August 24, 2005

The Revenge of the Sock Yarn

So, I whined about sock yarn the other day. Then something happened.

While I was knitting that sock, I thought it looked a little small, but that was because I chose to knit one size smaller than usual. I wanted to see how it ould fit.

When I finished one sock, I checked the gauge at the sole of the socks as I always do, and I found... the gauge was smaller than usual. It was almost 8.5/inch. I couldn't believe it, so I checked several different places (not that the sole has much space), but it was still the same number of stitches per inch. No wonder the sock looked skinny!

I had never gotten a gauge smaller than 7/inch with Opal before. I've been wondering why it happened... and I think I found the answer now.

I have dry hands, so sometimes it's a little hard to hold the yarn to keep a good tension, especially in winter (I knit continental) with thinner yarn. I use some moisturizer to help me get a good grip. Since it's been really hot these days, my hands get sweaty when I knit. So maybe the yarn could not slide smoothly, and I got a 8.5sts/inch gauge...

The sock was a little tight but I could wear it, so I made the other sock in the same size.

Yarn: Opal Southwest Collection #3706
Pattern: The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns (ISBN: 1931499047)

Posted by noriko at August 24, 2005 12:16 PM
Comments

ノリコさん、

日本語のサイトを読みました。七宝編みショ－ル、とても綺麗ですね～

I just joined Asia Knitters. I am originally from Taiwan, we have been living in Canada since 1989.
While In Taiwan I primarily knitted with Japanese patterns, Clover knitting needles/tools and yarn. I still have quite a number of Japanese knitting books.
Hope to read more of your blog.

Talk to you again.

Posted by: Margaret at August 25, 2005 12:18 PM

マーガレットさん、日本語でのコメントありがとうございます！

Hi Margaret,

Welcome to the ring!

I used to knit with Japanese knitting patterns too, but I found it easier to knit with English patterns once I got a little familiar with English... All those charts and numbers in Japanese patterns are sometimes hard to follow. Although I still keep buying them...

Posted by: Noriko at August 26, 2005 12:35 PM