I finally landed at Three Oaks Knits in Waterloo (they are on facebook). The owner is also allergic to wool and had a good selection of wool free sock yarn. (Yay!) She also has a nice selection of needles and I was able to find some cubix needles. (double Yay!)
This is also where I landed in my first dilemma, I was asked, Do you knit from the top down or the toe up? .... um I've only made one pair and they were top down. Then what size needles do you use... um... I've only made one pair with a heavier yarn so I used double pointed 5's.
Luckily the owner took me under her wing. She helped me to find a toe up pattern and circular needles to work with my sock weight yarn.
When I looked at my pattern and saw three different cast on methods I asked what she recommended. She said the figure 8. So I gave it a try, I made some good progress. Then I asked my friend at work, which is the front and which is the back because the toe doesn't look right. I laughed when she said I had the cast on backwards so the seam that should be on the inside was on the outside.So I frogged my sock and started over, three times. I couldn't get the hang of the figure 8 so I set it aside for a few days. When I was ready to start again, I decided to look up my other cast on options.
First I looked up "Judy's magic cast on" I didn't get it, it looked like I would always have a hole in the toe. I was very discouraged.
Then I looked up the Turkish cast on - my first thought was could it really be that easy? So I gave it a try. Worked great for me, no loose stitches or holes in the toe - the picture isn't the best but that's the start of the toe.
One other helpful hint I received for my top down socks - the kitchener stitch for finishing them. This worked wonderfully, I can't even tell where I did the stitches!
What is your favorite sock knitting method? Toe up or top down....
As always, happy crafting!
Karen
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