Simply Sockupied Knit-Along: Up + Down Socks

Anne Merrow wrote

on Feb 24, 2012 7:38 PM

Join us as we knit Anne Merrow's Up + Down Socks from Simply Sockupied!

Here's how a knit-along works:   Buy your pattern (in Simply Sockupied, through the app store for the iPad version or through the Knitting Daily Shop for the Mac or PC version). Buy your yarn (or find it in your stash). Introduce yourself below and tell us which yarn you're using. This is where you'll share your tips, ask questions, or upload photos, and it's where you'll find support if you're having problems. Post a photo of your finished socks when you're done.

It's as easy as that. Now let's get started!

gentsmom wrote

on Feb 28, 2012 9:06 AM

Hi.  I'm going to make the Up + Down socks from Berroco Sox in Glamorgan.   I've made a few pairs of socks, always cuff-down on dpns, mostly with Paton's Kroy.

Self-striping yarns are great, but it's hard to maintain the pattern at the top of the foot after working a heel flap, and this short-row heel looks like an easy way to solve that problem. 

My hand-knit socks wear out right where I work my toe decreases.  So I'm curious to see if this short-row toe will wear less.

I haven't decided yet whether I'll work toe-up or cuff-down.

Anne Merrow wrote

on Feb 28, 2012 10:51 AM

gentsmom:

Self-striping yarns are great, but it's hard to maintain the pattern at the top of the foot after working a heel flap, and this short-row heel looks like an easy way to solve that problem. 

Very true! One thing you might find useful is to work the heel with another ball of yarn, then resume with the instep with the main yarn--or use the same ball but break it after the heel and start again at the same place on the color repeat. (Does that make sense?)

gentsmom wrote

on Feb 29, 2012 7:35 AM

Thanks!  That's very helpful.  I will combine your ideas.  I'm going to work the heel with a separate length of the same yarn, so that I can easily resume the top of the foot at the correct spot.

I worked up a garter stitch sample last night and I like the look of it for the heel.  The colors match, but the stitch pattern makes it different enough that it doesn't look like a mistake.

I'm working toe-up, and my first few provisional cast-ons were really fiddly and uneven.  I finally got one that I'm happy with, and I'm ready to start the short row toe.  Do you have any tips for keeping track of when to wrap & turn?  My yarn has black sections, and I can't see the wraps easily enough to use them as a guide.  I have frequent interruptions, so I can't just rely on my memory to keep track of my place.  So I'll probably write up a chart to follow, and check off rows as I complete them, unless there's a better way.

gentsmom wrote

on Feb 29, 2012 7:39 PM

I finished a short row toe & love it!  It's really cute.  I did write out row-by-row instructions cause it was hard to tell which stitch was wrapped or double-wrapped.  Now, on to the foot.

MeganH wrote

on Mar 1, 2012 2:11 AM

Hi

I'm not new to socks, but I am new to fora, so I hope I get this correct.

I've been knitting socks for years - got started because my oldest child can't stand seams in commercial socks (who can blame her?). I have chosen the Up+Down socks because I have never actually done short row heels or toes, so there are two new things to look forward to.

The yarn is a handspun. I bought the roving years ago, dyed in the most beautiful mix of blues with a little green here and there. Once spun, a swatch had it come up looking like the sea. My seven-year-old son is very taken with it, so the socks are going to be his (hello, resizing. Hmm, this is getting interesting. Luckily he has HUGE feet). I'll be working top down, which is how I normally work,  so that it doesn't get too frustrating.

I hate SSS and always combat it by knitting both socks more or less together - two identical sets of needles, knit the leg of one sock, then the leg of the other, then one heel then another, and so on. By the time I have completed one sock I'm thinking, "I only have the toe of the other to go". It all seems to pass much quicker that way. Plus, if I have underestimated how far the yarn will go, I just end up with funky colours on the toes.

