I’m interested in sock tube machines and am considering investing in one. I decided to purchase a 64 stitch sock tube from an Etsy shop (this one came from ToplineStudio) to see how using a pre-knit tube works logistically. I cut the tube apart and prepared it for knitting but during this process I discovered this just isn’t going to work for me.

This particular sock tube was advertised to be “approximately 8spi” but that is not the case with the tube I received. It is 7.75spi which in the world of small sock stitches is a very big difference in final measurements around the sock.

I normally handknit a 64 stitch sock at 9spi which means my tubes are 7.11 inches in circumference. This sock tube is 8.25 inches in circumference - over an inch larger - and in no way fits me, not even close, not even as a slouchy house sock. My foot is 8.5” measured at the ball of my foot.

My takeaway from this is that I probably need a 56 stitch sock machine if it’s going to produce a gauge of 7.75 (which incidentally I feel is waaaaaay too loose for socks). Or, if this is all the tighter any sock machine ever knits, then perhaps this is not the right avenue for me to pursue. More research is necessary…

I will frog the yarn and knit up socks with it eventually in a size that fits me (the yarn feels like it’d make a decent wearing sock and I like these self-striping colors) (the little bit of orange is the waste yarn at the end of the tube) but for now I have to chalk this purchase up as a Good Lesson Learned, not necessarily a bad thing, though a teensy bit disappointing.