This is (as predicted!) an actively family-filled summer!  I am glad I chose some simple knitting projects as I am definitely in pick-up-and-knit-for-maybe-15-minutes mode.  While I do manage some lace-knitting now and then, I am leaning heavily on my garter-ish projects – Color Affection, Wingspan, Inversion Cardigan. 

I have also been working on Lucy Neatby’s Mermaid Socks.  Fun, but problematic.  I followed the directions for the side-ways knit garter cuff – which is supposed to act as your gauge swatch (note the “supposed to”).  Made both the right length to fit nicely around my ankles and grafted them into cuffs.  Then, I picked up the stitches for the patterned leg part (leading to the heel) rounding to the nearest 6 factor (to suit the 6-st pattern) as instructed. 

I probably should have been suspicious when my rounds were only 54 sts.  But I figured, hey, this pattern is put out by a reputable professional designer and I am just going to trust to it – since the instructions had me go up a needle size at this point and the pattern stitch was a lace pattern, I thought it would probably expand to accommodate the swell of the foot (kind of an awful term – but you know what I mean!).  And since I have a history of knitting socks too large & loose for my foot…well, I thought I should go ahead and aim small.

After a number of rounds, it was obvious that the sock was smaller than the cuff not bigger!  Sarah looked at it and shook her head.  We tried to put it on my foot.  No go.  The cuff by itself was fine (since I was knitting both socks on separate sets of needles, I had just the cuff on one set of needles & could try it on), but the sock was clearly not going to be wearable. 

Sarah went on Ravelry and checked out other knitters’ experiences with the Mermaid Socks.  Many had the same problem!  One knitter brilliantly oh-so-sensibly worked the pattern stitches below the cuff on the number of stitches she would normally expect to use for the size of needle & yarn weight of the project.  Brilliant!  I calculated my “number of normal expectancy” to be about 72 (not 54!!).  So, I ripped back to the cuff and used the rows of purl bands (which come after the pick-up-and-knit on the side of the cuff) to increase to 72 stitches fairly subtly.  Then, I worked the pattern rounds on the 72 stitches.  Perfect!

We observed that the self-striping of the sock yarn came off much cleaner on the 72 stitches, too.  Clearly, that is the size the yarn designer expected a sock to be too!  I am happy with how it is all going now and plan to finish these and possibly do a second pair in another colorway of the same yarn (which I have on hand).  The Mermaid Socks knit by the other Raverly-ers look great — it is a clever design, really.  I would just contend that the garter cuff cannot flawlessly determine the number of stitches needed to fit around the foot.  In retrospect, a proper gauge swatch in pattern would have given me better numbers.

Life Lessons:  do a gauge swatch, check Ravelry (first!), keep looking at the knitting-in-process critically.