Not Much Knitting Today

I had TONS of errands to run today, so I didn't get a lot of knitting done. :-( Before I left home I knitted an hour on the Michigan Lake Shore Socks. When I came home this afternoon, I found that I'd received my Size 1 40" circulars from KnitPicks (yay!), so I cast on for the Swan Song socks, but only got part of the toe done.

I'm awfully tired, so I'm calling it an early night. Tomorrow will be better.

Summer Lovin' Complete!

A few minute ago I finished and photographed my "Summer Lovin'" socks! I'm very pleased with the way they turned out. The fit is really good; they're very comfortable!

For the first time, I used Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off, and it's wonderful! I found a video on You Tube of a demonstration of this bind-off by Cat Bordhi. If, like me, you're a more visual learner, click here to see the video.

Several "firsts" are accomplished by the completion of this pair of socks:

1. First time I've knitted the "Summer Lovin'" pattern.
2. First time I've used Sockotta yarn.
3. First time I've used Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off.
4. First pair of socks I've completed after starting the 10kH project.

And on that happy note, I'm headed for bed. *LOL*

How I Knit Socks

I believe that everyone has their own special "recipe" for knitting socks. Everyone who knits socks has a particular toe they like better than others, and discussions about what heel is best can get downright heated!

Methods of knitting are varied as well; double pointed needles (DPNs) or two circular needles or Magic Loop? Toe up or cuff down? Decisions, decisions. I've not used the two circular needle method, but I've knit socks cuff down on DPNs and toe up using Magic Loop.

I'm not saying by any means that my preferred method is the best, it's just the one that I like doing the best. So here we go: my preferred method is toe up using Magic Loop. I like using this method because:

1. I can use the toe as a gauge swatch. If I measure the toe and find that I'm way off gauge, it's not a big deal to rip out the little bit of knitting I've done to that point.
2. I can try the sock on as I go, giving it a completely custom fit.
3. When I'm finished, I have two socks ready to wear. No "Second Sock Syndrome"!

Now, as to the rest of my preferences:

Cast On
I love Judy's Magic Cast-On by Judy Becker. If, like me, you need a video to help you learn a new process, click here to see this wonderful cast-on demonstrated by Cat Bordhi.

Toes
I have a short, wide foot, so pointy-toed socks just don't feel right on my "square" foot. So, using Judy's Magic Cast-On, I cast on either 20 or 21 stitches (depending on the pattern I'm going to use for the pretty part of the sock) and increase to either 36 or 37 stitches (again, depending on the pattern I'm using). This number of stitches is based on using a size 1 US needle and fingering weight sock yarn. I work the increases by knitting one round plain and the next round as a K1, M1, K to the next to the last stitch, M1, K1. Here again, everyone has their own favorite method of working a M1; mine is to knit 1 in the front and back of the stitch.

Main Body of the Sock
On the sole of the sock, I just work plain stockinette. I've never worked a pattern on the sole, so I can't speak from experience, but it just doesn't sound like it would be comfortable to walk on a pattern all day, does it? I work the "pretty part" (instep) of the sock in whatever pattern I want to use. If I want just a plain sock, I like to work a K3P1 rib. It's easy to work, just stretchy enough, and can really show off a decorative yarn.

Heel
I've honestly not worked many different kinds of heels, because I was lucky enough to stumble across one early on that I really like that works well with knitting 2-at-a-time, toe-up, Magic Loop. I found it on the KnitPicks website in a free pattern offered here. It has a padded slip-stitch heel that provides a little extra cushioning on the bottom and back of the heel. I like a traditional heel flap and gusset on my socks, and this gives me everything I need. By the way, if you're not familiar with KnitPicks, go check them out. They're wonderful to do business with and offer quality products at a very reasonable price!

Bind-Off
The only problem I've had with knitting socks from the toe up is finding a bind-off that's stretchy enough. I've not tried this one yet, but plan to use it on the pair I'll be finishing up shortly: Jeny's Suprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off. It looks simple enough to do, and folks are raving about it. I'm anxious to see the results.

And so, that's it folks....that's the way I knit socks. Remember that the Yarn Harlot tells us there are no KNITTING POLICE, so always feel free to use any methods that work well for YOU.

Here We Go!

This morning I read a post on Ravelry by IdaW about a project in which she'd decided to participate. Seems that a gentleman named Malcolm Gladwell wrote in his book Outliers as follows:

The idea that excellence at performing a complex task requires a critical minimal level of practice surfaces again and again in studies of expertise. In fact, researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours.

The emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert–in anything,” writes the neurologist Daniel Levitin. “In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you, this number comes up again and again…No one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery…This is true even of people we think of as prodigies.

Just think about that for a moment....10,000 hours. If you break that down into 8-hour days, that's 1,250 days. Nearly three and a half YEARS. Whoa.

So does that mean if I start right now ice skating 8 hours a day, I'll be an expert in 3-1/2 years? Probably not, since I'd break my hip the first day. But what if I want to develop expert skills in something I'm already doing and that I ENJOY doing? Okay....sock knitting!

As I've told many, many people who are unitiated in the joys of knitting socks, "Yes, I DO know that it's cheaper to go to Wal-Mart and buy a whole sack of socks." But where's the fun in that? Not to mention the fact that nothing in the world feels as good on your feet as a pair of hand-knit custom-fit yummy wool socks.

I'm currently working on a pair of "Summer Lovin" socks, and so I'll begin keeping my time starting today. (It's my sister's birthday, so that will make it easy for me to remember.)

And so, here we go! I'm starting on the journey of 10,000 hours of sock knitting, and looking forward to the trip!