Little sky learning sock? Help!

#1

I think I knitted the cuff inside out. I am going to start again but would love some help and clarification before I do. I have all my stitches divided on the four needles what I need help with is orientation of the needles I am having a hard time matching the diagram in the book. When I have them in may hands where should the join be, furthest away or closest to me. I think I understand that needle one is the needle that has the yarn coming from it(last cast on stitches) and needle two is the needle I am joining to(first cast on stitches) is this right? The right side of the cuff should be out and the knitting going down between the needles but for some reason my knitting is up.

This isn’t my first pair of socks but I can’t seem to get this straight in my head. I used Silver’s sock class to learn. I’m not sure if it is the fourth needle throwing me or what?:wink:

#2

It sounds like you have it right side out to me. When I knit in the round the work develops out toward my body and not down inside the item. You won’t be able to tell if it is inside out or not until you quit ribbing and start some stockinette. The ribbing looks the same on both sides so it isn’t much help. When you start knitting every round you will learn if the vees of the stockinette are on the outside of the tube. You could just do a few stitches and look at them, is the knit side falling to the outside? If so you are doing it right.

Are you working your socks with 5 needles? That is when you divide the stitches onto 4 needles and knit with the 5th needle. The more common way, I believe is to use a set of 4 dpns and put the stitches on 3 needles and knit with the 4th. Silver may show it both ways. I find 4 needles easier to work with for some reason, but some folks prefer 5. I suppose the directions for a sock would be a little different if you are using 4 or 5 needles. Do whatever your pattern says.

The join should be closest to you. Needle number one is the first one you begin knitting off of. It will not be the last stitches you cast on, but the first stitches you cast on. As you hold the needles to join, the yarn will be coming from the needle to the right (the last stitches you cast on), and you will start knitting on the needle to your left with the free needle, drawing the space between the left and right needles closed. The needle to the left, that you start knitting off of first is needle #1, the next one you knit off of is #2, and if you have the stitches on 4 needles you have needles 3 , and 4 too. Number 4 is the one to your right as you join. If you have the stitches on only 3 needles, number 3 will be that needle to your right as you join, the one with the yarn coming off it.

#3

Cat Bordhi knits sometimes with the working pair of needles closest to you (best example is one I’ve read on this board, if imagine your needles are a cup, the edge you would drink from) and sometimes with working needles farthest from you (the far side of the cup).

So if your knitting is coming up toward you, check which needles you are knitting from. Likely you are knitting with those farthest from you. To switch, simply push the knitting through the hole and then knit from the edge you’d drink from.

Also, the red needle is NOT always the starting needle. It is needle #1, the first of the instep pair of needles when using dpns, but as you move stitches, you will often be starting on a different needle.

#4

Okay, I just tried out a tiny sample of 9 stitches on 3 needles. As I join it is hard to tell if it is on the closest side of the circle, or not. I hold the work vertical as I’m joining so it is at the top. :eyes:

After I have a few rounds the work is coming out toward me and is right side out. At that point whether I am knitting on the far side of the cup or near, depends of how you look at it. If I laid the knitting on the table in front of me with the needles on the table and the fabric coming up toward me, just moving it straight from my knitting position to the table, the spot I would be working at would be away from me. Far side.

But if I tip the work in my hands so that all the needles are flat and at the top and the fabric pointing straight toward my lap, where I’m working would be on the closest side of the cup. I guess that is the way I think of it most. From the position I gave in this paragraph… to work, I just tip the needles away from my body so that the spot I am working is straight up, at 12:00 if you thought of it as a clock.

I just read your post and WMH and mine again, I guess you could call the work developing down and not up. It is all a matter of perspective. Very confusing. But if you were holding the working point at 12:00 in front of your face, the sock should be developing out toward your nose. That will put the public side of the sock out as you work.

#5

So is the center of the instep where i joined? I think I need to stop looking at the join diagram on pg. 10 to me it seems upside down. I was fine until I started the arch expansion then I got all flustered I didn’t think it looked right, I guess it is because it is so different from what I have done before.

My goal for the year was to try and knit more socks I am shooting for a pair a month with all different patterns. For January I wanted to knit the 2 learning socks from the New Path Ways book.

#6

The join pic on page 10 is knitting at the “top” like marigold describes, but yes, some of these images seem upside down to me at first too.

You joined the work between needle 4 and needle 1, so that is at the corner between sole and instep. And now I see I made a mistake above! In the image on page 13, the red needle is the one that has the yarn attached - so needles 3 and 4 combine to become one sole needle at that point.

Marigold, yes it IS all a matter of perspective! If you knit at 12 oclock, then yes, the knitting would come out toward you. Just tip your hands a bit away from you and that becomes what I call the “far” side of the cup, and some people will knit on that side but with the knitting going DOWN, so in your case, needles back at 12, push knitting through so you knit away from you, and suddenly it looks inside out (duh, you just turned it so!) but it can be super confusing the first time(s!) someone knits in the round - I think it’s one of the most common questions I read on this board, and it’s a problem I’ve had during several projects myself. Basically, if someone reads that the knitting should grow “down” but they are knitting from that far side of the cup, it will be inside out (if they tip their hands up to 12, the knitting will be growing away from them) but it’s not a big deal - just push it through and carry on!

#7

Thanks everyone. I think I have it right and did all along:aww: The picture was just confusing me. It’s just that flat 2 dimensional thing vs the 3 dimensional. Man was I over thinking it instead of just doing it. :figureditout:

#8

Glad to hear that! :thumbsup: