Lesson 2: Photo Tour
I took the following photos of my sample sock as I test knit the Stashbuster Spirals pattern. I hope they clarify any ambiguities in the pattern and help you understand the spiral stripe technique.
Fortunately for me, the knitting of this sock proceeded without incident. You'll have to wait for another pattern to see candid shots of me swearing and frogging...which usually happens a bit more often than I care to admit.
I used three colors of Dale Baby Ull for my test sock, and I tried to pick high-contrast colors to make the photos easier to understand. I'm not sure if I achieved that goal, but the finished sock looks really neat!
My sock's finished measurements were:
Tip of toe to end of toe - 2.25" long
End of toe to beginning of heel - 6.625" long
Top of heel to top of cuff - 6" long
Photo 1
Here's my Figure 8 cast on.
Photo 2
This is what the toe looked like after one round was knit. I don't like how
sloppy the cast on looks at this point, but it is supposed to be that way. You
can tighten up the cast on stitches after a few rounds. If you knit the first round
firmly and tighten carefully, the Figure 8 cast on looks as good as - if not better than -
a kitchenered seam.
Photo 3
This is what the toe looked like after a few rounds were complete. That bulge in
the middle is the cast on row.
Photo 4
At this point, a few rounds of the toe are complete so I can start tightening the cast
on row. Do you see how much yarn I've pulled up with that spare dpn?!? Amazing.
It usually takes me two passes with a dpn to completely tidy a Figure 8...
Photo 5
...but the results are totally worth the effort. This is a crummy photo but
the cast on looks great.
Photo 6
Here's the finished toe.
Photo 7
Here's the first round of the spiral stripe pattern. Notice the three
strands of working yarn. It can be a pain to manage three skeins at once, especially
for a small circumference like a sock, but I untangle them frequently so there's never
too much of a mess.
Photo 8
Another shot of the first round of stripes. This one shows the inside of the sock.
Photo 9
Here's what the sock looked like after a few rounds of stripes were done.
Photo 10
Here's the sock right before I started the gusset increases. If you want to
shorten or lengthen the foot of the sock and keep to the rest of the pattern as it is
written, you'll need to do so by multiples of 3 rounds. Why?
Because it takes 3 rounds to complete one stripe pattern repeat, and if you add or subtract
anything but a multiple of 3 rounds from the foot then you'll move a different color into place
for the heel. (Plus one round gives you a Color A heel; minus one round gives you a Color C
heel.) The same logic applies to shortening or lengthening the leg and the impact of
that action on the color of the cuff.
Photo 11
At this point, the gusset increases and the heel are finished. Note the increase line
parallel to the sole of the sock. At first I wanted this line to be parallel to the instep,
but I screwed up and worked the gusset like this by accident. After a few rounds I noticed
my error, but it looked cool so I kept going.
Photo 12
Now the gusset decreases are done and part of the leg is complete. See the line for
the decreases, and how it meets the increase line as a slightly widened right angle?
If you are a fan of heel stitch or eye of partridge, you can work a small block of
these stitches between the decreases on the heel side of the sock and it will kinda sorta
look like a small regular heel flap.
Photo 13
And here we are, leg and cuff done, ready for the bind off.
Photo 14 The spiral stripe technique used for Stashbuster Spirals can also be applied to other projects. Here's a photo of a stocking cap that I made for my husband. The stripes were done in four colors: black, blue, green, and magenta.
