So I finally started knitting Marty a pair of socks using the beautiful sock yarn we bought (for less than $2!) in a Czech spa town. I'm following the Thuja pattern from Knitty using a nameless colorway of Sockenwolle Unipo and so far, they're going great, except for one small detail:I don't know if I'm going to have enough wool to finish two socks! GAH!!!!!
I know that one of the cardinal rules of knitting is to always purchase enough yarn of the same dye lot to complete a project, but to my defense, it says right on the label of this wool that 100g/420m should be enough to knit a pair of socks in a size 46. Marty is only a size 44 (U.S. 11) and it's not like I'm knitting him thigh highs or anything... (though it makes me giggle to think of knitting a grown man a pair of schoolgirl socks. I'd need to get him a garter belt to hold them up!)A website was listed on the skein of Unipo, so I looked it up, thinking I might be able to find an extra skein and have it shipped here. (Desperate, I know.) Alas, even with my (very) limited grasp of the Czech language, I was able to discern that Sockenwolle Unipo has since been replaced with something called Sportivo, and Sportivo doesn't come in the luscious colorway I already have. Sigh... I even tried googling Unipo wool, and though I found an international craft and culture swappy thing that I think I might join, I was out of luck in the Unipo department. (The one woman from Slovakia who was known to swap Unipo for North American stuff has put swapping on hold for the time being. NOOOOOOOO!!!!) Hence, I bought a skein of Phildar Preface from a small LYS in a matching brown to knit the toes in, but what do you think? Should 420 m of wool be enough to knit a man's pair of socks?
If worse comes to worse, I guess I could frog the whole first sock back and knit the top ribbing, the heel flap, and the toes in the matching Phildar wool to save the good Unipo stuff, but honestly, the thought of ripping back an almost finished sock in thin sock wool on tiny needles is too much for me right now. Besides, if I'm going to have enough Unipo anyway, I'd rather not rip back a perfectly good first sock.What's the consensus on this one?
Option 1: Try to knit two socks (top-down) in Unipo
Option 2: Try to knit two socks in Unipo with Phildar toes
Option 3: Frog back first sock and knit both with Phildar top ribbing, heel flap, and toes
Option 4: Catch an emergency flight to Karlovy Vary, locate random (and nameless!) tiny yarn store on the main strip, and hope to God they still sell last-season colorways of a discontinued yarn.
Hmm... how many airmiles do you think it takes to get to CZ?
8 comments:
Here's a thought, it might be a totally stupid thought, it might not. I don't really see any way around finishing both socks and having enough yarn except to trust the label on the yarn. Trust the label and hope for the best. When I do this I do both socks toe up at the same time (in fact the only way I knit socks now is to do both at once, toe up so I can try them on as I go and I don't have the whole second sock issue). Pulling from the center for one sock and the outside for the other (if I only have one ball) that way, if it's getting down to the wire, at least the feet are done and I can keep knitting the upper part until it looks long enough or the yarn looks like it's going to run out.
Whoa! 420m should be enough. Normally, single balls of sock yarn are in the 200m range, so I would assume that 420 should be enough. How many did you cast on and what needle size are you using? That could make a difference.
Whenever I make socks, I always have tons left over - however, I've never made a sock for a man yet... Though I was contemplating that same pattern for my guy...
Be stong! Knit on! Or be brave and do what I did. :)
(Oh, this is Mary from knit nite at Moka House, by the way...)
Whoops! That's be STRONG, not stong. Darn typo!
Nice yarn, Dana. Could you knit down to the first toe, put the stitches on a holder, knit the other sock down to the toe and then see if you have enough to finish? I bet you'll have enough yarn though...
Everyone is waaaay more on their game than me, but I just think different coloured toes are fun...
YOU CAN DO IT!
I agree with Gingersnaps - trust in the label and see how it goes. Worse case scenario you can always frog but why do it know, trust in the yarn....trust in the yarn....
9 times out of 10, i lose the sock's partner, or i can't be bothered to find it in my sock drawer where it's come loose so my socks generally mismatch and no one notices. i think it gives socks character to have one sock be a bit different from it's twin. worst case - one sock has a different trim on the end. here's proof that it's not from the store!
oops. i didn't read the option choices. i choose option 5: keep going as it is. who says the toe, heel, and top have to match? supplement with different yarn when you run out and finish the sock. then give it to marty with that special DANA stamp on it.
fly by the seat of your pants!!! wahoo!!!! LIFE ON THE EDGE....
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