# Scylla socks--HELP!



## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

LOL. I think I figured out what I'm doing wrong, but since a few of you have all ready made these socks, I thought I'd ask for confirmation.

On the heel flap the directions say [k1, Sl1 pwise] repeat [ ] 14 times. 

I have been taking that to mean 30 stitches total (k1, sl1 x 15). Well, I've done that twice now, and it just ain't working. I end up with about 10 stitches on one side and 2 on the other when I work through the pattern. That just ain't going to work for a nice centered heel.

So what I've decided is that I'm supposed to be doing the [k1, Sl1 pwise] only 14 times, _not_ once, then 14 more. 

Before I begin again (I'm getting really tired of tearing out this dadgum heel), is my thinking correct? I should be doing the k1, sl1 for 28 stitches NOT 30 as the pattern seems to read?


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## hercsmama (Jan 15, 2004)

Assuming you made the gusset correctly, it should be working out.... are you remembering your SSK's?
Trust the pattern, you'll be making a few decreases as you go, I had no trouble, just trust the pattern..


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

without having the knitting in my hand, I can't tell you - but like hersmama said - in all likelihood it is the *ssk *that's NOT being worked as an *ssk* that could be the problem - that is a common error. 

An *ssk* should start with two stitches and you end up with ONE - it should be reducing the other side of the heel. 

is this where you are?
*Heel Flap:*​ 

Now it&#700;s time to work the heel flap:​ ​Row 1 (right side): Sl 1 st WYIB kwise, [k1,Sl1 pwise] repeat [ ] 14 times, k1, ssk, turn
Row 2: Sl 1 st WYIF purlwise, p29, p2tog, turn
Row 3: Sl 1 st WYIB kwise, Sl1 pwise, [k1,Sl1 pwise] repeat [ ] 14 times, ssk, turn
Row 4: Sl 1 st WYIF purlwise, p29, p2tog, turn
Repeat these rows 1-4 until there are 2 sts remaining unworked on either side of your
heel flap on this needle. These sts have not yet been added back in and are lying either
side of a small gap.
Next row: (right side) Sl 1 st WYIB kwise, [k1, Sl1 pwise] rep [ ] 14 times, k1, ssk, k1, do
not turn.​

​If this is where you are, DO NOT FORGET to *Sl 1 st WYIB* only one time and *THEN* [k1,Sl1 pwise] repeat 14 times, K1, *SSK*, turn

sometimes I take a colored marker and mark those weird, out-of-place instructions to make sure I don't miss them - like that first Sl 1st WYIB and the K1, SSK at the end of the row.


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## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

Yes, that's exactly where I'm at (for the third time now). The first time I worked it, I got to where there were 2 stitches left on one end, but a whole lot more on the other.

So, thinking I'd screwed up somewhere further back--I'd been watching the Tiger's game when I started the gusset, LOL--I took it all the way back to where you start the gusset on the sole needle, and reworked it, being careful to do exactly what it says. Ended up with the same result, and noticed that on that k1, sl1 part of the pattern I seemed to be actually adding a stitch each time, but only to one end.

Yes, I'm doing the ssk's correctly to get just 1 stitch where there used to be 2. Which is why I came to the conclusion that perhaps I wasn't doing the k1 sl1 repeat right.


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## hercsmama (Jan 15, 2004)

Your remembering your P2tog on the purl side, right?
That will cause the decreases on both ends, as it were. That way you should be coming out even...

Are you perhaps, yarning over when you go to sl1 at the beginning? That whole yarn in front and back thing? You need to simply place the yarn across the stitches, not over the needles to get it to the front or back.
Does that make sense? I'm afraid I don't always explain as well as some can....but I know what I mean..LOL!


