Hose knitting and other knit bits

**piperdbh** · 28th December 09, 12:33 PM

Here are the latest ones I've made. They're Rockin' Sox color# 044, worked on size 1 square DNSs.

I worked them from the toe up, because that's how I like it.

They're 2X4 ribbing in the foot, then 4X2 up the leg and cuff.

**haxtonhouse** · 28th December 09, 06:18 PM

I tried to do this, but the sock wont stretch where you sew it, so it wont go over your foot!

Originally Posted by Chas

Hello Heming, Pleater and Paul,

I have a question for you all and would value your opinions.

My mother, who was 90 this year, is a prolific knitter. She always has dozens of projects on the go. (All the premature baby units in the Birmingham conurbation rely on her output for their newborns).

The thing is, I am after a couple of pairs of Argyle hose, but don't want to pay the vast amount of money that is often asked. My mother is willing to be persuaded to knit me a pair - BUT - she cannot turn a heel. She had some bad experiences some 75 years ago and has a mental block to-wards them ever since.

This brings me to the question. Would it be feasible (or even possible) to have my mother knit the leg part of a pair of hose and get her to sew them on to an existing pair of sock feet? The thought being that the leg parts can be transfered to new feet as the latter wear out. Does this make sense?

I only wear cotton or woollen socks and find that I am very hard on the woollen ones. If I had a couple of pairs of Argyle hose I would wear them on a regular basis and not just use them for 'best'. It would be a terrible shame if they wore out in a year or so and couldn't be worn again.

The other thing is that I am sure that once she had made the first pair of 'hose legs', she would make a steady suppy for me.

Regards

Chas

**Pleater** · 29th December 09, 06:56 AM

Look up herringbone stitch - it is what is used for putting elastic waistbands into knitted skirts or cuffs into wide sleeves to gather them in.

Basically, it is a cross stitch, and will stretch, so can be used where elasticity is required.

You can put things together flat, with a small overlap and sew the join on both sides to make a neat connection, or put one layer over another and sew around the edge to connect the two, so it is a very useful stitch - much used by makers of stage costume who never get given enough material for their work. (sorry - perpetual sore point)

If you make sure that you have spare yarn, and keep it safe from moths, then it is perfectly possible to reknit the feet of socks or hose and keep them going for ages - I have some hose in the yarn I got from unpicking a sweater my little brother wore at his first school, and he was 51 this Christmas day.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

**sockknitter** · 29th December 09, 06:22 PM

Those are great hose, and f/ the photo, seems like you did a good job. Is that yarn f/ Bluemoon Fiber Arts? Their "Socks that Rock?"

Question about the construction.. is the ribbing on the foot all the way around, top and bottom? or just on the top? And did you do any shaping for the calf?

Top down? or toe up?

**piperdbh** · 29th December 09, 07:30 PM

Is that yarn f/ Bluemoon Fiber Arts? Their "Socks that Rock?"

Nope. It's "Rockin's Sox" from Plymouth Yarns. They have several different shades. I picked the light-color (#044) for these to contrast with my dark brown shoes and sporran.

Question about the construction.. is the ribbing on the foot all the way around, top and bottom? or just on the top? And did you do any shaping for the calf?

All the way around, but it's P4K2 on the foot, then I switched to K4P2 for the leg. I like the feel of the knit sts on the inside of the foot, and the look of the knits on the outside of the leg.
Here's the increases on the back of the calf. I don't have very big calves, so I only had to increase 12 sts. There are 9 sts/11 rows per inch. It's a very soft, silky-feeling yarn, and doesn't grip the needles very well. The square needles help with that.

Top down? or toe up?

Toe-up. I've done both, but prefer toe-up for some reason.

**Heming** · 30th December 09, 05:08 AM

That looks almost exactly like how I do mine! But I use the old-fashioned round dpns

And being a decorated officer of the knitting police, I have to say that I find knitting on four dpns a hassle. It's much less fidgety (to me) with the fifth needle in there.

After having tried a lot of different sock patterns, I've come up with one that's essentially the best parts from all the different ones I've tried. t's toe-up, as I find myself thinking that the hose look like they've been made upside-down if there's any pattern when knit top-down. But decreases look better than increases (at least when I make them), so for a plain sock I still knit top down.

I've tried my way to a good heel, too, as I find the old-fashioned heel-flap-and-turn method to make the most hard-wearing heel. Any heel style with a gusset is probably just as good. But I turn the heel using short rows with wraps, as opposed to decreases, because this makes the heel less bulky (which is important when you're adding strengthening thread to the heel).

**sockknitter** · 30th December 09, 05:52 PM

Tell me about your increases - added 6 stitches two times? about 6-8 rows apart? Was it difficult to add that many stitches at once? And then did you do any decreases for the area under the turn down cuff? or just have your flashes take care of holding up your hose? I noticed you have kind of a slender leg...my dad's got a little more meat to his calf....maybe 13"? Lots of shaping to that one. It was a top down. I think I was on 6's for the cuff, then I switched to 3's, 4's and 5's half inch each for some k2p2 ribbing under the cuff, before I was back to the 6's and back to the tartan pattern. And I'm with you, Heming. If I'm on dpns, I can't bear to use anything less than five. Using only 4 makes for some tight quarters, tight turns. IMO.

**sockknitter** · 30th December 09, 05:57 PM

deleted duplicate post

**piperdbh** · 30th December 09, 07:14 PM

I'll tell you about the increases. I worked up to where I wanted them to start, then *picked up the bar below, half-twisted it, and knitted into it* twice. I did this in the middle of my P2, which started a new K rib. The next round I did this again, for a total of 4Ks in the new rib. I then worked an inch and half to where the next increase needed to be, and this time I increased 2sts in the K4 rib, then did it again in the next round, to make 8Ks wide. On the next round, I increased 2Ps in the middle of the 8Ks, which completed the increases. This added 12 sts, for a total of 96 around, which I continued until it was long enough to begin the cuff. I switched from K4P2 to P4K2 for the cuff, so that when I fold the cuff over, the ribs are the same as on the leg. I don't like the "turn the sock inside out and work backwards" method of making a cuff, unless it's cabled, of course. I used 5 square DPNs for these. I have used 4 round DPNs and the main advantage of the 5 versus 4 is that with 5, you put fewer stitches on each needle, which makes it a little easier when picking up along the heel flap.

**Tobus** · 11th January 10, 03:39 PM

After much thought (and actually going to the store and looking at knitting supplies), I think I may have given up on the idea of taking up knitting. I think it may be biting off more than I can chew.

But I know a guy who knows a gal who is interested in possibly knitting me a pair of kilt hose. She says she needs a pattern. This Toirneach kilt hose pattern looks pretty darn good, and I may see if she can make me a pair of those. But what I was really after was diced hose. Is there a pattern out there for diced hose?