the Soxophone Player

(This is a review/revision of a tutorial in my ‘old’ blog.)

I am working on the 54 cylinder in a 3:1 mock rib set up – ie, every 4th needle removed. (But since 4 doesn’t divide evenly into 54, I have two sets of of 4:1 needles – which I  always place between the yellow heel marks and red hash marks.)

My standard knitting has the the yarn in the heel spring at all times – personal preference. I use the spring while I knit up the scrap yarn BUT I  don’t put the sock yarn  in the heel spring until AFTER the first round.

I always, always, always, begin knitting at the right red hash mark ( asterisked in the photos).  And when I set up my needles to do the 3:1 (in 54 and 72 cylinder), I have it so that at the red hash mark one of the three needles is counter clockwise to the red mark, and two are clockwise to it. I do this the same way every time  as it makes finding the first stitch ever so much easier when I go to hang a hem.

(Counting: I don’t use row counters. I count out loud. Since I start at the red hash mark, that where I count….every time the yarn carrier passes the red mark I count. And if I have to DO something, like add needles, hang a hem, start a heel – I stop the yarn carrier at 6 o’clock so that the needles at the red hash mark aren’t engaged in the cams….so if I want to do something after 12 rows, I count to 11 and stop at 6 o’clock. )

I cut the scrap yarn and thread the sock yarn through the yarn carrier AT the red hash mark. I hold both tails together and MAKE SURE that the scrap yarn is under the hook of the needle BEFORE the hash mark, and the sock yarn is under the hook of the needle AFTER the hash mark. I hold the tails while I begin to knit the first few stitches. BUT, as soon as those two needles are almost down, I put a little downward pressure on the tails I am holding.  In fact I usually move my thumb/forefinger up closer to the needles and push down. (If you push down in the very beginning there is a chance the yarn won’t catch the hook. But if you aren’t putting a little downward pressure when the first stitches are completed there is a chance they will slip off the machine.

As I complete the first row, I grab the leading tail of the sock yarn and hold it under the hooks of the needles so that the tail will knit itself in as row 2 begins to knit. Don’t start on the first needle with the tail – if you knit onto the same needle that made the stitch it will drop – start with the tail under the hook of the 2nd needle.

This little exercise accomplishes two things – first, you have no tail to weave in in at the end, and second, it will be very much easier finding the ‘first stitch’ when you go to hang your hem.

When I get near 12 o’clock position (ish) I hold the leading tail into the cylinder, and knit a stitch of two more.

It is at this point that I engage the heel spring on the yarn.

Now I can motor on knitting my mock rib hem top.

You need to knit twice as many rows as you want for your final top. My personal choice is 40 (and then 2 rows once the missing needles are replaced and I switch from mock rib to stockinette).  This is a personal design decision; and a ‘how much yarn have ya got’ too. But I find this size looks good to my eye in proportion to the rest of the sock.