Friday, January 3, 2014

Two Socks, One Week: Block Those Socks

Baseline: Sock 1 and 2, Day 7
Timeline: 20 minutes / Step 9

The great thing about socks is that, if you work from one continuous ball of yarn, you'll have but two ends to weave in on each sock - the one at the cuff and the one at the heel. I'm sure you'll agree, it doesn't get much less fussy than that.

Here is a tutorial about weaving in the ends, though I'm sure you're old hat at it...

And here's a photo of sock blockers, the likes of which I use:

Clio got me into these... You know how I love a gizmo.
After weaving in the ends, I like to block my socks once, by hand washing in Soak. I use the scent-free kind and add some lavender essential oil for a bit of anti-bacterial fragrance. After washing and rinsing, I roll the socks gently in a towel, first shaping them, and then pressing firmly with my hands. After this, I unroll the towel and slip the socks onto the blockers and I place them, vertically, over a heat vent. They'll dry to perfect shape in under 3 hours this way.

 
Mind you, you can almost as easily lay them out, carefully shaping so that they're exactly the same size and shape, on a dry towel and leave them overnight. That does a good job too.

From here on in, I'll put these babies in the washer and dryer.

But let's cut to the chase. Here's a shot of my finished, blocked socks:



While it doesn't look it in real life, these socks seem quite distinct from one another in photos.
Pretty cute, huh?

(In truth, this yarn, while fantastic to knit with, didn't produce the tightest fabric for me - it's perhaps a bit soft for my loose gauge. My rib is not ribby enough for my liking, though I'm sure, when machine washed, the socks will shrink a bit in the cuff area. Furthermore, now that I'm moving from British style to flicking, my gauge is much firmer. I've just bought another skein of this yarn, in a new colourway. I'm looking forward to applying new knitting techniques to this wool.)

That's the beauty of every pair of hand knit socks - they all have their own mind and hand. From now on, per my results with this sock (actually knit after the one shown in the photo above), I'm definitely going down a needle size in the ribbing, and will continue to make the rib with K2P1. I'm in the mood for a tighter cuff.)

So that's that. I'd love it if you'd link me to photos of your finished socks, or flip me a pic. I would love to see - and profile - your fabulous handiwork!

And, next time you make socks, whether you're a convert to the magic loop method or no, I hope you will bring some of the tips and techniques we've discussed over the last week and month. As always, feel free to leave any outstanding questions in the comments.

Peace out Knit Alongers. Way to start the new year :-) xo

11 comments:

  1. So do you always knit your socks from a superwash yarn that can be machine-washed and dried? Or do you just find you get negligible shrinkage after having done an initial blocking?

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  2. I tend to use "sock yarn" (aka specially devised with socks in mind, not just fingering) generally with a bit of nylon. Mind you these socks have no nylon... Sometimes the sock yarn is superwash but sometimes it's just merino. I've never found the shrinkage to be problematic. Admittedly, I'm happy for the dryer to tighten them up given my loose gauge. But they always go back to their pre blocked size.

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  3. I must confess I have never blocked socks before. Maybe I'll try that on the pair I'm knitting since they are a gift for my brother and all. I'm only at the two inch mark on the first sock and getting into a groove with magic loop although I do find the wires get on the way a bit but I suspect that is just someonething one gets used to. I will knit this pair in magic loop, but I have the feeling that, be it magic loop or DPNs, a pair of socks in one week is just a bit too fast for me. I'm a slow poke. And I'm actually fine with that.

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    1. I found it fiddly with the loops at the start too - but keep going, I found that they got easier to handle as I went further along.

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    2. I suggest you try it if you want to make the socks a bit bigger (as I know you may want to). You can use my blockers if you want, A.

      And I do think that the wire thing gets easier, like Chris suggests. But if you don't love it, it's great that you know how to use DPNs. You'll have to teach me!

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  4. I love your gizmos! I would love to make some socks and I love how yours turned out!

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    1. Make some socks and block them! And send me a photo of them!

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  5. Sock blockers - another thing I'd never heard of before now! I gave mine a little steam but haven't run them through the wash yet. They are finished and pictured on my blog now:) Thanks a mill for all the help and encouragement along the way. Chris

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    1. So happy that you have enjoyed the KAL and your socks are beautiful!

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  6. I'm amazed that you dry your socks in the drier! I just (very sadly) had a pair accidentally get felted. They're ruined. I normally just wash and then pop onto the blockers since they dry so quickly that way.

    I've got one sock done and about 2/3 of the second to go. In my head, I've already planned out my next pair...

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    1. Well, I should say, I have never had a problem, but I just realized that I've probably been using superwash merino OR the kind that has nylon in it (which is designed for wash and dry). I just knit that pair from the left over KPM pure merino and I don't think I will be able to machine wash and dry it because it's not designed for that. But I only realized by accident on my trip this weekend, when Andrea pointed that out.

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