Bit of an essay. Sorry. Off to knit socks

Cheerio
Megan

Anne Merrow wrote

on Mar 1, 2012 3:10 PM

MeganH:

The yarn is a handspun. I bought the roving years ago, dyed in the most beautiful mix of blues with a little green here and there. Once spun, a swatch had it come up looking like the sea. My seven-year-old son is very taken with it, so the socks are going to be his (hello, resizing. Hmm, this is getting interesting. Luckily he has HUGE feet). I'll be working top down, which is how I normally work,  so that it doesn't get too frustrating.

Ooh... Handspun! I have yet to use my handspun for socks (though someone knitted socks out of my handspun).

The nice thing about these socks is that there isn't any stitch pattern except the top ribbing to worry about, so any multiple of 2 stitches will work.

artsyshell wrote

on Mar 2, 2012 10:15 AM

Hi there!  I'm very excited... I'm new to socks and I really want to learn to do them both: toe-up and top-down.  So this sock will be perfect.

Looking through my stash, I have a couple colors of a yarn that might work, but not sure I have enough.  Perhaps I can use them for the heels/toes?  Oh well... of to the yarn store!

Anne Merrow wrote

on Mar 2, 2012 3:48 PM

gentsmom:

Do you have any tips for keeping track of when to wrap & turn? 

Sorry not to have replied sooner! It can be hard to tell which stitches are wrapped. I have one trick, which is that right-side rows always begin with the same number of stitches wrapped at each end. I often knit the last wrapped stitch when I was supposed to wrap & turn before it, and I have to undo a few stitches and correct. It's easier for me to tell when I've gone wrong than to see it in advance.

Invisible wrapping aside, I'm glad the garter stitch is working well for you!

scobkatt wrote

on Mar 3, 2012 10:35 AM

I am going to join this knit along as soon as I finish my husband's alpaca socks (hopefully soon!).  I'm thinking of using my skein of Noro Garden Sock, but may change my mind. 

gentsmom wrote

on Mar 3, 2012 4:18 PM

Thanks!  I'll try this when I knit the heel.

Here's my sock so far:

LynnA@11 wrote

on Mar 4, 2012 9:10 PM

Hi!

I plan to make these with Opal Surprise. It's a denim blue with subtle gradations between lighter and darker. I like to make socks from the toe-up so I can use up all my yarn, and I also like to do two at a time on the magic loop.

In trying to wrap my mind around the pattern, I find that I'm having trouble visualizing the toe instructions. This is worked flat on 30 sts down to 6 sts, but then I get lost. The directions are to k wrapped st, w&t. Am I to w&t the next st that was left from the previous row of wrapping that was left out of the next row? Thanks for your help, and the wonderful looking pattern!

Lynn

weaveknit wrote

on Mar 6, 2012 11:39 AM

Hello, 

My name is Carol Seeds.  The yarn I'm using is Pagewood Farm  hand dyed sock yarn from my stash.  It's 80% Merino and 20% nylon.  I'd used it to knit a baby sweater and have a skein left over.  This is great to have sock knitting support.  

artsyshell wrote

on Mar 7, 2012 3:04 PM

Well... I got my yarn - a beautiful hand-dyed merion/silk blend in green

I am starting with the top-down sock first, and since this is my first sock ever, I'm following the directions to the 'T' even though I'm not a big fan of the knitted cast-on.  Is there other cast-ons that I could use for socks as well... tubular maybe?

Thanks! happy knitting all.. and I'll post my progress soon :)

Anne Merrow wrote

on Mar 7, 2012 6:04 PM

artsyshell:

Is there other cast-ons that I could use for socks as well... tubular maybe?

Tubular would be an excellent choice! (I like Knitted because I find it stretchy, I don't have to plan for the length of tail, and it's substantial enough that I can make sure I'm not twisting when I join in the round.

Ann Budd loves the Old Norwegian, which is used in Ann's Go-To Socks and demonstrated there.

And if you've ever tried the Channel Island Cast-on, that might be a good one here too! It makes little bumps along the edge that match up with a knit/purl ribbing.

It can be good to follow the pattern as you're getting used to a technique or project, but I really believe in using socks as a place to make things your own way. Try it as written once, try something different, and see which you prefer!