So, for my dad for Christmas, I’m knitting him a pair of socks. (That is not his foot above – it’s the boyfriend’s) I chose the pattern “Gentleman’s Winter Sock” from Nancy Bush’s Knitting Vintage Socks.
I changed the pattern to fit the yarn I’m using, (Dale Baby Ull) and so the heel is not the one in the book. It’s just a standard heel that I normally do (but with a stockinette stitch heel flap). Oh, but I used a thread of nylon sewing thread as I knitted the heel and the toe to re-inforce the 100% superwash wool.
The problem?
My dad’s feet are somewhere between a size 10 and 10 1/2 (he calls it something like size 10 1/4).
The foot that these socks are pictured on – those are size 12 feet (or something like that) which, according to this chart, is around 3/4 of an inch difference. AND -they felt a bit big when I put them on my boyfriend. You can see the looseness in the top photo. And, since these socks are superwash, I can’t say “oh, they’ll felt to fit,” like I did with my redwood forest socks.
The way I see it, I have these options (please vote by leaving a comment):
- Ignore the problem, pretend everything is fine, knit the second the same and present the pair on Christmas day like nothing is wrong.
- Take the sock home with me in 2 weeks, blindfold my dad and have him try on the sock and THEN consider the need to frog, before the second sock is started. (Keep in mind that this will definetly spoil some of the textural elements of the surprise.)
- Trace my dad’s feet and use that to judge if the sock should be re-knit. (He already knows he’s getting socks – that’s how come I know his shoe size.)
- Frog the sock (it CANNOT be converted to a present for the boyfriend), and knit him something else (suggestions?).
Background: The first thing I ever knit was a scarf for my dad. It was a giant, thick-yarned blanket of a scarf and I’m eager to show him how my mad skillz have improved. He’s asked for both socks and an Aran sweater. Since my dad is a rather large man (in stature), the Aran sweater is going to wait a few years. But I figure I should knit him something he wants.
Oh, the dilemna.
*disclaimer – YES, I swatched. That was how I was able to convert the pattern to my yarn and needle size. I just think that I was a bit off in my results. That’s all.
All Buttoned Up 