Chuck’s Socks Redux
August 28th, 2007 by 
mel
I had every intention of making a fresh start on Eunny’s Chuck’s Cabled Socks over vacation. Let’s be honest, I’ve had every intention of picking them up again for months. But time does what it does and life does what it does, and they escaped me for a time. I didn’t so much as look at them while we traveled, let alone give any thought to how I planned to solve the sizing issue (that’s ok though - we did lots of other fun stuff! And one more VERY fun knitterly thing that I have yet to post about!)
Since I was having a hard time getting started on them (or perhaps because they were easily sidelined in favor of other things that required less concrete thought, or god forbid, math) I decided to take a short break from other knitting and swatching and focus solely (ha!) on them for a few days. The essential first step was to figure out how to make a sock that fits after my denial & resulting sadness last winter upon realizing that the first one didn’t just LOOK small, it really WAS small!
I could have tried bigger needles, but I figured I needed to add about 2 inches to the circumference to get the sock to fit over my heel, which would have meant a fair jump in needle size & gauge. Since I was pretty happy with the fabric I was getting out of the first go-round, I decided to add stitches instead.
Eunny has designed this beautifully with 4 cables encircling the leg; One that is carried down the top of the foot, One that ends at the heel, and one on each side that split with half the remaining cable continuing on down top of the foot, while the other half ends at the heel. Simply gorgeous. I LOVE this design. This is the pattern that made me want to knit socks (I’m not a sock knitter folks, many of you already know that!). Each two strand segment of cable measures @ 1/2 an inch. So the plan is to widen the front and back cables by one segment on each side (turning two of the six-stranded cables into ten-stranded cables), which would add about an inch to each and not interfere with the lovely side cables.
Once this knit gets going, it moves right along. A few progress shots, I’m so pleased!
Posted in WIPs | 
August 28th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
That’s beautiful! I’m impressed - the combination of colorwork AND cables has me super intimidated.
August 28th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
Wow! That is a beautiful pattern…
August 29th, 2007 at 8:34 am
They look gorgeous! Apparently, in order to be a sock knitter, you just needed a serious challenge.
August 29th, 2007 at 10:15 am
Oh wow, those are gorgeous! How have I never seen that pattern?? Your modifications sound perfect as well, I love the way the 10-strand cable looks.
August 29th, 2007 at 10:55 am
Amazing! I’m so impressed that you stuck with it. Do you have good shoes to show them off?
After I made my first pair of socks (which were soooo basic), I had to buy a new pair of shoes to highlight my future collection of handknit socks.
August 29th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
It’s amazing what a little project monogamy will do, huh? They look great, I love the heels!
August 29th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
W.O.W. Those are STUNNING.
August 29th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
It looks great! :)Just fantastic!
August 29th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Those are stunning!
August 30th, 2007 at 11:59 am
Beautiful! I’m happy to see you have picked up them again, since they are on my to-knit list too.
September 6th, 2007 at 9:51 am
So inspiring! My Chuck sock has been languishing with a mere 2 or 3 inches knit, and I haven’t even had to do any math or adjustments. Yet. As you say, it just requires so much THOUGHT to pick them up.
September 11th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
Amazing! there is NO WAY you can say you aren’t a sock knitter after you finish those.