Finished my first “Two to Tango” sock. First problem I encountered: Couldn’t get it on. The fair isle fishies part was too tight. So there I sat — sock half on my foot. Davey came to the rescue: “Mommy, I have a tiny foot! I will put it on for you.”
Then it occurred to me to wet it and block it. I began the process by getting it wet and stretching it out some, and now it went over my foot. (It was abit like being in high school again, on the bed, trying to cram my jeans on.) It did stretch pretty well though.
Plan of action for 2nd sock:
1. I need to get some sock blockers. (that would apply to first sock too).
2. Address sizing issues. The cuff is a little floppy(maybe even a lot floppy) and the fair isle fishies section is too small. From the fishies to the toe, the fit is fine. The pattern called for a 3.25 needle, but since I knit kind of loose I went with a 3.0. Why I did this with a fair isle sock though is beyond me. I think I may go 2.75 on the cuff. When I get to the fishies I will switch to 3.25. That should give me just enough ease to get that sock over my monster foot. Then back to 3.0 to finish the sock. A good alternative would be to give the sock away to someone whom it might fit, but I am not satisfied enough with sock 1 to give it to anyone. (The person would need enormous calves and waifish feet in order to fit the cuff and fair isle properly.)
3. I also made an adjustment for the toe. The pattern called for going down to 8 stitches and then grafting. By the time I got to 20 stitches, I felt like I was wrestling with the dpns more than I was knitting with them. I also don’t like that pointy of a toe. So I did like I usually do – 10 stitches each on 2 needles for Kitchener grafting. That worked fine.
Also on the toe – I was a little iffy on the striping. The striping got off when I decreased every other row. I decided to just wing it, and I think (hope) I did it ok.
A couple of other observations: The cuff involves a repeating pattern. Where each repeat starts it looks like a ladder to me. (Like if you didn’t get your tension right between dpns). Not happy about that look. Also, I am not thrilled with how I picked up stitches around the heel. It could look better. I thought about blaming it on the yarn, but I think I am fooling myself on that one. So I learned a lot on this sock. It’s like one giant swatch of a sock. Now….sock 2!
Cpeezers 
Hi,
thank you so much for your kind words on my Vlinder and I am happy to say, that I love your fishi sock and most of all your darling boy. How lovely of him to come to your rescue.
I think, it is a good idea to use different needle sizes for the different sock parts. My stranded knitting is very dense and I use 3.0 mm up to 3.5 mm for it, though I usually knit socks with 2.25 mm.
The ladder look is always a nuisance on socks or when knitting in the round. I have tried various methods for “jogless joint”, but none really worked for me. Maybe you will be luckier. I will keep my fingers crossed for your second sock. (I just wear the joint on the inside of my leg, where it is less prominent).
Thanks for your comment! I wasn’t sure if I should try different needles sizes, so I am glad you talked about your stranded knitting! If I am careful about giving the stitches a good tug each time I switch needles, I can usually avoid the ladders – but sometimes they happen! I think with the larger needle I should be ok. It was very nice of Davey to help me. He assured me that he has such a tiny foot that it would fit him! Have a great day! I look forward to returning to your blog.