Southern Cross Fibre

I made my swatch by casting on 60 stitches in the round, knitting a few rows of garter stitch (1 row knit, 1 row purl), knitting a few inches of stocking stitch (stockinette) and then finishing off with a few more rows of garter stitch. I like to leave my swatches to rest overnight before measuring them to let them settle a bit. I don’t steam or block them, because I don’t do this to finished socks (although I do it religiously with other knitted articles). If I ever made lace socks (which I haven’t), then I’d definitely block the swatch prior to measuring. I measured my stitch gauge over 3″ and divided by 3 to get my stitches per inch. My row gauge was measured over 2″ because the stocking stitch part of my swatch wasn’t quite 3″ long.

When taking foot measurements, I like to measure the circumference of my foot around the widest part of my foot and then subtract 10% for negative ease (making the sock a little smaller so that it stretches to fit the foot better). If you don’t wish to subtract 10% for negative ease, you’ll end up with a sock that fits (assuming you knit exactly to your gauge!) but it may stretch a little with wear and you’ll end up with a baggy sock you probably won’t wear. If you’re looking for loose-fitting socks to wear to bed, I’d still take off at least 5%. For foot length, I usually take off about 1/4″ off the actual foot length to give a snug fit.

The calculations below are straight forward, but you’ll need a calculator (unless you’re a math genius). Once these calculations are done, they’ll see you through to the end of the sock (promise!) I’ve labeled each calculation with a letter of the alphabet. I’ll leave blanks in the pattern where you’ll substitute one of your numbers. For example, “cast on ______(G) stitches”. You’ll insert your value for (G). I’ve inserted an “Sample” column in the table below. This contains calculated values for my sample sock.

If someone can think of an easier way to present this information or has any suggestions for easier reading, please let me know.

Armed with these calculations, we’re ready to knit the sock! Stay tuned - the next post containing the instructions for knitting everything from casting on to the start of the gusset will be here shortly. I’ve cast on and I’m testing what I’ve written prior to posting to check for accuracy. I’d hate to lead you all down the garden path and have you hate me forever…

This entry was posted on Monday, February 18th, 2008 at 3:45 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.