You guys, I knit my first sock! And it's totally fugly up-close {trust me}, but I did it!
So I succumbed to the knitting trend that seems to have taken the sewing blog community by storm the past year or two. I first tried my hand at knitting maybe a decade ago when my mom practically taped knitting needles to my hands during one of my vacation breaks home from college. I'm not much of a scarf person so the thought of knitting rows upon rows upon rows of garter stitch or whatever it's called did not appeal to me since I wasn't planning on doing anything with said finished scarf.
But then I saw Tasha's Dragonfly sweater and I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped because it is so freaking gorgeous. Anyway, long story short, my mom gave me some supplies, I bought a few more knitting needles, I've gotten pretty good at searching for tutorials online, and I've completed a cowl, a shawl, and socks!
Well, actually, as my husband put it, "No. You're only halfway done because you still have one more sock to knit." [Insert crying face here].
You guys, I read about 'Second Sock Syndrome' and I didn't understand it until I finished this one sock. I don't want to go through it again! This pattern is Business Casual by Tanis Lavallee. I picked it because it's free and looked fun. The only thing is, this was my first time knitting a sock. First time using double pointed needles. First time knitting cables. I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I started. I'm glad I did it though. I'm glad I just went head first into it without first researching what I needed to know to knit a sock. But it was frustrating. Very frustrating.
Knitting patterns are rough. They're chock full of abbreviations and it took a lot of Googling, watching videos, and plain old just trying to get this sock done.
I didn't do a good job of counting my stitches so I kept getting lost and definitely threw in cables when I wasn't supposed to or knit them wrong way. I'm terrible at undoing stitches and definitely added in stitches (yarn-overs) when I was back-tracking, which I didn't even know was possible to do.
But what I have learned in my 3 (well, 2.5) projects, is that I'm pretty good at sticking to one knitting project at a time. While I'm perfectly content with having multiple unfinished sewing projects lying around, the thought of having a bunch of unfinished knitting projects scares me. I think it's because it is pretty easy to pick up a sewing project since you can see exactly where you left off. But, at least for me, it is much more difficult to just look at a row of stitches and know what the next stitch needs to be. {However I'm getting better with leaving myself notes on which round to start on, etc.} I'm also still getting used to finding the right knitting tension so I'm worried if I don't work on a project for an extended period of time, that when I pick it back up my tension might be significantly different.
Anyway, the sock fits! I've already started on the second sock, as evidenced in the above photo, and it's already easier {I almost have the leg pattern memorized!} and I think it's going faster. What's your opinion on knitting socks? It's one garment that I could definitely see myself wearing a lot, but sheesh, they're kind of a pain to make!
So I succumbed to the knitting trend that seems to have taken the sewing blog community by storm the past year or two. I first tried my hand at knitting maybe a decade ago when my mom practically taped knitting needles to my hands during one of my vacation breaks home from college. I'm not much of a scarf person so the thought of knitting rows upon rows upon rows of garter stitch or whatever it's called did not appeal to me since I wasn't planning on doing anything with said finished scarf.
But then I saw Tasha's Dragonfly sweater and I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped because it is so freaking gorgeous. Anyway, long story short, my mom gave me some supplies, I bought a few more knitting needles, I've gotten pretty good at searching for tutorials online, and I've completed a cowl, a shawl, and socks!
Well, actually, as my husband put it, "No. You're only halfway done because you still have one more sock to knit." [Insert crying face here].
You guys, I read about 'Second Sock Syndrome' and I didn't understand it until I finished this one sock. I don't want to go through it again! This pattern is Business Casual by Tanis Lavallee. I picked it because it's free and looked fun. The only thing is, this was my first time knitting a sock. First time using double pointed needles. First time knitting cables. I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I started. I'm glad I did it though. I'm glad I just went head first into it without first researching what I needed to know to knit a sock. But it was frustrating. Very frustrating.
Knitting patterns are rough. They're chock full of abbreviations and it took a lot of Googling, watching videos, and plain old just trying to get this sock done.
I didn't do a good job of counting my stitches so I kept getting lost and definitely threw in cables when I wasn't supposed to or knit them wrong way. I'm terrible at undoing stitches and definitely added in stitches (yarn-overs) when I was back-tracking, which I didn't even know was possible to do.
But what I have learned in my 3 (well, 2.5) projects, is that I'm pretty good at sticking to one knitting project at a time. While I'm perfectly content with having multiple unfinished sewing projects lying around, the thought of having a bunch of unfinished knitting projects scares me. I think it's because it is pretty easy to pick up a sewing project since you can see exactly where you left off. But, at least for me, it is much more difficult to just look at a row of stitches and know what the next stitch needs to be. {However I'm getting better with leaving myself notes on which round to start on, etc.} I'm also still getting used to finding the right knitting tension so I'm worried if I don't work on a project for an extended period of time, that when I pick it back up my tension might be significantly different.
Anyway, the sock fits! I've already started on the second sock, as evidenced in the above photo, and it's already easier {I almost have the leg pattern memorized!} and I think it's going faster. What's your opinion on knitting socks? It's one garment that I could definitely see myself wearing a lot, but sheesh, they're kind of a pain to make!
Wow, I can't believe this is your third project!!! Socks as a third project, you are amazing! Do you have any tips for me? My February challenge is to make pair of socks. I bought a Craftsy class, but I'm still nervous :/
ReplyDeleteDepending on how well you handle frustration, I would either recommend doing what I did (pick any pattern that interests you, jump right in and figure it out as you go on, most likely making a lot of mistakes) or pick a simple pattern with stuff you're comfortable with (only knit or some lace and purl) just so you can get used to knitting socks. If you just jump right in, then be sure you have a phone or ipad handy to google stuff! There were many moments where I wanted to pull my hair out because I didn't know how to interpret the pattern instructions or I came across something I didn't know how to do (cables and ssk and cf2 and cb2.....*gah! why are knitting patterns soooo abbreviated!*)
ReplyDeleteAlso, you can either knit socks with double pointed needles or with the the other needles that are connected (not sure of the exact term, but I'm sure you know what I mean), but you have to knit "magic loop" style with those. I tried to learn the magic loop method, but it wasn't coming that easy for me and I was being inpatient so I stuck with the dpns.
Oh also, most importantly, I thought I only needed 2 dpns and didn't understand why the store had them bundled in sets of 4 or 5. Glad I picked up a package of 5 because you definitely need 4 to knit socks and I ended up using the 5th for the cables since I don't have a "jumper".
I'm pretty sure all of my rambling just made you more nervous! You've knitted a ton of stuff, so I'm sure you'll be fine!!