# VICTORY AT LAST



## GentlyFeral (Mar 22, 2015)

Sturm-und-drang backstory here:

First pair of side-seam socks. Swearing all the way. 
http://www.knittingparadise.com/t-327609-1.html

And now <drumrollL>

VICTORY AT LAST

Look! Its smiling!!

Of course, the heel is a little uneven somehow, and Im not sure why, but Ill be dipped in batter and deep-fried if Im going to worry about it now.


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## Puppies101 (Nov 3, 2012)

Good going, now for the other sock.


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## In Memory of Scottybear (Sep 20, 2011)

Well done.


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## no1girl (Sep 4, 2012)

GentlyFeral said:


> Sturm-und-drang backstory here:
> 
> First pair of side-seam socks. Swearing all the way.
> http://www.knittingparadise.com/t-327609-1.html
> ...


so much easier on four needles!


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## GentlyFeral (Mar 22, 2015)

cakes said:


> so much easier on four needles!


:lol:

Yeah, but once I get the hang of it, it'll be much faster on the machine


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## kathycam (Apr 24, 2012)

scottybearNSW said:


> Well done.


 :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:


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## DHobbit (Jan 11, 2014)

:thumbup:


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## Marge in MI (Mar 5, 2011)

a sweet victory! well done!


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## GrandmaLiz (Dec 31, 2012)

Are those hair pins (UK - grips) along the sides? I've never seen them used in MK like this before. Are they to help you join the seam? Just curious, I love to pick up new tips/techniques  .


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## GentlyFeral (Mar 22, 2015)

GrandmaLiz said:


> Are those hair pins (UK - grips) along the sides? I've never seen them used in MK like this before. Are they to help you join the seam? Just curious, I love to pick up new tips/techniques  .


Yes, that's what they're for. Bobby pins, we call them in the US. Over here, hairpins are something different, suited to long hair. But I digress.

On one side the seam-as-you-go worked almost perfectly, leaving a seam that's quite visible but vaguely decorative, and maybe even fairly flat. On the other side it was a disaster -- loose and ugly. I didn't have the weights arranged right, I guess.

And then the sock leapt off the machine again, about 10 rows after I had successfully turned the toe! But at least I got to try it on and reassure myself that the length of the foot is exactly right.

The toe and heel are beautiful, too! I'll post a picture tomorrow.

I swore to myself that I wouldn't frog this sock again, but I'm so dsappointed in these seams that I might just do the simple, basic design quill-ws laid out for me in the "Swearing all the way" thread, and finish it with a super-flat and almost invisible Bickford seam. (Since taking up m MK I'm actually starting to enjoy seaming and even weaving in ends. Funny, that.)


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## sharronaw (Jul 12, 2013)

Stick with it- can't wait to see the finished socks. Sharron


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## Anouchic (May 14, 2014)

Congrats! 

I stop and wonder sometimes when I'm cursing and swearing (no kids in the house) "why am I doing this?" I love, love yarn, and machine knitting is lots and lots of fun.


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## GentlyFeral (Mar 22, 2015)

Sharonnaw, I believe I will! It looks much more promising after a night relaxing off the needles (both me and the sock). Having trouble adding the pictures I just took ... hang on ...

<twiddling the pixels>


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## Anouchic (May 14, 2014)

Keep up the good work. You're almost there. I would like to add that's a lovely blue.


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## GentlyFeral (Mar 22, 2015)

Anouchic said:


> Keep up the good work. You're almost there. I would like to add that's a lovely blue.


Lion Brand Sock-Ease yarn, fingering weight, color Snow Cone.


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## Anouchic (May 14, 2014)

GentlyFeral said:


> Lion Brand Sock-Ease yarn, fingering weight, color Snow Cone.


Thank you. It is a very pretty blue!


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## kwright (Mar 16, 2012)

I do not have that skill, but I'm sure the finished product will be okay. All the pins look scary. I don't knit socks, either.


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## kestrelz (Nov 29, 2011)

very good


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## Gurney (Feb 17, 2012)

GentlyFeral said:


> Sturm-und-drang backstory here:
> 
> First pair of side-seam socks. Swearing all the way.
> http://www.knittingparadise.com/t-327609-1.html
> ...


What are the hairgrips doing?


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## Saroj (Dec 2, 2011)

Cakes sock on 4 needles take me 7 hours for one verses 15 minutes on the machines.


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## Saroj (Dec 2, 2011)

Why do you have so many pins

Here is my socks done in 30 minutes and 45 minutes to sew the inside

Watch my video on seamless sewing. The seams are flat.

I use Paton sock yarn. I love Debra norwell serenity yarn available in Joanne fabrics. I always order online. Many beautiful colors and make the matching fingerless gloves


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## Marge St Pete (Jul 21, 2011)

Is there some benefit doing them sideways? I do them from the top down.