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## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

Yes. Do you think the problem could be starting further back? Maybe with those m1l's and m1r's in this part: 

Heel: 
Now the heel will be worked back and forth on 
your heel needle (starting with a right side row): 
Row 1: p1, k19, PM, m1R, k17, m1L, PM, turn 
Row 2: Sl 1 st WYIF pwise, p16, turn 
Row 3: m1R, k15, m1L, turn 
Row 4: Sl 1 st WYIF pwise, p14, turn 
Row 5: m1R, k13, m1L, turn 
Row 6: Sl 1 st WYIF pwise, p12, turn 
Row 7: m1R, k11, m1L, turn 
Row 8: Sl 1 st WYIF pwise, p10, turn 
Row 9: m1R, k9, m1L, turn 
Row 10: Sl 1 st WYIF pwise, p8, turn 
Row 11: m1R, k7, m1L, Turn 
Row 12: Sl 1 st WYIF pwise, p6, turn 
Row 13: m1R, k5, m1L, do not turn, k across increases from previous rows to 
within 1 st of marker, WYIB Sl 1 st kwise, RM, Sl 1 st kwise, place tip of left needle through 
front loops of two slipped stitches and knit them together, turn 
Row 14: Sl 1 st WYIF purlwise, p to within 1 st of marker, including across increases from 
previous rows, Sl 1 st purlwise, RM, replace last slipped stitch on left needle, p2tog, turn. 

I'm wondering if I'm coming off of row 14 not centered? Although when I was working it last night, everything came out to the markers fine, and after working the k1, sl1 a few times in the part WIHH posted I noticed it seemed to be getting less centered; I was decreasing on the sl1 pwise, p29, p2tog parts and increasing on the k1, sl1 parts even with the ssks's done right.


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

shoot, I wish you were right here so we could figure this out. I almost need to be standing over you or knitting it myself to see whats happening! Can you Skype?


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## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

Skype? Nope. Well, to be totally honest, dh did set us up a skype account, but the few times I tried it I was driven nuts by the audio and video not being in perfect sync. I get so distracted by that 'little' issue that I can't concentrate to carry on a conversation. So I'm thinking it wouldn't help me much here.

What I am doing is math. I'm working through, each section, row by row, and adding up how many stitches I have after working each row and how they are divided. Hoping to find a clue there. Like if I'm just whacked somewhere further back and should frog deeper. So far I'm through the gusset and all the numbers still match what's on my needles.


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## hercsmama (Jan 15, 2004)

If you can't skype, can you at least post some good close up pictures.
I've done 4 pairs of these, and haven't had the issue you're having.

Maybe some pics of the gusset area, and then the heel flap?


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## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

Weeeeelllll. . . being of the perfectionistic mind, which requires the ability to back up and start over, I don't currently have a heel flap anymore. I took it back to the end of row 14 on what I posted earlier. Everything is dead center on the needles, all stitches and the stitch count matches with the directions at that point. Then I set it down and did other stuff for the last several hours.

Just attempted to take some pics for you, hercsmama and WIHH (btw, thank you, thank you, thank you, for attempting to figure out just what the heck I'm doing here!) and my camera doesn't like my yarn. Tons of pictures of this bright blob, but no individual recognizable stitches. Perhaps I should have chosen a less obnoxious colored yarn.

This is the yarn itself, which seems to only take a clear picture as a ball and not as stitches.


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## hercsmama (Jan 15, 2004)

Let me try something, this is how they *should* look finished, I don't know 'til I post this if you can see the stitches or not, so we'll just give it a go!:thumb:


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## hercsmama (Jan 15, 2004)

Ok, not too bad.
This first row, and what your doing on row two, is I think where you are messing up.
Row 1 P1 K19 Pm, m1r K17 m1L,PM turn.39 stitches total, make sure you place those two markers, they matter!
On the following rows, you won't be going all the way across at first. On row 2, you will only be working back to the M1R before what would be the second marker, on that row, you will be working only the stitches, in between the markers.
Now, when you are working the heel your stitch count, for the working stitches, should be 
2,17
3 17
4 15 
5 15
6 13
7 13
8 11
9 11
10 9
11 9
12 7
13 7
now on row 14 it get's tricky, you need to go all the way across, P2tog for the last stitch.


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## hercsmama (Jan 15, 2004)

Like I said earlier, I kind of suck at giving explanations, so I hope all that made some sort of sense.:ashamed:


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## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

Yes, it did make sense, and that's kind of my current theory too, that I'm messing up somewhere in there. Because when I come out of that, each side should be even; yet when I start the heel flap directions its very quickly obvious that I'm not!


