Adventures in Sock Knitting

I took a bit of a knitting break at the end of spring term, but am started to get more motivated to finish projects again :) Wearing my house socks helped inspire me to cast on a pair of basic everyday socks. I decided to knit on double points this time, and quickly discovered that wood needles in small sizes is not a good idea... Yes, I managed to break one of my size 0 double points :( So I have switched to metal DPNs; I'd be impressed if I could break those!

Short update

I'm trying not to neglect the blog, so I figured it was time for an update!
Sock Knitting Class - I finished my first sock at the end of the third class :) It was nice to have enough time to go through the whole process during the three weeks. The second sock went pretty quickly, since I had already learned the techniques with the first sock. Still need to take pictures, but hoping to post more soon...

Phat Fiber Swaps - So half the fun of the phat fiber box was swapping for different samples! All of my swaps went well, and I got some fun yarn samples (and I think everyone is enjoying the fiber samples I sent them). I'm almost done with a pair of fingerless gloves using three different sample yarns. Hoping to update on that later in the week.
and, it's almost time for the May Phat Fiber box to go on sale...

Also need to go shopping for the Gemini Birthday Swap. I've done some window-shopping, but it's getting to be time to decide. Luckily my swappee has a birthday in June, so I still have a little time. Also waiting patiently for my package to arrive...

Okay, this update is getting longer than I intended, so it's probably time to do some studying. Also planning to make some lemon poppyseed mini muffins to take to practicum tomorrow :)

Socks (part 2)

So, yesterday was part 2 of the sock knitting class at the Knitting Bee. Knitting the heel flap wasn't too bad, and the short row heel wasn't as scary as I expected. Picking up stitches was more challenging... I have picked up stitches before, but mostly for bags. I wasn't as concerned with making the picked up stitches look pretty when I knew the bag was going to be felted! Plus it seemed easier to pick up stitches when using size 10+ needles; it was different trying to pick up stitches on the size 3 needles!

It really got interesting when working the instep stitches. After working back and forth for the heel, I think I forgot the proper magic loop technique... so I got confused about where in the round I was. Also had to deal with the railroad rib pattern on the front of the foot. I think knitting plain stockinette socks would have been less confusing! And I may try my next pair on double points, since I feel more comfortable with those. Oh, and I supposed I should finish the second sock before I start thinking about the next pair...

Socks...

This afternoon was my first sock knitting class at the Knitting Bee. There were seven of us in the class, and it seemed like the right size. Any more people and I think it would get hard to keep up. Today we just focused on getting used to the Magic Loop method, which I am liking so far :)
I will say that knitting with double points makes me feel smart, but it does make it harder to try on projects. So with the magic loop it seems easier to try things on, and there's no risk of losing a needle (unless you just lose the whole project!)
So far my only concern is that I knit really loosely, which means I have to keep going down needles sizes. So my size 4 needles were too big for worsted weight yarn. Since I wanted to practice the magic loop technique some more, I tried casting on some sock yarn onto size 0 needles. Also looking too loose... and not sure I want to end up knitting on 000 needles or something. Any suggestions on knitting tighter? Or should I just knit thicker socks? ;)
Next week we get to learn how to turn a heel, so should be more exciting...