Friday, September 10, 2010

Sock Deconstruction

I redesigned and finished knitting sock one of "Rudy's Sock - Take 2" yesterday and today it was time to harvest the yarn from the first version to use for the second sock of RST2. Why yes, this means I will have knit three knee high socks in order to come out with a pair. I try not too think to hard about that, after all designing and knitting is something I love to do.

Rudy's Sock - Take 2 on the top with the first version underneath - notice the difference in the calf shaping?


Side by side view...
in addition to redesigning the leg to fit his calves and not mine,
I made a few other pattern modifications. Can you pick them out?


Calf shaping - back view. Trust me, they look pretty good on the leg.


Undoing kitchner stitch is... well... not fun.

Toe is open and the ripping out has begun. I ended up using my umbrella
swift for the grey yarn (at first) and hand winding the gold yarn.

The yarn is quite wavy from being knit up.


Early on in the deconstruction process.


I have reached the heel. This was the only spot where there is a break in either
of the yarns. The heel was added after finishing the leg and foot (Peasant Heel).


Almost there!


One socks worth of gold yarn. The umbrella swift made it easier to wind off the yarn from the sock and then to make it into a center pull ball (took a few trips through the ball winder and swift to ensure it wasn't wound too tight - never good for yarn, or humans).


One socks worth of yarn, ready to be knit up again.

I am not going to bother washing and weighting the yarn to get rid of the "kink" left over from it's recent incarnation as a sock. I don't think it will matter too much as I am re-knitting it right away.

Pattern Details:
  • Wildknits original with inspiration from knee high socks designed by Nancy Bush and Elizabeth Zimmerman.
  • Stripe pattern is based on the numerical value of e.
  • Yarn is Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift, Colours: 425 (mustard) and 103 (sholmit)
  • Gauge is 8.875 sts/inch
  • 2x2 ribbing for 4 inches, followed by about 14.5" of knitting for the leg and then the appropriate amount of knitting for a Rudy sized foot.
  • Peasant Heel (this link takes you to an amusing description of an Afterthought Heel - same concept really, though mine was not an afterthought, but instead a way to maintain stripe integrity).
  • My usual toe decrease, which looks exactly like the heel. So really, these socks have two toes, or is that two heels??
I may get around to writing up the pattern in a format that is usable by others, depending on demand and how quickly I get distracted by other knitting projects (there are two babies on the way and a shawls' worth of lovely variegated merino awaiting their turn in the knitting line-up).

Tonight I head up the north shore to cheer on runners in the Superior Sawtooth 100 and then pace a friend for a bit during the night and early morning. The socks will come along.

4 comments:

SteveQ said...

I remember seeing this oddly shaped instrument in my mother's sewing collection and asked what it was; it was a plastic mold for shaping socks being darned. She said it was for darning socks, so I picked it up, turned to a pile of socks, pointed it at them and said, "Darn you, socks!"

I won't say how old I was. I will say I have never darned a sock. A mostlt lost art.

wildknits said...

Classic! Older or younger than 5?

I actually now am in possession of a darning egg handcrafted for me by the recipient of these socks. I too am not much into darning, but there are a few pairs of (handknitted) socks that are 'worthy' of the effort in my mind.

I have warned Rudy that he is not to wear holes in these as I will not be darning them ;->

Good to see you yesterday!

Jean said...

Very cool! I had no idea that you could deconstruct something that had already been knitted. Extremely impressive, Wildknits!

wildknits said...

That is the beauty of knitting - especially something done in the round. Most knitting can be deconstructed and the yarn reused - folks have even been known to "harvest" the yarn from thrift store sweaters to reuse. Add to that the ability to full(felt) animal fibers and even if you can't harvest the yarn you can full it and cut it up for various uses. Versatile fiber!