Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Sock knitters of the world, hand it over...

Is it me, or has sock knitting taken over the knitting world? I understand that they are a small, portable project for summer, but honestly, in LA? How many pairs of wool socks do you need? I am not a sock knitter. The needles are too small and the yarn too fine. I once tried to knit toe-up socks, but only got to the point where it looked like I had knitted a diaphragm.
The only "sock" I have successfully knit was Eliza's Christmas stocking. I liked it because I got to use size 15 needles and big, bulky wool. It had beautiful cables and I turned the heel and everything. I felt very accomplished.
Now it's time to make Vivian's stocking. I could sew one like I have for Richard & I, but I enjoyed the process of knitting Eliza's so much that I want to knit one again. But I can't find a stocking pattern that I think compares to the elegance of Eliza's stocking (from Handknit Holidays).
So, sock knitters, can I take a normal sock pattern and supersize it, with bulky yarn and large needles to make it stocking size? I'm thinking of the Tyrolean Stockings by Ann Budd from the current issue of Interweave Knits:
My thought is that I could reduce the number of repeats of the cable rows through the leg so the stocking wasn't inordinately long. Should I also try to reduce the length of the foot? This is, of course, theoretical, because I don't have a yarn/gauge/needle size selected. But what do you think?