I mentioned before that when I went on my trip to Oregon, I intentionally only brought 2 knitting projects with me so I could focus more on sewing, and that one of those projects was a colorwork sock that I was “a bit unhappy with.” That project was these socks, the These Socks Are Bananas pattern by Emma L K.
Knitting Period: May 18 2022 – June 20 2022
Pattern: These Socks Are Bananas a free pattern by Emma L K
Needles: US1.5 (2.5mm) & US2 (2.75mm) KnitPicks Rainbow Wood Sock DPNs
Yarn:
- Yarn Bee Soft & Sleek DK in Ivory
- I Knit or Dye Shangri La in Blue
- Backyard Fiberworks Sock in Walnut, Marigold, & Pollen
Table of Contents
(Click to jump to the specific section)
Knitting Process
I cast these socks on literally the night before my flight out, when I should have been packing. (Of course.) I was deciding which knitting projects to bring, and I guess its a nervous tick or something, because I just went ahead and cast on.
Per the pattern, these socks are knit from the cuff down, with an afterthought heel, and they are designed to only be ankle socks. I had planned these socks in my queue for a while now as a stashbuster to use up some leftover yarn. (This will come back later.)
First Sock
Some of the issues/mistakes I ran into when knitting that first sock are as follows:
I used an Italian/tubular cast on, which I only know how to do from memory in 1×1 rib, whereas the pattern calls for 2×2. Ah, oh well. A switch to 1×1 rib won’t break the pattern, right?
I cast on for the larger size because stranded colorwork socks just don’t provide as much ease and stretch as vanilla socks do. So I thought I was being cautious. (FYI, the pattern doesn’t give measurements, only “smaller size” and “larger size.” And as far as I can tell, the larger size just gives one more banana in the colorwork repeat.) Halfway down the leg, I decided the “larger size” was too large for me, and even though I knit the leg longer to account for calf size, I wanted to decrease down to the “smaller size” for my foot – so I did. This gave the sock a distinct shape with the sudden decrease around the ankle.
I don’t LOVE ankle socks, so I planned to make the leg a little longer than the pattern dictates. Unfortunately, the pattern doesn’t give measurements for when to stop the leg and start the heel, it gives directions based on how many of the colorwork charts you repeat. So inserting the heel was a bit of a guessing game.
On an impulse, I decided to go ahead and knit the heel in while in the middle of the foot (which, if you know afterthought heels, is a teeny bit more difficult than a regular heel flap or short row heel) so I would have a rough idea if I inserted the heel in the right place, and how long I needed to make the foot. I messed up on the heel, decreasing further than I was supposed to, but I planned on just ripping out the grafted bind off and fixing that later.
And, once again, because the pattern doesn’t give directions using inches, I was unsure of where to begin the toe after so many chart repeats.
Another problem with these socks that made me want to put them down for awhile, was that my colorwork looked like shit. The colorwork chart for this pattern is bordering on the “too long” side for stranded colorwork in the round. This can lead to tension issues, like too long or too short of floats resulting in puckering in the fabric or floats catching on toes, and it took me a few rows to figure out my catch placement. I ended up catching my floats every 3rd stitch or 2nd stitch to avoid catching on the same stitch. So my bananas looked puckered, or the blue background looked really mottled in some sections. I also was correcting mistakes along the way, (like laddering down to correct a wrong colored stitch) making the sock look like a hot mess.
So, frustrated and brain-hurty, I just left the sock alone for a week or two. I worked on sewing projects, hexipuffs, and just spending time with my friend in the meantime.
Second Sock
So after putting down the socks and not touching them for the first 2 weeks I was on vacation, I decided to just go ahead and start knitting the second sock before finishing the first, but from the toe up instead of cuff down. Toe up because I’m more comfortable with that process, and also because it would solve my “unsure where to start the heel” problem. If I wanted to go ahead and finish the first sock as is, I could refer to this second, toe up sock, about how many chart repeats I will need along the foot of the sock.
The second sock went much, much smoother. I find it easier to know when to stop the foot and start the heel when going toe up, and my tension was sooo much better because of all the practice I had already done with the first sock. I was catching my floats more regularly, and paying more attention to my tension.
I’ve noticed that I keep doing this with colorwork projects. This is now the third time I’ve frogged the first attempt to reknit it, and it turns out better because of better tension and more practice, I did it with my Fox in the Snow mittens, and my LoveSocks. I should just plan for the first of a pair to be the “practice pair” from now on, huh?
Another issue arose when I reached the cuff of the second sock. I ran out of the yellow. (I was worried about this from the beginning. It was a stash yarn, after all.) So if I went ahead and finished both socks as is, they would be mismatched, with the first sock having 4 rows of bananas above the heel, and the second sock having only 3.
So I made the decision to just rip out the first sock and reknit it again. Which I was dreading. Because I know from having to rip out my LoveSocks knit with this same blue yarn, that this blue yarn DID NOT like being frogged. At all.
