As I was knitting on the Dear One's sock this morning I had an idea. Remember how long it took to knit the 7 1/2" ribbing on the last pair? Nine days! Because this pair will have a foot length of just under 12" the ribbing should reflect that by being around 12" tall, just for the sake of balance. Twelve inches of k2 p2 is going to be a slog!
But an idea popped into my head. You know how it's totally faster and easier to just go round and round in knit stitch, rather than knit two, purl two? You can do that kind of knitting with absolutely minimal attention and effort. What would happen if I knit the ribbing in stockinette stitch for the whole twelve inches, and then unraveled the ribbing, one stitch at a time, and crocheted it back up. Would that create a good, stretchy ribbing?
I cast on 18 stitches and knit a small swatch, with two stitches in seed stitch at either end and 16 stitches in stockinette in the middle. When I had about 20 some rows finished I started unravelling stitches one at a time and crocheting them back up, but now as purled stitches, not knitted stitches.
But an idea popped into my head. You know how it's totally faster and easier to just go round and round in knit stitch, rather than knit two, purl two? You can do that kind of knitting with absolutely minimal attention and effort. What would happen if I knit the ribbing in stockinette stitch for the whole twelve inches, and then unraveled the ribbing, one stitch at a time, and crocheted it back up. Would that create a good, stretchy ribbing?
I cast on 18 stitches and knit a small swatch, with two stitches in seed stitch at either end and 16 stitches in stockinette in the middle. When I had about 20 some rows finished I started unravelling stitches one at a time and crocheting them back up, but now as purled stitches, not knitted stitches.
Knitting will ravel in just one direction: down, never sideways. So I slipped one stitch off the needle and "unknit" it for 17 rows. This shows the middle stitch of the swatch partially unravelled.
Then I turned the swatch over and crocheted the stitch back up, creating a knit stitch on the wrong side and a purled stitch on the right side. You are looking at the wrong side (or backside) of the swatch with the stitch and the loose yarn of the stitch above it, both on the crochet hook. It's hard to distinguish the two separate strands of yarn here, but one hand held the camera and took the picture while the other hand held the knitting.
Here's the swatch with the ribbing completed. IT WORKED LIKE A CHARM!!!
So on this new sock project I'm planning to knit the leg section in stockinette, and create the ribbing when the sock is completed. I'll be sure to post a picture of the finished socks. This is pretty exciting to me!
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