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## shawcountry (Jun 10, 2012)

Nice job. I have never used Bobby pins to knit socks. For me I think they'd be a distraction.


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## Peanut Tinker (Oct 10, 2012)

GentlyFeral said:


> Sharonnaw, I believe I will! It looks much more promising after a night relaxing off the needles (both me and the sock). Having trouble adding the pictures I just took ... hang on ...
> 
> <twiddling the pixels>


Thanks for keeping us up to date. This is good to learn. I have a question though, why do you have bobby pins on the top of the toe, would they not just be on the sides, to be joined as you do each row? 
Thx


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## boots (Jan 24, 2011)

I'm so glad for you. Nothing better than success. The color is beautiful.


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## Peanut Tinker (Oct 10, 2012)

Peanut Tinker said:


> Thanks for keeping us up to date. This is good to learn. I have a question though, why do you have bobby pins on the top of the toe, would they not just be on the sides, to be joined as you do each row?
> Thx


Never mind, I just figured it out!! 😝 if I can get confused looking at this, no wonder you had your bumps while you were knitting it!


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## janeknits2 (Feb 20, 2015)

I'm confused why the bobby pins. I understand that as a technique to seam as you knit, but the sock is off the machine...
I too knit side seam socks, and with the seam worn on the inside of the foot really cannot be felt. I use a mattress seam, though I know many use a Bickford. The Multi Purpose Sock pattern from Rocking Horse Farm is my go to pattern though I short row the toe on the opposite side of the machine from the heel and thus my Kitchener seam is on the underside of my foot rather than on the top.


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## Meemeeto3 (Nov 17, 2014)

Congrats on getting this far with the sock!! I too am confused with the Bobby pins- I guess I've never seen them used before if someone can post a link to info/instructions on why/how to use them I would be really interested! I haven't made the side seam socks yet....


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## Bod (Nov 11, 2014)

Good going. It's quite a feeling of accomplishment, I imagine.


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## janeknits2 (Feb 20, 2015)

http://heidisknittingroom.com/AltogetherSock.htm
on this site you can see the seam as you go with bobby pins -- using the bobby pins helps to identify what to pick up and place onto the machine needle and it is knit in, thus seam as you go. I have used it on mitten thumbs but never a sock.


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## lac (Sep 29, 2011)

Good job, Kudos to you for not giving up. I'll be danged if I will let my KM beat me. I would much rather knit by machine too, so much faster. It took me quite awhile to get my first pair done, now I just got in a whole bunch of sock yarn that I ordered and I am going to knit my next pair. Love the color of your sox.


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## charmknits (Jan 26, 2014)

Yea! :thumbup:


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## Tamaffitt (Mar 16, 2015)

Awesome news. What is the purpose of the bobby pins? Do you mark your stitches or rows with this for the sew as you go technique? Terry


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## shawcountry (Jun 10, 2012)

Wouldn't a contrasting thread or ravel cord flipped over the outside needles serve the same purpose as bobby pins for seam as you go?


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## GentlyFeral (Mar 22, 2015)

Tamaffitt said:


> Awesome news. What is the purpose of the bobby pins? Do you mark your stitches or rows with this for the sew as you go technique? Terry


They not only mark the stitches, they provide a handle to lift each one up onto the outside needle during the seaming process.

Folks, I was knitting the "Altogether Socks" from Heidi's Knitting Room. You'll see the pins along the sides are part of the working process.

http://heidisknittingroom.com/AltogetherSock.htm

Unfortunately, after all that progress, I was unable to rehang the toe; I had missed a number of stitches marking them with those pins across the row that leaped off the machine, and after two hours of trying to fix it all, I realized that I had succumbed to the sunk-costs fallacy once again.

So I frogged my "victory sock."

I'm a little worried about the yarn turning to felt if I have to do that again more than once. I'll knit from the other end of the skein, I think.

And it may be a different pattern, like the one quill-ws described here: http://www.knittingparadise.com/t-327609-2.html

Given a nearly invisible and completely flat seam, "right" and "left" socks shouldn't be as brain-hurty as I was thinking.

BUT first I have to solve the weights problem.

I have claw weights from two different machines -- the one I'm using and a Bond. Somehow that's just barely enough if I use them ALL at once. I think that's why the ribbing is falling off, to say nothing of heels and toes. I'm going to have to improvise some weights -- maybe little sacks stuffed with coins and secured with dpns? *blink*

And I WILL make a pair of socks on my standard-gauge machine as soon as I solve this problem.

Wish me luck, folks.


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## lac (Sep 29, 2011)

Do you have a ribber? If so why don't you try the sock that Diana Sullivan has on U Tube. That is the one I followed and after a gazillion tries I have finally got it. Here is the link, it is in 3 parts.


