Hmmmm . . . needles have been smoking, but I can’t say I’m a fully fledged sock-knitter yet!
The other day I boasted about my first ever pair of socks in toddler size, and had immediately cast on to make a pair for myself, using the same pattern in adult size.

This was my beginning, following a pattern by Shaina Scott and using a cotton blend sock yarn bought in Lidl. I had measured my foot, calf etc, and cast on to make the largest size.

I had got thus far, trying the sock on for size every now and again. Now, I know I have very “hobbit-like” feet. Not something I’m proud of, but not something I can do much about either . . . but this sock was obviously knitting up much wider than I needed it to be. My tension was good, so I decided it must be the yarn, that honestly doesn’t have much elasticity to it (only 10% of the stretchy stuff in the mix) and the cotton majority just seemed to make the sock go big & floppy. So, rather than continue, I frogged. Found another pattern, measured my foot again (in the hope it had grown slimmer in the meantime – yeah, right!) and decided to apply the “-10% negative ease” rule.

The second pattern attempted is this one: Vanilla Latte Socks. Pattern has a bit of texture to it, which I hoped would give fabric more stretch, and I cast on for the 72 stitch size. It finished up looking so fat !!! Although it could probably have done with a few more rows in length before the toe.

Now, the sock fits and I do love the pinks & greys in the yarn. My only problem . . . while I thought I’d measured foot length correctly, before shaping the toe, the sock fabric stretched out even more as I put it on, making the sock itself looser, and therefore making the “toe” part a bit snug. The knitted fabric feels very fine too . . . my big toe is going to make a hole in no time at all !

I also found that, when standing, the sock wrinkles around my ankle. If the fabric feels so loose now, when the sock is brand new, I wonder how it will feel after it’s been worn and washed? I’m even thinking I could have knitted the next size down, because of the way this cotton yarn seems to behave. Which is why I’m going to take a few days off sock-knitting while I decide what to do next.
I have two options. 1- I can start a second sock, with the Vanilla Latte pattern, making the next size down, with a 64 stitch cast on. If it works, I can then frog the first sock and knit again. Or . . . 2- I forget about my Lidl cotton yarn for the time being, and make a third attempt with a wool mix yarn (containing 25% of the stretchy stuff). I have a ball of Lang Yarn, Super Soxx, in the most gorgeous colour. I’ve proved to myself that I can follow a pattern properly and knit a sock. Maybe it’s time to stop using my cheap Lidl yarn and use some of the good stuff?