Husband Socks

I have a daintily size 7-7.5 foot. My socks are fun, fast, and often colorful.

My husband has man feet, and a fear of too much color, and is much more particular about his socks. His most recent observation has been that his hand knit socks are rough on the soles of his feet. This made sense to me because the grid-like nature of knitting is rough on the soles of my feet in my cotton socks. These cute little ankle socks are knit out of cotton, and therefore done at a slightly larger gauge than the rest of my sock to allow for a little extra stretch. 

With this in mind, I pulled out the yarn for Paul's socks and a size US 0 needle. This needle has a circumference of about 2 millimeters, whereas is typically knit socks on US 1 with a 2.25 millimeter measurement. My hypothesis being that if the socks knit on 2.25s had distinct stitches, that smaller stitches would be less noticeable. 

I began these socks at the toe for several reasons, the first being that I could measure the gauge of my stitches and not need to start over. The smaller stitch size is my independent variable, the number of stitches needed is my dependent variable. The second reason is that men have large feet, and I tend to buy sock yarn in 100 gram batches. This is plenty to make snugly socks for my petite feet, but I wanted to know exactly how far this amount of yarn would go with a larger foot. This way, I can use the sock yarn I have on hand for Paul, or other large footed individuals, with a known amount of modification or additional contrasting yarn. Prior to this experiment, I have just been flying blind (and borrowing Paul's socks as needed). 

What I did not factor in when choosing a smaller needle size was the drape of the resulting fabric. These socks are much stiffer and less forgiving than the pairs I have knit on 2.25s. The toe of these socks retains it triangular shape much more than other socks when we pull them onto our feet (another beautiful, though only minimally helpful perk of the toe-up sock). I am hoping that some intentional washing  and blocking at the end will relax the fabric nicely.

I do not know if this sock experiment will result in a new go to method for husband socks in this household. But I do know that for my own socks, I will probably stick to using my trusty 2.25s. I just prefer the feel of them in my hands, the fabric they create, and the pace that I complete my socks.