Holy Gigantic Space Invaders!!
April 23rd, 2007, 1:33 pm
The Knitty Space Invader socks are finished!!
I eagerly grafted the toe this morning - 76 stitches of Kitchener stitch - euck!!
Hmmmm….They are far from perfect but Ben likes them! 
It really bugs me when I can’t get thing “right”…..
Holy sock heels, Batman! Here’s a problem….
The heel and toe is turned by the same shortrow shaping. I knitted the cuff using a 30cm Addi circ but for some strange reason I thought I’d need to swap to DPNs to do the heel.
I had “not part of the heel” stitches on the Addi and the heel on the straights - with the break at this point between the needles at the corner of the heel…. it pulled the stitches at the corners badly….yuck!
I was a bad, lazy knitter and fixed this by some nifty “lashing together” on the wrong side…. 
It dawned on me on the second “Hi-Score sock” that I could leave all the stitches on the Addi circular …
…the second heel was better….
…….by the 2nd toe I’d sussed which bit to give an extra yank to to pull it neat and tight!
Am I going to frog the whole lot and do them again properly ??
There are not enough expletives to express how much that’s not going to happen! 
I have also discovered that size matters…..
Remember this post when I worked out which needle size to use?
I’m not as clever as I thought I was 
I was so worried that I’d repeat my “look nice but can’t get my foot in them” debacle with these fairisle socks that I went too far the other way!
They are rather large - even for Ben’s flippers!
See how the high score sock “bags” around his ankle?? I must have been getting relaxed with the fairisle on the High Score sock - it’s definitely bigger than the Invader sock?
Bugger.
I think my fairisle has improved over the course of the socks though…
Maybe another pair but with PacMan……..????
| Completed Knit Report | ||
| Name: | BMP (Space Invader Socks) | |
| Pattern: | Knitty by Aija Goto | |
| Yarn: | Regia Silk | |
| Pattern Problems: | No problems with the pattern itself but problems with me knitting them!Holes at the corners of the heel/toe short row shaping, too big in the cuff after needle size mods  . 2nd sock looser than first too! |
|
| Pattern Modifications: | I used Regia Silk on 2.5mm needles (not louet gems pearls on 2mm) to size up for Ben’s feet. With hindsite - 2.25 or 2mm would have been a better choice. | |
| New challenges: | Lots of new things for me to master - Corregated rib, shortrow heel/toe, improving my fairisle, changing needle sizes, getting Ben to model… | |
| Washing and Wearing: | “comfy for padding round the house!” | |
| Knit It Again???: | Possibly…… | |
| Difficulty: | Hard! | |
| Rating: | 4/5 | |
Uknitty said,
April 23rd, 2007, 9:17 pm
Amazing
And for your next trick….
http://www.knitting-and.com/knitting/patterns/charts/starwars.htm
C x
jam_mam said,
April 23rd, 2007, 10:03 pm
They’re great! I love them and you did a good job, getting to the end is a good job for me, VBG, but these are better than that LOL. I sew up the holes where I turn heels regularly and that’s without stripes and other such sophistication.
Vikki (vixx) said,
April 24th, 2007, 10:40 am
Thanks for the comment
I think I’m going to do my first FC in DB silk, but definitely want to do more in the Lana Grossa - my LYS stocks loads! If you wanted, I’d be happy to send some on to you if they had what you want. Just a thought!
Your socks are fantastic! I think they look really cool, and, well, you’ve learnt something along the way too! Which is a good thing! Vik x
Catherine said,
January 18th, 2008, 9:50 pm
Love them - my OH has requested a pair, along with a matching hat, sigh. Did you have to adapt the pattern much to make then “men’s sized”?
susan crowe said,
January 19th, 2008, 12:28 pm
Catherine,
I used Regia Silk and Knit them on 2.5mm needles (My swatching escapades are detailed here… http://susancrowe.co.uk/2007/03/29/fair-isle-space-invaders/ )
They did come up quite big all over for Ben, especially the leg part (size 10 feet and skinny legs) That could just be my Fairisle though - I’m not very consistent with my tension on fairisle.
With glorious hindsight, I should have used 2.25mm DPNs.
Apart from changing the needle size I just knit according to the pattern, obviously making the foot long enough!
Ben loves them and they have been washed and tumble dried numerous times and are looking a little “loved” but wearing well - I’d recommend the Regia silk.
Let me know how you get on.
Susan