Socks - can't get gauge right!

[Stacey]

I've never made socks before. Last night I started making the In Your Shoes ankle socks (http://www.crochetme.com/issue_1/socks_in_shoes.html) from Crochet Me, and I can't get the gauge right!

The gauge is supposed to be 5 sts x 5 rows=1 inch. With a G hook, things are a little small - 5 stitches make *almost* an inch but not quite (maybe 1/16 of an inch short), and 5 rows only make about three quarters of an inch.

With an H hook, five stitches come to just a bit over an inch (so that the three inch cuff is more like 3 1/2 inches), but the rows are still too short - five rows measures out to just a hair under an inch, so I thought it'd be ok, but after ten rows I was over a quarter inch short of the length I should've been at.

What should I do? I hate to go to an even bigger hook since it'll make the stitch gauge all screwy even if it does fix the row gauge. (Plus it seems bizarre to use an I hook with sock yarn, and I think they'd work up too "open".)

Should I stick with the H hook and just try to adjust the number of stitches/rows as I go along? Go back to the G (the closest I got to 5 stitches/inch even though the rows/inch were way off) and adjust the number of rows? Give it up and try a new pattern?

Please help! :help

[natalie058]

Maybe use extended sincle crochet instead of single crochet to make the rows taller? :? :? Don't know if that would make them too tall/mess up the pattern though.

[Stacey]

There's a thought - I'll give that a try and see if it helps. Thank you!

[SamplerLady]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/SamplerLady/mmouseplus.gifThis won't help for these socks, but next time consider making toe up socks like these Grafton Fibers (http://www.graftonfibers.com/socks.htm). Because you can try these on as you go, you can make them any size using any hook and any kind of yarn.

I really dislike guage and try to avoid it when ever possible. :bad

[Stacey]

I went ahead and printed that one out in case I can't get this one right...

I've made a little progress, maybe. Extended sc and hdc both turned out a little too tall, so I start making an effort to crochet a little looser. Things are going slow, but the gauge is closer to what it's supposed to be. I'm still not sure it's going to work out, though--I might bail out and do the toes-up socks :lol

[threeolivemartini]

i love toe up socks!