Saturday, February 7, 2015

Custom

S1 and I have been doing more walking than ever recently, thanks to our Fit Bit goals (12,000 steps/day). On work days, a lot of that walking happens around campus - in work clothes. Recently, she said that she was on the verge of developing a blister on her toe because of the roughness in the yarn of a handknit sock. What?! I’ve never heard of this before.

The sock in question was this Monkey made in American B.R.A.N.D. yarn. I was eager to try this yarn because it is U.S.-made from start to finish. It is not super soft like superwash merino, but it’s durable and beautiful in its way.

IMG_2984 S1 loves these socks, so I wanted to make them work. These were knit top down, so the fix was easy. I just picked up stitches (so easy to do in stockinette), cut off the toes, and reknit them in another yarn.

IMG_5521

The bottom of the sock was felted a bit at the ball of the foot. I had to pierce the fabric there instead of just catching a loop, but it seemed to work out fine. IMG_5523These photos should have been color corrected. The real color is a yellowish beige like the top photo.

The yarn is super ramen-y after being knit for many months!IMG_5525New toe, old toe: IMG_5529 What’s the point of knitting by hand if you can’t customize? No one but S1 (and all of you) will ever know she’s sporting orange toes on her yellow socks. But her toes will be happy.

Do you have any socks that rub you wrong? If I walk too much in this pair, I feel the purl nubs rubbing against my feet. My solution is to wear a thin pair of cotton socks as a liner.

3 comments:

  1. I've never had this problem, but I (almost) wish I did so I could try your cool custom fix. I love how ramen-y the unraveled yarn is!

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  2. Nice fix! I've never really had this problem, either. Were your fishbone gansey socks made with that Toots LeBlanc yarn we got in Portland in '09? That stuff is like iron, so I could get that. Definitely the toughest/wiriest sock yarn I've ever knit. If I ever had a rubbing/blister problem, it would be with those.

    I wore a pair of handknit socks on the 11-mile walk down Mt. Whitney, and didn't have any problems!

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  3. Yes, Steven, my fishbone ganseys were from the Toots LeBlanc yarn. They should last the rest of my life!

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