Sockmas ended last Friday, but I'm still processing my experience because I went on a ride, let me tell you. My plans completely shifted and made my first Sockmas one to remember.
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The Beginning & Sudden End
When I first introduced my Sockmas plans here, I decided I was going to knit my very first pair of socks. My pattern was picked, my yarns were all wound and stored in my new yarn cozies, and on midnight of November 25th, I cast on. It was thrilling.
I finished the ribbing of the socks on Day One. I filled with glee and imagined my double-points stuffed with the main color next, blending beautifully in with the contrast rib...
Then the pooling began.
It was Day Two.
. . .
"Pooling" in the yarn world is when a variegated yarn stacks its colors in a certain way, usually forming a pattern as it works up. It can be beautiful or it can be a disaster... unfortunately for me, mine was a disaster.
My main colorway did not like the needle size and stitch count I was using for the pattern (gauge was on US 1 or 2.25mm needles). The reds kept meeting in unattractive ways (see photo above), causing my socks to look like I'd been injured multiple places on my foot and the blood was seeping through the fabric. It was... uncomfortable to look at.
I didn't want to call defeat on my socks so soon, I kept going for a few more rows. I thought the pooling would even out somewhere.
It didn't.
Only two days into my first Sockmas and things were looking bleak.
*sigh*
The New Plan
I'm not skilled enough yet to try helical knitting during my first sock-making excursion, so I turned to crochet.
I had a pattern in mind, but when I reviewed it, it seemed too vague for my liking. I was probably still in panic mode when I looked at it, honestly, so it seemed harder than it was. But after some Pinterest and Ravelry browsing, the pattern I decided on was Magdalen Socks by Vicki Brown.
What drew me to this pattern was the sock style. It was similar to what I was picturing for my knitted socks with contrasted cuffs, heels, and toes, but a little less detail. I felt like my yarn wouldn't encounter the pooling problem it had in knitting if it were crocheted.
Interesting fact: crochet uses more yarn than knitting because of how the stitches are formed.
I imagined it would use enough yarn per stitch that if any pooling happened, it would be less intrusive to look at... lots of imagining from me, you see...
The Magdalen Socks pattern is written in UK terms, by the way. This is important to note because in UK terms, a UK double-crochet equals a US single, and UK half-treble crochet equal US half-double. You must pay attention to which terms you read in order to produce the right outcome.
I was confident I could keep up with translating, no problem,* so off I went to print and begin.
*Problems I did have... silly, confident me
Bookish Christmas Take Two
Before I could truly begin, I had to do some math. During my panic about what to do to save Sockmas, I read online that you should shrink your true foot size measurements by 10% when making socks to get a better fit. When I measured my width and length and calculated it 10% smaller, I was all over this particular pattern's sizing chart. I settled for my "normal" size right in the middle (US 7.5, UK 5.5), using their suggested hook size without swatching for gauge before chaining on.
First attempt at the ribbing: all wrong.
Too big.
Very loose.
Clearly I had the wrong gauge. Part of me wondered if I should swatch as I ripped the ribbing out, but I threw caution to the wind yet again, jumped down to a D hook and went for another go.
30 rows of ribbing in and of course I wasn't getting the stitch requirements I needed. It lined up to the smallest foot's stitches perfectly, though... so you wanna know what I did? That's right: I finished the ribbing and went forth using the pattern's smallest sock size for my middle-of-the-road 7.5 feet. My choices during Sockmas were all over the place, man.
.
.
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A Pool of Pretty or A Pool of Poo?
It was now time for my main color. Still scarred by the "bloody" pooling fiasco of the socks before, I held my breath, hoped the yarn gods would have mercy on me, and began stitching the leg of my new pattern...
Kaloo Kallay! No traumatic pooling today!
The pattern on my sock reminded me of waterlilies on a pond. Much better than an unfortunate incident. And off I went from there, flying through the pattern with excitement mixed with a little anxiety.
"My yarns still work!" I thought happily. "I'm back in the Sockmas Game!"
... But disaster struck again.
Lost In Translation
Remember how I said I was confident in switching the UK crochet terms to US? Yeah. Turns out, I didn't read the pattern thoroughly enough and missed "translating" the heel; I half-double crocheted where I should've done singles. I did this in two places: the heel flap and heel turn.
When did I discover this, you ask? As I was single-crocheting the toe decreases. I was wondering why the toes were the only areas in single-crochet besides the ribbing. The finish line was right there, and it gave me a shove back from it. Curse you, Sockmas socks! Actually, curse me for not being more thorough! Oi vey...
A blessing from this curse though is I had been crocheting both socks at the same time. That meant the mistakes I made were done the same way for the two. Had I been only one sock in, I probably would've frogged back and redid my work. But since these two were evenly-messed up, I cut my losses and finished the pair as-is.
That was December 6th.
. . .
The Reveal
(pre-blocking)
*a pitiful kazoo plays*
Do I like them? Eh. They're not my favorite.
That's the unfortunate part about it: I seamed the toes, wove in my ends, and as soon as I turned these socks right side out, I went, "I hate it."
I felt very defeated. I wanted to love what I made, especially my first pair of socks, but I couldn't look at them without feeling embarrassed.
I turned to Instagram to ask others what they did when their projects turned out less-than-stellar. The answers I got were helpful, telling me to focus on the lesson learned and the technique practiced rather than the final outcome. And that I'll appreciate my socks more when the colder weather hits.
The photo above shows the socks before they were blocked. At the time, I was still waiting on my blockers to come; they were taking a two-week ride around our small town for some reason before finally making it to me. But once I got them, I immediately got the socks washed and drying on them.
I'd never blocked anything before, but I knew it helped shape and smooth items. Wonky stitches would be calmed by the 15-minute soak, and the article of clothing would then be manipulated into shape with pins or blocker shapes, like the sock blockers I got.
"This has to help," I thought, cautiously hanging the blockers in the laundry room. "Blocking has to help."
I'm happy to say that it did!
. . .
The Final Reveal
That blocking stage did miracles because I like them so much more now.
The weird fit is no more, albeit still being a bit tight in a few places from my gauge. I'm scared to wear them anywhere because I don't want to destroy them (ironic since I wanted to destroy them pre-blocking), but I may put them on for Christmas Eve and do some reading. Give their name, "Bookish Christmas," a proper welcome, you know? I have a few more books left of The Vampire Knitting Club by Nancy Warren, so why not finish them in style?
Now:
Will I make another pair? Yes.
Will I pay attention to my gauge and the terms better? Oh yes.
I have enough yarn left that I could theoretically make another pair of socks with the same colors, but what fun would that be? This upcoming February, I may try using the "Apple Season" colorway I got from Miss Babs Yarn for a pair of Valentine socks. The colors would fit in well with that holiday, I think.
This was a fun first Sockmas event despite all the mess-ups. I'd like to try knitting a pair of socks next, but I'd also like to crochet another set properly following Vicki Brown's pattern. See how different the outcome is.
How did your first pair of socks turn out? What lessons did you learn in the process?
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