The Goldilocks Dilemma or Size Matters

I have now changed the size 1 needles used to knit the Diagonal Rib Socks by Ann Budd. When knitting plain vanilla socks for myself, casting on 56 to 60 stitches usually works for me. 56 stitches in sock or fingering weight wool fit comfortably on the 4” Knit Picks wood dpns. Knitting with sport or dk weight wool where I am generally using 48 to 52 stitches works well on the ChiaoGoo or Knitter’s Pride Karbonz 6” dpns. I found myself struggling in the past 24 hours to find a length that works. Finally, last night I switched to the 5” no-name bamboo needles and the 65 stitches fit comfortably, enabling me finally to pick up some speed in working the pattern.

I ran into the same problem when knitting Little Things by Veera Välimäki. Started on size 2 KP nickel, ripped and switched to size four ChiaoGoo Bamboo; ripped and switched to size 5 ChiaoGoo Bamboo and finally got a looser but still firm fabric and my knitting speed returned to normal.

I am so far happy with both projects. For the Diagonal Rib Socks, I am using Light Brown Hare’s Jackalope in the Kitten 2 colorway. I chose the pattern, first because my 2014 goal is knitting socks with stitch patterns and colorwork; and second because I suspected, and it has proved true, that the stitch pattern would prevent noticeable pooling. The yarn is soft and not splitty without that cotton candy squishiness that sometimes happens with superwash Merino and the stitch definition is good. Light Brown Hare also sells nice stitch markers.

For Little Things, I am using Black Welsh Mountain yarn that I bought from Countrybyrd on Ravelry. A nice rustic yarn that is a little hard on the fingernails, but which blooms and softens nicely after soaking.