Monday, September 25, 2006

Moccasin.....knee-highs?

I was totally inspired by Kate's ability to knit her Hubbster moccasins so quickly that last night as I sleepily wrestled with my coughing/whining son for 2 hours it got my brain a-tickin'...........

Despite the fact that loads of warning signs have been coming my way ("Hey honey, I have volleyball clinic on Monday night, at 8:30" and "M said that the volleyball roster is being finalized soon", etc.) I have stayed quite firmly in denial about the fact that my Peggers - Mr. Volleyball during the fall & winter months - is soon to start warming up his spiking & bumping muscles and therefore will be wanting his pair of fire-engine red knee-highs before too terribly long.

A size 13 foot and 16" long (and 16" in diameter!) calves did nothing but send me into shudders of terror (envisioning size 1 or 0 dpns with weeny yarn and about 275+ stitches to first cast on for the ribbing!) and so I would quickly jam the mental image down into the deep recesses of my brain somewhat below the memories I have of having my wisdom teeth taken out.

Until I saw this:


Kate made these in Peace Fleece using the instructions in Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Around which I JUST HAPPEN TO HAVE AROUND THE HOUSE VIA INTER-LIBRARY LOAN! So I pulled out the book & took a peek.

The socks look incredibly comfy and practical, and as she has you knit them using worsted (!) weight yarn on size 4-6 (!!!!!!!!!!) needles they're not only comfy/practical but also FAST. Top this with the fact that KnitPicks has some new worsted-weight superwash out (Swish!) that just sounds fantastic, and in the colour Red Pepper and I've been desiring a reason to buy some of the new knitpicks needles (both circular & dpns) this seems like the perfect meeting of need & want to me!

Plus I just love the fact that I can re-knit the heel/toe area if & when they ever wear out (volleyball players are tough on their clothes, and socks are no exception - and honestly, who wants to do all that knitting just to have a hole appear in the toe after the first few games & be forced to reknit?????) with nary a shed tear or a problem.

Kate even added in a strand of wooly nylon (whatever in hell that is) to the toe/heel area for reinforcement - as soon as I read that I was sold on this idea! So now all I need is about 10 or 15 minutes with a computer & my Visa in hand & the order will be winging it's way towards me like, well, like 4 (5?) skeins of Swish superwash & a few circular & double-pointed-needles in a FedEx box...

1 comment:

Kate A. said...

Go for it! I think that, for volleyball purposes, the refootability factor *alone* makes it absolutely necesssary that you knit these socks! And they're so comfy because of the thickness of the yarn...I *love* wearing them!

I used a US7 for Hubbster's, btw - because his feet are almost 10" around. I finished knitting them almost before I realized it (and that's including doing the first sole twice because I hadn't knit the top of the foot long enough)! The only boring part at all is the leg. This is a big improvement over regular socks, in my opinion, where everything is boring but the heel and toe! And for the pair I'm working on now - some super-quicky-quicky striped footies out of the leftovers - I just leapt right into the fun part by casting on with waste yarn and knitting down to the sole. When I've finished both feet, I'll pick up the sts from the cast on and knit up the legs as far as I can stand to go.

Thank god Hubbster hasn't asked for knee socks. In fact, I don't think I should let the words "knee socks" slip out under any circumstances, so he doesn't get any ideas. If I *ever* manage to make knee-highs in my life, they'll be for me!!

BTW - "Wooly nylon" is this stuff I got from a sewing store that (I think) is made expressly for this purpose. It comes on a spool in enormous quantities for about $5, but it's worth the cost because one spool will get you through about 30 million socks (so choose the color wisely). It's 100% nylon, but spun or plied or whatever in such a way that it's very springy and soft. I gather that using regular old nylon or polyester sewing thread is a no-no because it can cut right through the wool when it's rubbed (though I know people do use regular thread; it can't happen all that easily). Another good alternative is what I think is still called "Heel & Toe" which I think even EZ mentions in the book. It's a wool/nylon blended thread sold on little cards just for putting into the heels and toes of socks. I haven't seen it in a store ever, but they have it very cheap at elann.com. You might need two packages for a pair of socks, though, since you're reinforcing the whole toe, sole, and heel (hurrah!!).

Have fun!!! Can't wait to see how they turn out!