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## GentlyFeral (Mar 22, 2015)

lac said:


> Do you have a ribber?


No, I don't.


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## GentlyFeral (Mar 22, 2015)

shawcountry said:


> Wouldn't a contrasting thread or ravel cord flipped over the outside needles serve the same purpose as bobby pins for seam as you go?


It might -- but the bigger problem is the entire sock falling off the machine. Ravel cord would be lighter weight, and I need all the weight I can get -- but, come to think of it, not on the seams themselves.


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## Reba1 (Feb 5, 2012)

I've knit this sock before, and the bobby pins really do help. They look strange hanging there in progress, but they do help identify and hang the stitches when the time comes. 

You made good progress. Keep trying and it will come to you! Then there will be no stopping you.


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## GentlyFeral (Mar 22, 2015)

Bless you, Reba1 - that means a lot.

I might experiment with ravel cord instead of bobby pins, as shawcountry suggested.

Meantime, I think I'll do some colorwork and texture swatches for a sweater-made-of-scarves I've been planning.


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## Anouchic (May 14, 2014)

Reba1 said:


> I've knit this sock before, and the bobby pins really do help. They look strange hanging there in progress, but they do help identify and hang the stitches when the time comes.
> 
> You made good progress. Keep trying and it will come to you! Then there will be no stopping you.


I second Reba1. Consider it a learning experience. Keep trying. I have come across the pattern you are using-bobbypins/hairpins-whatever  I think it is a good way to knit socks for those who do not have ribbers.


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## GentlyFeral (Mar 22, 2015)

VICTORY AT LAST

NO REALLY FOR REALS YOU GUYS

Um, I did revert to a single-seam graft-the-toe pattern. Only lost the heel once and had to re-knit about six rows of the toe.

And I may actually have enough of this yarn for the other sock!


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## shawcountry (Jun 10, 2012)

Congratulations!


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## lac (Sep 29, 2011)

Yay!!!!!!!! Looks great


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## justanoldgirl (Feb 18, 2015)

kwright said:


> I do not have that skill, but I'm sure the finished product will be okay. All the pins look scary. I don't knit socks, either.


I agree! At the risk of being shot down in flames, why do you bother knitting socks when they are so cheap to buy?


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## KateWood (Apr 30, 2011)

Great Job


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## GentlyFeral (Mar 22, 2015)

justanoldgirl said:


> why do you bother knitting socks when they are so cheap to buy?


The socks I can buy are generally too narrow in the calf and don't come in kicky patterns and colors -- not for less than US$20 a pair. This yarn only cost me $10.

Besides -- challenge, mastery, and pride in craftsmanship (eventually)!


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## lac (Sep 29, 2011)

For me, it is the feeling of accomplishment. I love to make/create things.


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## In Memory of Scottybear (Sep 20, 2011)

justanoldgirl said:


> I agree! At the risk of being shot down in flames, why do you bother knitting socks when they are so cheap to buy?


Thee cotton/nylon ones in the shop dig into my ankle or calf depending on the length of the sock, and hand knitted wool blend socks are so much more comfortable and warmer in the winter.


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## MegsyStylish (Nov 24, 2013)

Because no one manufactures socks that fit my sturdy peasant legs and do not bind/constrict circulation at my ankle or behind my knee. It's the main reason I got into machine knitting.


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## GentlyFeral (Mar 22, 2015)

MegsyStylish, I LOVE those socks!


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## MegsyStylish (Nov 24, 2013)

Thank you! They are based on Carrie Barocco's Easy Knee Socks on Ravelry:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/easy-knee-socks

They do require a ribber - we need to find you one!

Made from Paton's Kroy, they're almost knee boots, but I enjoyed them tremendously this winter. They're business class stealth socks, all you see is the charcoal until I kick my clogs off!


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## In Memory of Scottybear (Sep 20, 2011)

Love your socks.


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## GentlyFeral (Mar 22, 2015)

Yes, the seams are hilariously bad. Bickford seams aren't nearly as easy as I thought they would be. It's less "where does the needle go?" than "maybe I should pull gently on the working yarn more often?" I didn't realize until I took this picture that I'm hiding the seams on the second sock. The Bickford side seam is a little better, but the Kitchener stitch across the toe is ALMOST flawless.

And yet the second sock is about two inches longer than the first! I had a lot of trouble with dropped stitches (at least the sock never leapt off the machine), and had to do a lot of tinking, and lost count of how many rows I had to re-knit.

Several times.

Also, something odd started happening with the toe and heel -- they took many more rows than they did on the first sock, and I don't know why.

Anyway, I"ve woven in those ends and they're on my feet now. At least they're warm and comfy and in one of my favorite colors.

I've already started another pair -- different pattern, two side-seams Diana Sullivan style. We shall see.


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