What with the dog and a few Hello Kitty knitting swaps, I haven't had much chance to knit for myself or for my beloved this summer. When I sent off the last swap, I finally allowed myself to cast on a pair of socks out of a Zauberball.
Once the dam of self control had been breached, that same evening I cast on for a second pair of socks out of Tofutsies.
I no longer use a specific pattern for LB's socks and just knit him a heel & toe he likes and ribbing pattern I like. Following my usual habits, I got all the way down to the toe of the Zauberball. I had cast on 60 stitches on 1s, then switched to 2s at the gusset. A tiny voice told me the Zauberball yarn was very thin and that the calf seemed a bit tight when I tried it on over my hand, but I tuned it out. When LB tried it on, it was too tight for even his bird legs. I've recast on with 2s.
Note: Zauberball is a single ply and does not like to be ripped.
For the Tofutsies, I decided to follow the pattern, Pomatomus, which calls for casting on 72 stitches on 2s. That's 12 more stitches and one larger needle size than I normally do. Yes, the knits are done through the back loops, but still ...
I made it through the first chart repeat and ripped out. Even for my ex-Irish dancer calves, it was way too big.
That's two pairs of socks begun and just about nothing to show for it.
2 comments:
I'm having the same problem. Zauberball is so thin. My Jaywalker on 1s is rather tight already. But to go up to 2s will make a thinner fabric. I'm letting it rest a while. While I think. I heard of someone holding a solid strand (black?) with the Zauberball. And Pomatoublexxx! Pretty pattern, but the sock was absolutely droopy. Ripped. I'm beginning to think of sock knitting as kind of a battle that the yarn sometimes wins!
I think a few companies sell a 1 1/2 sized needle. I considered buying a set of those. I'm glad I figured out the Pomatomus gauge issue fairly early. It's a gorgous pattern & I'd hate to have had to rip a whole sock!
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