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## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

Bah! I have to put the socks down for now. My youngest dd cheers, and tonight is parents' night, plus a tailgate. Got to get cleaned up and ready (not to mention gather all my keeping warm at football gear) so that when dh gets home from work we can run to the high school.


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## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

By George, I've Got It!!

So, this weekend I spent a few hours pondering out my sock. And ripping out my sock. Then, for the fourth time, starting over from the beginning of the heel. This time, I did it with the heel flap rows 1 and 3 being k1, sl1 worked 14 times, not 15 as it seemed to me the directions were calling for. Then when I worked rows 2 and 4, all my row 1 and 3 stitches were used up, instead of ending up decreasing by 1 at one end while decreasing by 2 at the other. 

Which is what was happening when I worked the [k1, sl1] repeat [ ] 14 times as k1, then sl1, then do that combo another 14 times, in effect working 30 stitches in that sequence but only purling 29 stitches on the even rows (not counting anything before or after the [ ] or on either end of the p29 in the directions).

Clear as mud?

Anyway, I have a lovely heel in my sock now, and have moved on to working the leg portion.


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## hercsmama (Jan 15, 2004)

:bouncy::goodjob::bouncy::goodjob::bouncy:


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## Guest (Oct 21, 2013)

May I say that I truly love your the socks! I wish I knew how to make my own too..Where did you learn your skills from? How much would you charge for a pair if you were to sell them? Do you find that your socks hold up for a long time verses socks that you buy from stores like LLBean? Sorry for all the questions just curious.


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## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

mythreesons, I just started knitting in January of this year. This will be the fourth pair of socks I've made (I kind of fell in love with making socks, lol), so I really can't tell you how long they last. The yarns I've used so far make them cost about $10-12 just for materials alone, but they are luscious! I haven't considered making any for sale; I've been kept too busy making them for gifts for family.

There might be some other knitters on here who do custom orders, though.


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

mythreesons said:


> May I say that I truly love your the socks! I wish I knew how to make my own too..Where did you learn your skills from? How much would you charge for a pair if you were to sell them? Do you find that your socks hold up for a long time verses socks that you buy from stores like LLBean? Sorry for all the questions just curious.


Heres the tutorial I started with,

http://www.cometosilver.com/socks/SockClass_Start.htm

or if you prefer, a youtube vid. Its got a few parts & the links to the others should appear on the right.

[YOUTUBE]9NQMGCo_mXY&list=PL328A66B087EEE726[/YOUTUBE]

Silvers tutorial covers what you need to get started. You can pick everything up online, or at a local yarn store.

I love this place www.knitpicks.com & I think they are one of the more affordable/quality/luxury places. I love their needles too.

Good luck, have fun!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Yay Kris! I was getting confused reading your directions. I didn't realize these were toe up until I saw the picture. No wonder I couldn't figure out why you were decreasing before the heel flap :smack


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## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

LOL, Marchwind. My first pair of toe-up, and yes, I really was totally lost. Now that I have the heel done, though, I think I might like this way better than top down; at least for how the heel comes out. Ironic, since I had way more trouble with this than the heel on my first top down pair.


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

I &#9829; this pattern and the non-pickup-stitches gusset. 

Good job on working through the "problem". I knew you coudl do it!


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## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

WIHH, have you ever made the Charybdis socks that are also by this designer? My 16yo dd loves mythology and when she found out what these socks are named, and that there are 'companion' socks called Charybdis, she thought that was just too cool. Now I might be on the hook for making the Charybdis ones too.


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

I have not made those but I guess I shoudl maybe oughta go take a peek and see! It's funny how some of the interesting names draw us in, isn't it? I love it!


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## hercsmama (Jan 15, 2004)

Kris, I've made those. It's another well written pattern. Like I said in another thread, I really need to take the time to post some pictures.
Of course I guess that means I need to take the time to take them first.:gaptooth:


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## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

Scylla Sock #1 is done!!

Scylla Sock #2 is on the needles :happy:


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Those turned out nice!! I really like the yarn you chose too.

I gotta make a pair of those. I started on it when WIHH 1st posted them & then got busy with something else.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Oooooo! That looks great!


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