And while my head didn’t explode, I still have a healthy fear of having done the maths wrong. Well, maybe not that I did the maths wrong because I used a calculator and calculators don’t lie, (I learned the hard way in the 4th grade that the calculator does not lie no matter what you might think 8 x 7 is) but that maybe I measured the wrong part of B’s foot.
Once again, I’m getting ahead of myself. I measured B’s ankle and instep for the second sock. I checked my sock-shaped swatch for gauge (8.5 stitches/inch) and I figured out what the cast-on should be at 100% and at 90%. I totally believe the calculator because it cannot tell a lie (just like George Washington). What I am having problems believing is that there is such a huge discrepancy in numbers between his ankle and his instep. Then, I looked at yummyyarn‘s post about measuring for her boyfriend’s socks and she didn’t measure the instep. She measured around the ball of the foot. This probably means I need to measure around B’s feet there too. (I almost typed B’s balls, but that just sounds so vulgar.)
Anyway, here are the measurements I got with the instep:
gauge: 8.5 stitches/inch
ankle circumference: 8.5 inches
stitches to cast on (100%): 72
stitches to cast on (90%): 65
instep circumference: 9.75 inches
stitches to cast on (100%): 83
stitches to cast on (90%): 75
Now granted, I could probably cast on 70 stitches to meet in the middle, but I originally cast on 72 stitches and the sock is too big for his liking. Right now they’re more like house socks than shoe socks. I can’t imagine that casting on 2 less stitches is going to make enough of a difference. I’m also a little disturbed by the difference of 10 stitches between ankle and instep. That seems like a lot to me.
I suppose I really should measure the ball of his foot to see if there’s a bigger difference or smaller difference before casting on for this sock. I keep telling myself that because I really want to go ahead and cast on and start knitting these socks already. But I’m afraid if I just cast on for his ankle circumference, it might not fit his foot. Also, should I cast on 64 or 66 stitches? Or can I cast on an odd number of stitches for a sock? I would think it would wreck the maths for the sock if I did that.
Aaaaauuuuggghhhh!!!! Too much maths!
Ahem. Excuse me.
So, I don’t want the sock to be too big, but I also don’t want it to be so tight that he can’t even get it on. Kind of defeats the purpose of knitting the socks in the first place…. I guess I just need to measure the ball of B’s feet (I’m starting to feel like a broken record) and then find out how much of a discrepency there is between ankle and ball of foot as far as number of stitches required to cast on.
I still want to incorporate the jolly roger in the sock, but maybe I should give up on them since a) you can’t really see them since the sock is so dark and b) ribbed socks might be the better way to go for a more comfortable fit.
*sigh*
Suggestions? Ideas? Am I making this too complicated? I’ve been known to overthink things and then make them too complicated. Eep!
I’d offer advice, but you lost me at “maths”.
Don’t like to do math!!!