I purchased this blue yarn from an indie dyer in London who has since closed up shop. I love the color, but unfortunately when this yarn is frogged, the fluffy outer layer that contains all that wonderful blue color just felts up and balls off when pulling apart. The yarn felts up quickly once it’s knit. It’s really a one-and-done yarn. (The yarn also stains my fingers blue, and I was worried it would bleed out and dye the other colors in the project when I wash/blocked it, turning my yellow bananas green.)
But I went ahead and frogged it anyway, there really was no way around it if I didn’t want mismatched socks. I hoped that by knitting the sock in the “smaller size” throughout and with better tension, I could save enough of the yellow yarn to get a matching amount of banana rows on both socks.
Third Sock
So I did end up frogging the first sock and knitting a third one toe-up like the second one. Since I already had figured out how many chart repeats to do before inserting the afterthought heel, this one was much easier.
Alterations I Made
So for my altered pattern, I cast on my favorite method for toe up socks: Judy’s Magic cast on 30 stitches, 15 on each needle, and increasing on each side until I reach 60 (or, in this cast 64, which meant the last set of increases only happened on one side). Knitting 3 banana rows before inserted the afterthought heel.
I caught my floats every 3-4 stitches. Never had to break the yellow. Carried brown across the beginning and end of repeats, and broke it for the middle.
Due to impatience and wanting to know when to stop the color work, I knit the afterthought heels early. (still put in the afterthought heel, just knit it in after maybe one repeat of the color work afterwards.)
Yes, there’s extra solid blue rows where the afterthought heel is. I don’t think it messes up the pattern flow that much, and it just made my life easier.
I ended up knitting this 3 times. My tension and catching improved from the practice of the first sock.
The 2nd and 3rd sock were knit toe up. Judys magic cast on.
Made the leg of the sock longer than pattern.
Had to do some yarn chicken magic near the end. (ran out of yellow on last row of yellow color work. Sneakily switched it to a yellowish-green and hopefully it’s not noticeable.)
My process for the colorwork:
I caught my floats every 2 or 3 sts.
I kept the bananas as the dominant color, with the brown as the secondary dominant, and the background as the receding color.
I cut the brown working yarn as soon as the yellow only section came in. The yellow was always carried down the rows.
I kept my gauge really loose, but my tension and gauge still looks super wonky. I tried my best, guys.
I contemplated going back in with duplicate stitch to add in the brown, but have lots of either A) short loose strands in a negative ease sock, or B) using one long strand and having lots of floats in between the brown sections in a negative ease sock didn’t appeal to me. So I grit my teeth and did the brown as stranded.
Co 72 for the larger size (looking back this might have been a mistake?) in 1×1 rib since that’s easier for me when doing an Italian cast on.
And since the diameter was so large, I decided to just make this a full length sock instead of an ankle sock. (Hope I have enough yellow!)
After the third row of bananas, I Decreased 1 st inbetween each banana to avoid the sock being too big and loose about my ankle / heel.
Knit 6” of blue before heel.
Pattern Review
I don’t think this is a beginner sock project. The stranded colorwork is a little bit too big to easily keep your tension. Also the instructions are based on chart repeats and not length, so if you don’t know where heels and toes usually go, you won’t be able to customize the pattern for your needs.
This is a more intense pattern that requires patience but is interesting enough to not get boring, but also is not a great pattern to choose for your first colorwork sock project.
The pattern wording itself = meh. It’s very bare bones.
It doesn’t give lengths to check your progress, but just uses the chart as a measurement guide. So because I knit more charts I didn’t know what would be a good time to insert the heel.
It’s top down, afterthought heel, and a larger colorwork pattern in the round – it going to give a lot of problems for the inexperienced knitter. Heck, maybe even the experienced knitter.
The colorwork charts = meh.
It’s a complicated colorwork pattern. Some rows using 3 colors at a time, and with long floats throughout.
The pattern could’ve been made better to avoid the longer floats but just squeezing the bananas closer together, but I guess that was a design decision.
I ended up doing that myself in that first sock when I decreased near the ankle, decreasing in a way that I moved the bananas closer together by 1 stitch. Did that make the colorwork pattern easier? eh, not really?
Final Thoughts
Yes, the sock is a little tight pulling on, but it can be put on. Yes, the stranded colorwork looks stressed when worn. But it is wearable.
Besides feeling a little snugger than usual, they are perfectly acceptable socks. I’m also really glad the historically problematic blue yarn didn’t bleed in the blocking bath. Because there’s white in the toe and heel, I’ll only wear these either in shoes or on clean floors – they start to look dirty with even just a few steps on dirty floors.
Overall – I like them! I like my alterations to make the leg longer. I like the colors I chose. But I also like the original pattern for the cute banana design, despite it’s difficulty with the stranded colorwork or sizing confusion. A successful project!
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