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bayareafrancy

Phooey! I want to abandon my first-ever sock for a different one

bayareafrancy
15 years ago

Now, I hate to be a quitter. The voice in my head is berating me big time.

But the problem is, I began my first-ever sock with fingering yarn on #2 needles. It takes me at least an hour to make an inch of progress. Which is discouraging. Since I am so cumbersome with the dpns, I don't really feel like I'm "knitting." There is no nice rhythm. Just a lot of eyeball-poking avoidance, and cramped fingers.

At this point, I don't even want to be in the same room with that sock. I haven't touched it for a week.

But the yarn was 10 bucks, and so were the dpns, so I feel bad dumping them (even though I can certainly go back to them someday).

Soooooo, yesterday at Beverly's I found some lovely soft pink (my favorite color) washable wool (worsted weight). And #5 dpns (at 25% off!!). So I bought them.

I can start a new "first sock" right? It doesn't mean I'm a failure, right? Or wasteful? Do I have to promise I will eventually do the other fingering weight sock in order for this to be ok?

If I do this, should I just frog the first sock? Or leave it on the needles? It will certainly pain me to rip it out after so many hours of work (resulting in ONLY 3 inches of sock!!). Then again, the ladders look lousy....

Will someone please give me permission to proceed with a clear conscience?

:-)

Francy

Comments (5)

  • sandra_ferguson
    15 years ago

    Life is WAAAAAY too short to not have the best possible time we can...so, have at that new sock if that's what you want to do...stick the old one back and maybe you'll want to do another later, when you're an old hand at socks....you can either leave it on needles or put it on a stray piece of yarn, which is what I'd do

  • Janey - formerly jane2
    15 years ago

    Putting it on a spare piece of yarn is the best way.(Yarn of a different colour so it will be easier to remove when you are ready.) One separate piece of yarn for each needle. If you leave the stitches on the needles it will stretch the yarn around the needles.
    When you return to the fingering weight, you might want to frog your first sock attempt at that point - because your ladders will probably be smaller. But leave the frogging until you are going to do something with it.

    And perhaps all is not lost - have you thought about using your 3" of knitted fingering weight as something else? An iPod cozy or a cell phone cozy maybe? (That way you will not have to knit a second one - nor much more.)

    All the best whatever you choose,
    Jane2 here (Janey on knitting blogs)

    Sandra, I really liked what you called it - "stray yarn".

  • tami_ohio
    15 years ago

    Francy, if you want to start a new "first sock", go ahead. But I will tell you that, using double points or one long circular (majic loop method, my favorite way), it still takes me about that much time to do an inch. We took a trip on the turnpike one time, DH driving and me knitting. I put a marker in the place I was when we got on, and checked the time stamp on the turnpike ticket when we got off. I put another marker at that place on the sock. When we got home, I measured that distance between markers, measured a sock I had previously made, and figured that a simple sock with about two inches of ribbing for the cuff and the rest of the sock in stockinette stitch, it took me 20-25 hours to knit one pair of socks. So don't get discouraged that it takes you so long to do it. I've been knitting socks for about 8 years. You really aren't much slower than I am! You might get the hang of dbl pts faster with the bigger needles and yarn, and get a good rythm going with them, then go back to the size 2 (which is what I use) and find it works just fine. And, yes, put the already started sock on some waste/stray yarn and put the needles away so one doesn't get lost or broken. Let us know how you do. Oh, and the ladders with lessen with practice! Just tug the first couple of sts a bit tighter than usual as you start the next needle, that will help with the ladders. You will still have small ones, but they will relax into the sock when it is finished.

    Tami

  • bayareafrancy
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thank you for the advice and encouragement!

    I started my new sock last night, and I actually finished the ribbing (15 rows) in under 2 hours. Whew! I am enjoying this yarn sooooo much more! A huge problem I had with the fingering weight was that it was so fine, I couldn't get the tension right, no matter how I held it. So the stitches looked really bad and uneven.

    But with the bigger yarn, and bigger needles, I actually have a nice rhythm going now that I'm on the stockinette leg. But the leg is certainly loooooong. This could take a while.

    Another thing I did was switch from 4 needles to 3. Although I've read that ladders are less of a problem with 4, changing from needle to needle is my slowest part. So removing one needle helped get the rhythm going. And this new worsted weight yarn seems more forgiving of ladders too (and I constantly migrate stitches).

    So, happy day! I actually woke up this morning eager to say hello to my little stump of sock (compared to tiptoeing as I walked past the old one, in case it heard me and wondered when I was coming back).

    A cozy is a great idea. I hadn't thought of that!

    :-)

    francy

  • socks
    15 years ago

    Francy, you are so funny. I'd take that "sassy little stump of a sock" and wind that yarn right back onto the ball where it came from. You can start it another time when you are more comfortable with the double points, which are really difficult in the beginning. Someone compared it to knitting with a porcupine. Once you are better, you will not be happy with those ladders.

    If you only knew how many times I started socks over, ripped out, backed up rows and rows. My first socks I knitted inside out. But-- I figure either way I'm knitting, and it's not a race to see how fast I can get done.

    I've had every knitting problem invented and some I invented myself, but I've not had ladders. I pull the second stitch tight after going to the next needle, and that seems to handle it.

    Glad you're enjoying your second start.

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