I was recently working on a sock design that required a different number of stitches than I usually work with for my socks. I learned this only after getting the sock made, from the cuff down, through the leg and went to divide for the heel and it wasn’t working the way that I wanted it to.
We were in San Diego at the time and thankfully I had planned in case something went wrong with sock one, that I could begin sock two, but I couldn’t begin sock two because the stitch number was incorrect!
Back in the surf shack, after saying “bye” to the sun sinking into the Pacific, I worked out what number of stitches was needed for the sock to divide the way I wanted it to for the heel. It was “only” 6 stitches more than I usually cast on for my socks, this should be no problem. So I cast on and away I went knitting and walking around MCRD the next day.
Fast forward, back in New Mexico, with house empty again, after the whirlwind that was boot leave, I pull the second sock out and finish it up. I put it on for the first time, unusual for me. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy cuff down is so I can try it on as I go, but I didn’t, until after completion, Kitchener and all, it was too big?!?
What? Why? It was only 6 stitches, how could 6 stitches make that big of a difference? Well, when the gauge is 7.5 stitches to 1″ / 2.5 cm, 6 stitches is almost an inch and when that is added to something as small as a sock, that’s a lot!
This forced me question some things I knew about my socks, remeasure my foot and the gauge, then do all the math again. What resulted is the Anne Dee sock pattern, but it took some effort.
This finished sock fit the men’s size 12 foot of my husband!
After doing the math and all it turns out that I should have gone down in the number of stitches and the sock would still fit just fine.
If I had done a swatch I would have known that before hand. Not because the swatch would have told me, but because the process of swatching and doing the math would have slowed me down enough that I wouldn’t have just made the assumption that 6 stitches more was the way to go.
Socks are small, technically, but when you’ve spent A LOT of time to make just one and it doesn’t fit, that can be discouraging. Because socks are small they are harder to fudge and so taking the time to measure things, swatch, especially if this is a new stitch pattern for you, and then do the proper math, you will be much happier with the end result.
Happy Making!