feel the force, luke

i love knitting socks. this past spring i joined the ravelry socks of summer 08 group. and though i will never be able to finish socks as quickly as some can (how can knitters finish a pair in two days!?), i am having a great time knitting them and being inspired by socks others knit.

when i was taught to pick up stitches, the sock guru who taught me suggested not worrying about picking up the exact number of stitches suggested; she always said if more stitches were picked up then more gusset decreases would need to be done, no big deal; the main objective was not to have gaps along the heel or at the gusset. so when picking up stitches, i am always aware of how many stitches need to be picked up, but I am not locked into that number. i tend to pick up the stitches “by feel” of what is needed.

when I picked up the stitches for my cute husband’s second sock, I discovered I picked up more stitches on the first side then I did on the second. hmmm, interesting; did not think much of it, just kept knitting. after picking up stitches for the pair of sport socks I am knitting the big guy, i counted my stitches and realized I had picked up 10 more stitches on the right side then I did on the left. wow! sort of a big difference. though the second side did not look so bad, my scrupulous eye was able to spot maybe the smallest gap or two, but still nothing to frog over.

but it did make me aware that it would be a good idea to pay a wee bit more attention to the number of stitches i am picking up; that I may actually need to mix a little more logic to the “by feel” way of picking up stitches to make sure the sides were even.

sigh. where is yoda when you need him?

btw, discovered a couple of little gaps at the gusset where a stitch or two would have done wonders. rats.

and in case you are interested: pattern: lonnie's sport socks by rebecca mercier, found on ravelry; yarn: lorna's laces, shepherd striping sock, in caramel or harvest, not sure, from purl, nyc