Here is my first monkey sock after 3 repeats of the pattern. I had a hard time with it. I don't think the pattern is difficult and it does move along quickly as everyone said. I think the needles are so slick( which is usually wonderful) that when I put it down, I am losing stitches off the ends. I love the knitpick needles but I think the combination of the slippery needles and the superwash/nylon sock yarn is dangerous. I had to rip out so many rows because I couldn't pick up the stitches that had fallen off. Sometimes it wasn't so bad but others, well it was just easier to rip it out and start over. I am also trying to knit this correctly (in the front loop) and sometimes I forget what I'm doing and have to rip out a row because I knit in the back loop for the whole row. It is frustrating trying to retrain my muscles to do something differently. I never found the ktbl to be difficult. It was what I knew.
I love the way the yarn is working with the pattern. It is a colorful, lightweight sock and I can't wait to wear it. Of course, I have to finish the first one and then knit number two. This might be hampered by the start of the Tour de France kal which is July 9. I have just over a week to finish these socks or put them aside in favor of the hiking socks I am doing for the kal.
I have one other small gripe about the knitpick dpns, although overall, I love them and prefer them over bamboo or other woods. They don't print the size of the needle anywhere on them. I have a gadget which tells me which size my needle is by sticking it into the hole but it is so much easier to just print the size on the needle. All in all that is a very small thing and I am not going to complain (too much).
4 comments:
they're looking great Donna. LOVE the colour. I know what you mean about
a) ripping back. I've gone back to the band instead of trying to pick them up before. too much fiddling around.
b) the slipperiness of the Knit picks needles. They're a bugger sometimes.
c) the lack of needle size printed on the needles. I really hate that. I working hard to keep all my DPNs separate now that I have these.
This is why we need every size of needle in every type of material. My favorite needles are old nylon Susan Bates circulars, but they are dreadful for anything with mohair. Addis are fast. Bamboo is perfect for slippery yarns, but far too sticky for anything fuzzy. Add to that the problem of misplacing one out of your set of double-pointed needles, and really, it just makes sense to buy more needles every chance you get. Try those socks on on some wooden needles and see if they don't go better for you.
I like the Crystal Palace dpns for socks. They hang onto those end stitches better - important when you're juggling four needles at once.
Just my opinion.
Blessings!
PS. Keep a close watch on your monkeys. They can be unruly little buggers!
if you keep having trouble with your stitches falling off you might want to put in a lifeline every few rows.
to do this just thread some fine waste yarn or crochet cotton on to a needle and run the thread through the stitches on your needle. takes a few extra minutes but really is a 'life saver' if you have to frog back a bit. hope this helps.
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