(no subject)

[which_chick]

I adore the purple socks, but they only stay up for about twenty minutes after they've been put on. After that, the 1x1 ribbing in skinny sock yarn stretches out enough that they slide gently down my legs and pool at the ankles. This is unacceptable, particularly considering the amount of time I spent on them and how sexy and warm and soft they are.



While hand-knit knee socks are supposed to stay up on their own, these do not. They do not despite the fact that I carefully measured and shaped and otherwise fucked around with them to get them to fit. They have an inch and a half of ribbing and they still don't stay up. I'm going to add elastic. Of course, the socks are in sort of a purple blend and the elastic is white. Even though the elastic would be on the inside, it'll look like complete hell, natch, so there will be more knitting to cover up the elastic that nobody can see. I've got the wee bit of yarn left over and I'm going to somehow pick up the stitches from the top of the sock and knit about an inch more of fabric and then I'm going to sandwich the elastic between the new fabric (inside the sock) and the original fabric, like threading a drawstring in sweatpants and then I'm going to sew down the new fabric to the old fabric to hold the elastic in place... and hope that it doesn't look like ass.

Considerations:

I do not know how I'm going to pick up stitches from the old fabric. I'll figure that out when I go to do it.

I do not know how many stitches I cast on in the first place. I've lost my notes. Presumably I will be able to figure this out from picking up the stitches anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

I do not know how I'm going to attach the new fabric to the old fabric. I'll think of something, though. I've got a yarn needle and I'm not afraid to use it.

I think it might be a good idea to leave a gap (on the inside) for easier replacing of elastic in the event that it goes bad before the socks wear out. Because, y'know, if I didn't, the elastic would last three washings. If I make plans to be able to replace the elastic, it will outlast the socks.

If it looks like ass, I will be unhappy. I'm already unhappy but I figure I can be just as unhappy without socks pooling around my ankles.

I've forgotten what size needles I used. Probably I did these on ones. I like the fabric that ones make.

(I am stalling.)

And yeah, I was going to be playing with the hat but after I figured out the stitches and after I knit through the first color change at the proper number of stitches, I discovered that I'd pulled a moebius. Fuck. I ripped it out *again* and I'm taking a break from that. I swear the project is cursed. Perhaps I'll approach it again here in a day or so, but right now I'm mad at it. How did I get so far along and not notice a twist in the fabric? I was watching television and not paying enough attention to the knitting.

Comments

[gwangi.livejournal.com]

Why did the chicken cross the Moebius strip?

To get to the same side.

[not-your-real.livejournal.com]

Accidental Moebius-ing! That is almost cool.

Somebody online had directions for making a Moebius scarf that were perpetually confusing to people, and now I can't even remember how it was made... hang on...

Maybe it was this page: this page (http://www.planetshoup.com/easy/knit/scarfmb.shtml). The weirdness in here is that the circular needle goes around the scarf twice while you're knitting it. You knit from the midline of the scarf out to both edges at the same time, because they're only one edge.

[wootsauce.livejournal.com]

Perhaps something like this (http://www.helloyarn.com/wp/?p=343)? I know I've run into specific discussion of a knitted hem before, but damned if I can remember where it was.

[which-chick.livejournal.com]

It's not going to be exactly like that. Those are actual flaps of fabric that seal into themselves and make kind of tab-like things. I don't really want a decorative element. I want an invisible, wrong-side sleeve to hide the elastic that will do the heavy lifting of holding my socks up. I don't think I'm being real clear here, so maybe there will be pictures later to show what I mean.

I'm going to try making new, inside part as just plain stockinette. It'll go quicker and lie flatter than 1x1 ribbing. I think I can pick up stitches near-invisibly by the same methodology I use when making gussets in socks. I think.

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to leave space for replacing the ribbing by not attaching all of the knitted flap that will make one side of the sleeve for the elastic. I'll just bind that part off normal so that if the elastic dies, I can pull it out through the hole and thread in a new one.

I like the through-the-purl-bumps thing for attaching the bottom end but since it's 1x1 ribbing on the original sock, only every other st is equipped with a purl bump. I'm not sure yet if this will be a problem for me. (Ribbing is made by combining knit and purl stitches. If they're knit when you're looking at 'em, they're purl if you flip the fabric over. And, y'know, vice versa.)

[not-your-real.livejournal.com]

If it's stockinette, it will be wider (looser) than the ribbing, so you may need to pick up slightly less than 100% of the existing stitches. I look forward to your results...

[wootsauce.livejournal.com]

Earlier today, I scoffed and was all, "I know what a purl is!" but just now, knitting, I managed to knit stitches onto a needle backwards. I have NO IDEA how I managed this, but both ends of my circular needle ended up facing the same direction. Huh!? Hubris, man.

[which-chick.livejournal.com]

While you knit (Yay! What are you making?) and not_your_real knits (aran sweater for her husband, also very delightful lacework) and possibly some other readers knit, some of the other people in the audience are not real clear on whether knitting is the thing with two straight sticks or the thing with one hooked stick. That's why there's more explanation on the knitting parts than actual knitters really need.

[wootsauce.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I figured. Just my current housing situation is making me cranky about EVERYTHING.
Currently, I'm knitting a really nerdy, perhaps too-well fitting sweater.

[wootsauce.livejournal.com]

see: http://refrigeratedcake.com/other/photo/knitting.JPG

[which-chick.livejournal.com]

It is teh hawt sex0r! What's the text at the top say?

I, myself, am going forth into colorwork socks as per some other post I'm too lazy to locate at the moment. The book for the socks arrived in the mail today and I'm all excited about the prospect of wee yarn on eensy needles in tones sure to make my eyes bleed, apparently because I didn't get enough of that from the eyestrain purple socks (now fixed to stay up even during very active days!). Plus, y'know, following a chart. Not sure how I feel about that, but we'll see. (Generally I read patterns so that I can ignore them better.)

In other news, I really like my addi turbos but my hands discolor and cruft up the metal where the non-pointy part (before the join of the stringy middle) rests against my palms when I knit. V. annoying, that. I mean, I knew I was corrosive, but...

[wootsauce.livejournal.com]

No texdt, just the top branches of the tree. I should take a clearer picture. I'm almost done with a sleeve! (Yeah... I'm slow.)

I love doing stuff with more than one color. It's so much more interesting than plain stuff (and easy to see what you are doing.) I wanna try socks next, but since I'm broke and cheap, I haven't managed to talk myself into buying anything new yet. I mightj ust use the (vast quantities of) leftovers from this sweater, cause it's not like I'm about to wear wool socks anyway.