This wasn't supposed to be a lesson on gauge but it is!
The sock on the left and the black one on the right are both knit on 60 stitches.
I was sure I could 'feel' the right needle and in my haste to cast on the new Christmasy sock, I just knit away and loved the speed with which it grew!
I plugged away on the black sock and disliked the pattern up the side-boring and it slowed down the rhythm of the colored sock. It also felt tight and uncomfortable to do the knitting.
Under a bright light and with my analytical genes on high alert, I began to search out the disparity.
I knit the black sock on a size 2.00 needle.
The colored sock was knit with a 2.75 needle.
There was a single stitch per inch difference but that was very evident.
The fabric of each sock was also very unlike even though they were both out of the same yarn, Hawthorne fingering weight by KnitPicks.
I will have you know that I ripped out both socks and have them both on my favorite needle, a 2.5mm that has been determined not by my own handling but by measuring!
Imagine that!
I have both socks knit almost to this point already and they are working out the same and now will actually fit and be comfortable!
Imagine that! I always struggle with the right needles for socks too. By now I should know which ones work and which don't but I always have that same struggle whenever I start a sock. I have that issue big time with one I am working on right now. It's huge so it's going in the charity box.
ReplyDeleteOh no!!! You are amazingly stick-to-it when it comes to frustrating roadblocks like this...
ReplyDeleteOh no!!! You are amazingly stick-to-it when it comes to frustrating roadblocks like this...
ReplyDeleteYep ..... size DOES matter! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI had the same problem recently - I stopped knitting on a cardie for a while, needed that circular, put the knitting on another one and thought I put the right one back for knitting... took me half a sleeve to find out that apparently I chose the wrong one:( but like you I have to rip, I would go crazy if I had to look at that difference all the time, once the cardie is finished! never mind, at least the colours are nice - and it reminds me of the sock yarn in christmas colours that I bought last year - and never used..... tick tock, it's coming closer:)
ReplyDeleteYou learned a lot and you taught me something TOO! THanks
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing the difference in a quarter of a millimeter in knitting? Half a millimeter and you earned an extra stitch per inch. I know I am weird but math is fun!!
ReplyDelete