Thursday, May 3, 2012


Remember Darren McGaven in  A Christmas Story? That 1983 movie? He did the best foul-mouthed pseudo-swearing we ever heard. He grumbled and swore at the furnace that never worked right and yet no actual bad words every left his lips. We felt like that yesterday as we sat in the dentist's office knitting ... and knitting ... and knitting. A scheduling mix-up left us with plenty of time to knit. So, we worked on the cuff of the Corduroy Roads Socks and when we thought we had nearly enough, we held the second sock up to the first and ... there was certainly something amiss. We did then what we should have done at the beginning. We looked at our notes. Oh. Yeah. We had cast-on with 3.5 mm needles and worked the cuff with them as well. Oh, yeah. Now, we remember. So, we ripped back while we did our (quiet) Darren McGaven impersonation.

So, if you're following along on this sock journey ... right now, you should have the Tubular Cast-On completed. Switch immediately to 3.5 mm (US 4) needles and carry on. If you're just starting, feel free to START with 3.5 mm needles. Ours are Susan Bates pink metallic needles that we've had for decades. We love them, too. They're so distinctive we can tell at a glance, Yup, those are the 3.5 mm's.

Let's recap.... For the large size, Corduroy Roads Socks, you'll have 64 stitches on the needles and for the small size, you'll have 56 stitches on the needles. You are set up in a K2, P2 ribbing and you have completed 6 rounds (of the Tubular Cast-On tutorial).

Now, we'll continue with the ribbed cuff which is done in Corrugated Ribbing. It is simple but very attractive. Knit the knit stitches with the main colour of yarn and purl the purl stitches with the contrasting yarn. Keep all the floats on the back. That's pretty much it. Here's a photo of the inside of the tennis socks we knit for Mr. Coco. See the floats? They need to be relaxed and not pulled tight. Corrugated Ribbing is a little less elastic than regular ribbing. That's why we're using a slightly larger needle. That is also why the floats shouldn't be tight.

So, here we go....knit 2 with the main colour yarn. Drop that yarn and pick up the contrasting yarn (leaving the tail behind the work) and purl 2 stitches, returning the contrasting coloured yarn to the back of the work. Pick up the main colour and knit 2 stitches, etc. Keep going round after round until you have 2 1/2 inches of ribbing for the large size or 2 inches of ribbing for the small size.

We hope no swearing will be required ... pseudo or otherwise. The ribbing shouldn't take long so we'll move on to the leg of the sock next ... say, Saturday? It's a date. 

~ All lady-like language, all the time! (Mr. Coco, why are you laughing?)


  1. Grandma is such a refined lady, that no coarse language would ever leave her lips, I am quite sure. You are a model of restraint for the rest of us.

  2. I suppose one of the great things about knitting is, once your realize a mistake, you can always pull out the stitches and start anew. Frustrating and worthy of some Darren McGaven impersonations for sure but at least you noticed before the sock was completed.

  3. I am old enough to remember Darren McGaven but sadly...I don't! :)
    As for mistakes...well, it's all part of the fun :)

