an effort to avoid the other sock, here's the progress on my Annie Modesitt Silk Corset - 'cept it's gonna be bamboo. I'm sure that sooner or later this will drive me back to the other sock. I can only take patterns for so long before I go nuts. Of course, that also goes for short row heels. This bamboo is really pretty. It's got a nice low key sheen to it.

Photographs nicely on the side of the grill doesn't it?

You turn your back for two seconds and an 18 month old disappears. That's it, that's all it takes and God help you if he gets quiet about it. So, I heard the silence and went looking (rushing) for him. Couldn't find him the first go-around the house, so I went again. Remember that we are puppy-sitting for a few days?

Look what I found in the puppy kennel today!

Mother's day and cat beds

Happy Mother's Day!

Mine's been great. I got to sleep late (always a huge plus), at least til 8:30. The main reason? The baby slept til 8:30, which never, ever happens. Then we went to the in-laws and had a fantabulous dinner; filet mignon, basil grape tomatoes, creamed spinach, twice baked potatoes and to top it off was the most wonderful cheesecake I've ever had in my life. I was bad and had two huge pieces of the cheesecake and I'll be paying for that for the next month.

I finished the silly socks! Yeah! I also got in some time with the stole. I have until June 22nd (my mom's bday) to get that done.

Silly socks on the Silly boy's feet.

I know that most people have fancy cat tents or home-made cat beds, but really, why have those when you can have something that is obnoxious, doesn't match any other furniture, and takes up a quarter of the living room floor?

Super heroes and Silly Socks

I know why God put me on this planet. It was so that I could torture and annoy my children. Now, I'm not talking real "torture" here folks, don't go thinkin' anything crazy like that. I love my kids, I really do and I really enjoy picking on them. I can't help myself. I blame my Dad.

Take tonight for instance. It was my prayer night (we alternate who listens to my eldest's prayers every night). I seem to have this genius that tells me to get my kids all wired out and all right before bedtime. pure genius. After the prayers and tickle fest, I started in on his super heroes. Now this kid is obsessed with super heroes. Wants to be one of course, The super race car driver hero with super powers, the kind that avoids possum roadkill at the speed of light or some such. Anyway, at this age, it takes nothing to get them arguing, so I started in calling him Blunder Woman. There were many "I'm NOT Blunder Woman!"s. I progressed to talking about FatMan and StuporMan and of course there was more tickling til he couldn't breathe. I then got my kiss goodnight and walked out and left him to try and calm back down for sleep. Ahhhh. I'm feeling better now.

We had a pretty busy weekend. On Sunday eldest had his final soccer game and trophy night. Could someone PLEASE explain to me why boys feel the need to grab themselves during an entire game of soccer? Especially when they're goalie, standing by themselves where everyone can see them really well? Is it testosterone poisoning? I had to send his father over there to tell him to quit grabbing himself. Got a couple of blackmail pictures out of it though for his later dating years. :)

As far as knitting goes, yes, I have been doing it. I am still working on the second sock, but should be finished with it soon. Then I can go back to the stole that I need to get finished by late June. Curses on the distractions of silly socks! They were a good break from staring at patterns though.

Silly boy with Silly Sock

The first sock is finished!

Woohoo! I finished the first sock! It's far from perfect, but I'm proud of myself anyway. It actually looks like a sock. Yeah me! Now, on to the second sock! Did ya like all the exclamation points? Today, their my specialty.

Now ya wanna hear about the huge mistake I made at the toe of the sock? I finished up the toe with the kitchener stitch and was patting myself on the back, when I noticed something a little wonky. I wish I had taken a picture of it, you would have laughed and laughed. It seems the finished seam was perpendicular to the toes! (Catch the homophones in the last sentence?) Not sure how I did it, but it took forever to fix. So, I spent my afternoon frogging and correcting.

the corrected sock

Things I am learning while knitting my first official sock:

disclaimer: Those who are not knitters may want to disregard the majority of this post, unless socks and knitting seem like a fun read, of course.

Things I am learning while knitting my first official sock:

1. That repetitive motion stuff hurts. From my elbow to my wrist is killing me. I've completed two sweaters now and this never came up before. ouch.
2. I am still not a perfectionist. Found several mistakes. I refuse to go back and rip these, cause frankly, I don't care that much. The mistakes are not overt and besides, these are gonna end up on a 6 year old boy who will mostly wear these to bed at night. Trust me, he likes to wear silly socks to bed. he's weird. So, I'm gonna semi-record the mistakes here, take them as a lesson learned and go on.
3. It really does matter which way the loops go on the sticks. Yes, figured that one out. I'm a combined knitter, which I'm told is sort of a hybrid style. So, I was knitting through the back of the loop as usual and many rows down noticed that my sts were twisted. damn. When I got to the stockinettes I corrected this.
4. However. It got messed up again when I began the heel and started purling the correct way. which, of course, led to more twisted sts. damn.
5. On a good note, I taught myself to use two circular needles to make the sock. This is fun. I didn't want to do dpn's cause a) they scare me and b) I already had the needles that I needed.
6. I am using yarn harlot's guide to making a sock, a plain vanilla sock. I like this. It's done like my style of cooking. A little of this, a dab of that, a few inches here, there and so on. I knew she was cool.
7. Self striping yarn is pretty groovy. Changing colors of yarns is not something I've learned to do yet. lazy is an artform you know. Look what the twisted stitches versus the correct ones do to the gray and white patterning in the stripes. that's okay. I forgive myself. he likes silly socks. :)
   

So anyways, I began this a few nights ago and here's the sock in progress (with a lemon for some flavah): mmmm. lemons.

Socks and Bags

Yeah! My first knitting project is complete! Not bad for a beginner huh? Although the cuffs make my ankles look huge in the picture, it's not so bad in person. I got the pattern from Bev's Really Quick Knit Socks
Sooner or later I will try making socks with dpns or circular needles, but for now I'm just too chicken. I am trying to make my brother's upcoming new son a baby blanket, but will have to post on that later.
I also managed to finish a new purse a few weekends ago. The embroidery was so cute with the fabrics that I picked out for it. It's now in someone else's hands, but I wish I could have kept it.