I Called for a Redo

Pair #2 was going along pretty well. But there was a laddering effect going on between needles #1 and #3. Mom and I talked about it while I was on the farm and we agreed it was strange there was no such problem at the other two points. I shrugged it off saying once the sock was washed everything would be fine. But the more I looked at that laddering the less it seemed blocking would fix the problem. (BTW, I think it was the stitch maker I was using. It might just have been too big causing the extra yarn to accumulate where it did.)

Then here at home I managed to drop a few stitches that subsequently ran down a few rows, something that isn't hard to fix with a crochet hook. But instead I took the entire sock off all three needles and decided the laddering was just too much to bear. Here's a couple of goodbye pics as the Viola sock is being frogged.

Another reason for my frogging Viola had to do with my first pair. I have been wearing them rather regularly and since the wool is superwash I have been washing them in the machine regularly as well. As the form of the socks set, they seemed to end up a bit bigger than they were just off the needles. I did do a swatch and was meeting gauge, but my very loose tension and the agitation of the washer seems to expand the size. Therefore I decided to redo the Viola because the expansion might happen to this pair as well.

The needle size has been dropped from #2 to #0 U.S. or 2.75 mm to 2.0 mm and I am using a 9 inch circular needle instead of four DPN. The circular needles completely eliminates laddering. And this is where I am at so far.

The regular sized pen gives you an idea of how small this circular needle is. At the moment the ribbing easily fits in the palm of my hand. This is an experiment, but I know the Viola will be a smaller sock, perhaps too small for an adult but then I do know some non-adults too. Time will tell so stay tuned!

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Flagel Knitting Files

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