Hello,
I recently made a pair of socks using Trekking XXL yarn with a pattern from Sensational Socks book. I made them according to gauge and I love the way they turned out but after wearing them once I have determined that they are waaay to big. They do the slouch sock effect that I hated back in the 80’s/90’s.
I want to rip the socks out & redo them using the same yarn in a smaller size. Any opinion’s out there on this from you very wise & experienced Knitters?
Just go for it. You don’t have to do anything to the yarn, you can even just knit right from the sock.
I say frog it and use less stitches in your tube than the pattern called for. Right now I am knitting a pair for my FIL and I just measured a sock from my MILs “lost sock” bag. I may end up frogging a few times before I get it just right.
Yep go for it! You could use a smaller size or a smaller needle size. What size needle did you use? I use a US 1 for socks most of the time if I’m using fingering weight.
Two thoughts. First is it possible the yarn will shrink some when you wash it? I don’t know the fiber content. If it is acrylic yarn then this wouldn’t apply. But I have had wools, even superwash, tighten up after laundering.
Second, if only the leg/cuff is too big, you can just redo that part. For toe up, undo to the heel flap & use a smaller needles or fewer stitches. For cuff down socks, cut above the heel flap & undo the yarn down. Pick up stitches just like you would for provisional cast on. Reknit the cuff & bind off loosely.
If it’s sock yarn, it won’t shrink really. But that’s true, if it’s just leg or cuff, you can reknit only that part.
If it’s just the cuff that’s baggy looking, I would just redo the cuff in smaller needles.Lot’s of people knit them that way to begin with.I don’t really bother because mine tend to be tiny ankle socks.
I usually go a size smaller than what the pattern classifies as my size or a couple needle sizes smaller just because I like my socks snug so they stay in place.I don’t cut the length at all, just the width.
If they’re really huge, re-doing them is probably the thing. But I had a pair that just slipped a little at the cuff. I bought some elastic thread at Jo-Ann and weaved that into the cuff, and voila! They stay up now.
Thank you to all who answered my question & re-enforced my thought of frogging the sock & starting over with less stitches.
Jan-I used a size 2 needle & then used the number of stitches suggested for the gauge in the Sensation Socks book. This one fell between 48 or 64 & I went with the larger number but wish I would have done the smaller.
Squeeg-I love the suggestion of just knitting the new stitches from the old sock & not frogging & having to wind up the yarn.
Abby123 - This Trekking yarn is a superwash so I also had the thought that maybe it would shrink a little in the wash like some other superwash yarns I have used. No such luck, came out still huge and not even the sewing elastic that I have used on the cuff of other socks that slip will work for this.
So now if the weather doesn’t get us here in Atlanta tomorrow we are off to S. GA to see our DD play in her first college softball games & I have 4 hrs to work on the socks again. Thanks again to all who gave me their help on this problem.