“Could you please tell me the best way to match the yarn for the second sock so you have a lovely matching pair?”
This is a question I am asked quite regularly.
I am busy knitting fingerless mitts for my niece as part of her Christmas present. I used a now discontinued Regia sock yarn (other beautiful sock yarns are available in the Yarn Shop) and 2.75mm KnitPro Karbonz double-pointed needles (which I really love using).
I was ready to find the right point in the yarn to make sure that these fingerless mitts will match and decided to take a couple of photos to show you what I do.
The photo above shows the first fingerless mitt. I’m using my Valentine Mitts pattern. This is the left fingerless mitt.
a shows the first stripe of the mustard that I knit in the rib section on the left fingerless mitten. I made the slip knot for casting on at the start of this mustard stripe. At this point I didn’t know where it would show up again in the colour repeat in the yarn. b shows the second time that this mustard tone appears in the colour striping repeat. c shows the third time that the mustard stripe appeared in the colour striping repeat.
When I cast off the rib cuff after knitting the hand section of the fingerless mitt, I looked at the finished mitt to see where I had finished knitting in the colour repeat of the yarn. I had finished on a turquoise stripe that appears between mustard stripes b and c .
This meant that when I started unwinding the yarn to find the correct place to make the slip knot for casting on for the second fingerless mitt I knew that I was going to meet the mustard stripe c and I would be continuing past this to find the beginning of stripe a which would be the point at which I’d be making the slip knot for starting the long tail cast on for the second (right) fingerless mitt.
I carefully keep the yarn that I have unwound from the ball as I will use this for knitting the ribbed thumb on the left fingerless mitt. This way I will have matching thumbs on the mitts as well because when I finish the second (right) fingerless mitt I will have the same colour repeat as in this unwound ball coming off the main ball of yarn.
I’ve shown how to knit matching fingerless mitts and socks using the fingerless mitts that I am knitting at present. I use exactly the same process for knitting a matching pair of socks.
If you have any questions about this process please contact me.
I just bought some sock wool in Norway and was told to start the 2nd. sock using the wool from the inside end to ensure matching pattern. Is this common with sock wool ….or just the particular wool I bought in Norway?
Not common. Normally, I start knitting my socks from the centre of the ball. But both socks need to be knit using the yarn from the same direction or your pattern will not match. I think this is a particular to your Norwegian wool. Of course, I am assuming it is a self patterning sock wool.
Hi Nicolette,
I just found your website on Pinterest with your chart of heels. While I have been knitting for years and years, I am basically a lazy utilitarian knitter. Because I think it’s a sin to spend the time and money knitting a pair of socks and have a hole in the heel after a dozen wearings, I switched to the afterthought years ago and only knit socks with heels that can be replaced easily. For a while years ago I would cut the foot off, ravel back and reknit til I got down to the foot and graft the foot back on. Oh my! What a waste of my time. So my question is, what heels in your chart of heels could be easily knit as an afterthought and thus replaced the same way? Any insight you have would be greatly appreciated. One problem I’m always facing is the heel being too shallow so I basically make it deeper by adding additional rounds between increases, but if another replaceable heel would give me better fit in the gusset area I’d like to try it. TIA
Hi Linda, I haven’t done a chart of sock heels, however, I have seen the photo on pinterest. Curls and Q did an interesting post based on the original simple chart with links to the different styles of heel in the photo. I’m sure you’ll find it interesting. Happy sock knitting, Nicolette
When knitting anything from multi stripe yarn we always, always, always, unwind the new ball until we reach the first point where the colour changes, then cut off and discard the unwound yarn. This makes subsequent pattern matching more accurate.
Hi Connie, thanks for your suggestion. Happy Knitting, Nicolette
That’s exactly how I do it, too.
For socks I sometimes like the striping keep going on top where at the bottom the heel shaping is – so I would knit the heel from the second ball or from the opposite end of my ball to keep. (If that does make sense)
Hi Tina
Yes, that makes complete sense. I often use an afterthought heel or a contrast yarn when it is important to keep the striping in the yarn correct. With some yarns it isn’t as necessary. Thank you for your helpful comment. Nicolette