Wrong Size Socks.Mostly my socks would not fit in your average dress shoe, because they are thicker than the commercial afticle: my daughter wears hers in her boots. The rest of us wear ours in sneakers. I suppose we are extra lucky in New Zealand as wool is cheap and if an article doesn't come out as I planned, I can give it to someone else. (And there are a wide range of fibre additions, such as possum, alpaca, mohair and so on. For those times you want something fancy!) Occasionally there will be some wool/synthetic mix in my basket, and these make good socks too. I rarely make socks from acrylic and never from courtelle. It feels slippery and horrible. Acrylic has the benefit it does extend the wear of the wool, as does nylon. If you knit the toe in double thickness if will wear better. Most people find the socks wear most on the ball of the foot, but different people wear their socks out in different places - for others it is the toe, and for others it is the heel. Using needles a size or two smaller than usual will provide a denser hard wearing fabric. For example, with 8ply double knit wool, you would usually use 4mm and 3.25 needles (Number 8 and Number 10). But in my socks I use Number 10 and Number 11 needles. And if it is a fine 8ply I may use Number 12.. Feel the firmness of the fabric as you knit and make a decision. You can also use a thicker needle for the cuff - Number 9, say, for a softer looser feel that is comfortable and cosy. If the wool socks are a bit big for the recipient I take them away and give them a smaller pair, or, more usually, I say "wash them once in the washing machine. They will felt up a bit and be warmer and softer and thicker. As well they will wear better. From then on, wash them by hand." The easiest for me are using two straight single points. They have a seam up the sole to the cuff, and one seam across the toe. People who have arthritis say using two straight single points is easier on their hands than using circular or double points. |
