Friday, October 27, 2006

Classy Cables

Daddy asked for some plain colored socks he could wear when he dresses up. He likes his "flashy" socks a lot but not for going out. I find this odd since he wears Hawaiian print shirts for dress up. Maybe that's the problem. His flashy shirts and flashy socks are clashing. At any rate, I've started a pair of Opal Uni socks in Farbe 1269. To keep me from being bored to death with a solid color pair of socks I chose a cabled pattern.


Nice, eh? It's the Men's Cable Socks pattern from the Vogue Knitting Socks Two book. I really like it alot. I like the little cables so much that I'd love to carry them down the top of the foot. Here's my problem with that idea...

The pattern was originally written for size 5 needles and dk weight yarn with a CO of 64 stitches for the rib then increasing to 72 stitches for the cabled pattern. Since I'm using a fingering weight yarn I knew I needed a size 1 needle and I normally use a 64 stitch CO for Daddy's socks with fingering weight and my size 1 Turbos. No problem there. I wondered if the 72 stitches in the cable pattern would be enough though. Instead of fudging the numbers I decided to go up to a size 2 for the cabled portion of the leg which is working out wonderfully. Nope, no problem there either. I know, you're wondering when I'm going to get to the problem so here it is...

I have to do the foot of the sock on a size 1. If I want to continue the cables they will have to be worked on a size 1. Unless of course I decide to be completely insane and transfer the sock to dpns once I get the cuff finished so I can work the top in size 2 and the bottom in size 1.

So what do you all think? Should I can the idea of continuing the cable? Should I switch to dpns and continue the cable? Should I switch to size 1 and forge ahead with the cable down the top? If I do, do you think there would be a noticeable difference in the cables from the cuff to the foot? And, if I continue on with the cables on size 1 should I sitck to the 72 stitch count or decrease back to my original 64?

6 comments:

MsAmpuTeeHee said...

Well, I love dpns, so I don't think it's all that insane to switch...but I would keep the pattern down the instep on the 2's, and do the sole of the foot on the smaller needle size. I've even seen a couple books suggest doing that so that the sole is a firmer fabric and has more wear to it.
Not sure what my 2-cents is worth as I'm only on a couple hours of sleep. 2-cents, I guess LOL.

Yeah So said...

Well I have limited sock knowledge, but I would agree with the bigger on top, smaller on the bottom way. I don't like not carrying the pattern down the foot so I would do what I could to accomplish that.

Anonymous said...

hi kerry

is there a reason you can't do one on two circs? use the size 1 circ on the sole and size 2 circ on the instep. i've done that before when the stitch pattern pulls in too much. i don't like dp's!

adrienne in the bellybutton of california
magic looper all the way!

ps. very nice sock!

Anonymous said...

oops! one more thing....keep 36 sts on the instep and 32 sts for the sole. i would then decrease 4 sts on the instep before starting the toe decreases.

been there; done this!

Anonymous said...

I'm not a 2 circs knitter, but this would be a good time to do that. If you use 2 sizes of DPNs you may end up using the wrong needle in the wrong area (or is that the right needle in the wrong area?). I KNOW I would do that. And not notice until I hade worked 6 rounds.

I agree with Adrienne's advice even though I have never done this myself.

Alliesw said...

I love the look of those cables too--but I have to tell you that I made a pair for myself with a similar pattern and carried the cables down the instep--it made them a good deal bulkier--very pretty, yes, but bulkier, so I need to wear them with my crocs! If your Dad wear typical men's shoes, they might scrunch the top of those cables a lot and not be too comfortable. But you have lots of great suggestions for making it work, so do what feels best to you!

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