A Well-Executed Plan
Confession time. Remember how I mentioned in the previous post I hadn’t noticed my stripe count error in the maroon and gold socks until after I had taken a progress photo? To be precise, I didn’t notice the problem until after I had knit BOTH insteps and tried them on.
My first impulse was to throw the socks onto the floor and stomp them into oblivion. Next, I considered gathering up the offending socks and yarn into a ball and stuffing it way back into the depths of my closet. Childish moment over, I knew the problem was entirely fixable. The possible solutions I came up with included the following:
- Frog the instep and heel to the missed stripe and reknit downwards.
- Cut off the cuff and reknit too-short sock upwards.
- Excise offending stripe repeat on too-long sock and graft leg together.
All perfectly doable, right? The last option above probably would have involved the least time and effort. I didn’t like the shorter length, though. The taller version was more preferable. My plan consisted of “cutting-and-pasting” the missing stripes.
I used blue scrap yarn to mark where I would need to pick up the stitches after cutting. I cut the bracketed gold stripe at the halfway point so that I would have long enough tails to weave in later.
After cutting, I placed all the stitches onto DPNs and reknit the stripes (minus the one round needed for grafting) downward from the cuff section.
Next came the joy that is known as grafting. (This is not for the Kitchener-wary!)
Et voilà! I can’t tell which sock is the one I repaired.
For those interested in the stripe sequence:
Round 1: Knit with CC
Rounds 2-4: Knit with MC
Round 5: Purl with CC
Rounds 6-8: Knit with MC
The only problem I have with these socks is the yarn I used. There are irregular spots where the dye did not penetrate. This only happened with the maroon, and is most noticeable near the toe in the completed sock photo.
I’ve been wanting some thicker socks for when it gets oh-so-very cold here. The cuffs/legs are roomy enough for tucking in long johns or even jeans. I could also wear a thin pair of socks inside for extra warmth should I need to be outside for a long period.
A few readers commented on the similarity of these colors to Harry Potter. That’s possible, but I’ve seen knits using scarlet or burgundy instead of maroon for Gryffindor. Maroon and gold are the colors of the U of MN. This past weekend I realized these socks qualify for the Buffy KAL (link on right sidebar), since they match the Sunnydale school colors. The gold could also fit in the current Project Spectrum theme.
Pattern: none Size: Women’s Medium Yarn: Colorado Yarns Knitaly, 80-90g Maroon and 20-30g Goldenrod Needles: US 4 DPNs for cuffs and first 4 stripe repeats, US 3 for remainder Started: April 8, 2007 Completed: April 13, 2007
knitting, socks |
19 stitches to “A Well-Executed Plan”
Please make a stitch.
Wow, good job with the cutting and grafting! It was not for the faint of hard for sure.
Wow, you are good. (and you have much more patience than me lol)Great job on the repair. The socks look wonderful!
Very clever fix and the socks turned out great!! I never for a minute thought of Gryffindor. ;)
Awesome. I would have been far too afraid to try that. I would have frogged both socks, put the yarn back in my stash and cried every time I saw it.
As soon as the first Harry Potter movie came out, I thought, “Awesome - they have U of M colors.” (Went there as a student for 4 years, and worked there for 9.) I’ve always thought that. So you’re not ripping off Harry Potter, HP is ripping off the U!
Bravo! A well executed fix! Go Gophers! :-)
Wow! You did a great job! I have been in a similar position but noticed it before too much of the sock was completed. I think that is why I enjoy working on both of my socks at the same time, if possible, to ward off problems like this.
Good job! Very well done…they look great. Your sock blockers look interesting. Where did you get them?
You go gal! Also? Go Gophers!
You are a good woman. I’d've decided I liked them in their imperfect state. After I stomped on them.
Good grafting there! And thanks for the sharing the stitch pattern — easy, and looks great.
Extremely clever and well done fix. Kudos!
how impressive! they turned out great.
I think I would have stomped them, stuffed them in the closet, cried for a bit, and then tried to convince myself that I really liked lopsided socks. Or maybe one leg is shorter than the other… ;)
Actually, I don’t mind kitchener, and the finished socks look great!
Thanks for documenting this — I love seeing knitting plastic surgery that goes well!
I am very, very impressed. Well done!
I came to see the details from your post to the Buffy KAL and wow! I am even more impressed now that I see what you went through to fix the error. Like Sarah, I also love seeing knitting surgery and I am very inspired by your creative solution. Good job!!
Great fix! I would go with your option too, the others would just take too long;)
You are very brave! I couldn’t have cut them!
*fans self* way too ambitious for me right now.
I…. I would have just loved them mismatchedly. Not that I’ve ever done that. *whistles*