Maybe, just maybe

Maybe, just maybe I'm .... LEARNING! And/or becoming less lazy of a knitter.

I had wanted to call this post "Pretty Feet" and show my first anklet sock that I made for myself using STR. Alas, it'll have to wait.

I knit this sock up in record time. The anklet was fast, but even the foot part went fast. I did a straight St st, so it flew. The gusset st look so beautiful -- even and aligned. The St st is pretty and straight, giving full due to the gorgeous colors. Even DH commented on how pretty the colors are. I tried it on many times, noting that it was a snug sock (foreshadowing) but still fit. I'd just chock it up to a snuggly footie. I kept knitting.

I made it to the toe, followed the decreases for a pointed toe, and tried the sock on a few rows before the end. It was Tight. My toes were squeezed. Squozed. Smushed. The sock too short. Hm, I thought, I want to *wear* these socks, and I want to cast off my lazy knitting ways. So, rip back to the beginning of the toe decreases, knit several more rows to lengthen the foot, and then redo the toe.

I honestly didn't think I'd get all that done in one day, but late last night while in the middle of a movie, I tried the sock on again and the length was much better.

But ...

The sock is just really snug. Just. REALLY. SNUG. And I don't like the pointed toe. I thought about this a lot while knitting the toe, but I didn't know what to do about it. My toes are broad, not pointy, and they have a natural, straight, graceful slant to them from big toe to little toe. This is what caused me to decrease prematurely before: the knitting instructions I have said "begin the toe shaping about 2" before the end of the sock." But where is 2" -- measured from my big toe or my pinky?? I took a guess and did it from about the middle of the two. And the first time around it was too short.

So, at 10:30 last night, I put it away. I did whip out my Knitting Vintage Socks book by Nancy Bush to look at the different kinds of toes. I may try (foreshadowing again) a rounded toe instead of a pointed toe. It looks much more like the shape of my foot.

And yes, you did read right -- I'm going to rip this sock and redo it, probably from the very start. I don't know how to adjust the st of the sock, as it's too tight around. I may go up a needle size (from 2.0 to 3.0 mm), but I also thought I could just adjust the st. The only real thinking part will be in the heel flap (should it be longer as well as broader? I think maybe not) and in the short rows (I have to follow the short row directions very closely -- they haven't "clicked" for me yet).

Kate Gilbert on Needles on Fire put out instructions for a generic sock that you plug in calculations and voila, you have a recipe. Er, um, a pattern. So I may check that out.

I also wonder if it's snug because its in St st. I hate ribbing, and this yarn is just so pretty that, well, I love the plain St st to let the colors show in all their glory.

So all this to say that I'm tempted to just let the sock be what it is because I spent so much time knitting it. But, it's not right, and I LOVE this yarn. In fact, I think it's the yarn that's making me knit it over and over again. If I were lukewarm on the yarn, I'd probably just give the pair to my mom (who has smaller feet). But these are MY socks, and I'm going to make them RIGHT.